President Biden touts record, but continues to flub in critical press conference

In a flub-filled press conference on Thursday night, President Joe Biden gave no indication that he would drop out of the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee for president. 

The president, who spoke at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for his first solo conference in months, is facing growing pressure to end his quest for another term in the White House, after a lackluster debate performance last week emphasized Biden's age and mental capabilities. But Biden has been firm about remaining in the race, and dismissed the debate performance as a "bad episode."

Early in the press conference, Biden mistakenly referred to Harris as "Vice President Trump," when addressing concerns about the possibility of her replacing him as the Democratic nominee for president if he dropped out.

"I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [if] I [thought] she was not qualified to be president. So let's start there," Biden said. 

The flub was caught by former President Donald Trump, who taunted Biden about the mistake in a post on Truth Social.

"Crooked Joe begins his 'Big Boy' Press Conference with, 'I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.' Great job, Joe!" Trump posted on Truth Social.

When asked by a reporter about Trump's response mocking his age and memory at the close of the press conference, Biden clearly stated "listen to him." 

The exchange comes after Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit earlier Thursday.

Biden also addressed the concerns about his age later in the news conference, but doubled down on his commitment to remaining the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. 

"I'm determined on running, but I think it's important that I relay fears by letting them see me out there," Biden said.  "For the longest time it was, you know, Biden's not prepared to sit with us unscripted ... So what I'm doing is, and I've been doing, I think we've done, over 20 major events, from Wisconsin to North Carolina to demonstrate that I'm going out into the areas where [we] think we can win."

The president additionally pushed back on polls that appear to predict Trump will beat him this November, claiming that the campaign "really hasn't started in earnest yet," and that it normally picks up around Labor Day in September. 

"How accurate does anybody think the polls are these days? I can give you a series of polls where you have likely voters, me versus Trump, where I win all the time. When the unlikely voters vote, he wins sometimes," Biden said. "The bottom line is all the polling data right now, which I think is premature, because the campaign really hasn't even started in earnest yet."

Biden also denied reports that he had claimed he needed to go to bed earlier, stating that it "wasn't true" and that he's had many days since the debate where he's been up late.

"Look, what I said was, instead of my every day starting at seven and going to bed at midnight, it'd be smarter for me to pace myself a little more," Biden told reporters. "And I said ... instead of starting a fundraiser nine o'clock, start at eight o'clock. People get to go home at 10 o'clock. That's what I'm talking about ... And if you looked at my schedule since ... I made that stupid mistake in the campaign, in the debate. I mean, my schedule has been full."

The press conference occurred after world leaders gathered for a three-day meeting in Washington, D.C., for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's annual summit. Biden reflected on the NATO summit and its successes to reporters, but slammed Trump's approach to the 32-member alliance. 

"My predecessor has made it clear he has no commitment to NATO," Biden said. 'He's made it clear that he would feel no obligation to honor article five [and] already told Putin, I quote, 'do whatever the hell you want.' In fact, the day after Putin invaded Ukraine, here's what he said, 'it was genius. It was wonderful.' Some of you forgot that, but that's exactly what he said."

Biden also addressed China's relationship with Russia, and the U.S.'s relationship with China, including in the aftermath of a Chinese spy balloon that traveled across the United States last year, claiming that the U.S. military now has direct access to China.

The press conference's fumble reinvigorated calls for Biden to drop his bid, with three new House Democrats calling for the president to step aside for a new generation of Democratic leaders. The new members bring the total number of House Democrats to call for Biden's exit to seven on Thursday alone, and 16 House Democrats in total. One Democratic senator has also asked Biden to end his quest for the presidency.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.