WASHINGTON – Even before the most important press conference of Joe Biden’s political life got under way, his aides found themselves in the familiar position of a defensive crouch.
At an event marking the end of the Nato summit, the President introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin”, delivering fresh meat to a febrile White House press corps, and to the growing number of Democrats urging him to abandon his re-election quest.
Things did not improve when the press conference started. Asked whether he had any reservations about Vice President Kamala Harris’s qualifications for the nation’s top job, Biden answered: “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President if I think she’s not qualified to be President.”
A reverse camera shot trained on Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan captured them wincing at the President’s latest faux pas.
Biden told reporters that he is “the most qualified person” to run for the Presidency, and insisted that “I beat [Trump] once and I will beat him again”.
He reaffirmed his decision to stay in the race, saying that the “gravity of the situation” facing the country requires him to remain at the helm.
The 81-year-old denied that it was unusual for members of Congress to fret about a candidate at this stage of an American election. “There’s a long way to go… I’m going to keep moving and I’ve got more work to do,” Biden said, repeatedly stating that “we’ve got to finish the job”.
Whether he will be given that opportunity remains an open question. During his hour-long exchange with reporters, he demonstrated a firm command of policy, particularly on foreign affairs.
He answered detailed questions about China’s growing relationship with Russia, vigorously defended his work helming the Nato summit, and expressed opposition to decisions made by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet.
But all indications point to a weekend of continuing turmoil among Democrats.
CBS News is reporting that scores of lawmakers are poised to join calls for the President to quit his re-election quest, after unnamed Biden campaign officials told reporters they no longer believe there are any circumstances under which he can beat Trump. The New York Times revealed that the Biden campaign has been surveying voters to ascertain their views of Harris as a possible replacement candidate.
Aside from the Putin and “Vice President Trump” flubs, there was nothing in the press conference that immediately dooms the President’s ability to stay in the race.
That outcome will delight Republicans, eager to keep Biden on the campaign trail for as long as possible.
On Friday, Biden will head to Michigan, where governor Gretchen Whitmer is denying well-sourced reports that she recently told Biden campaign officials that the battleground state is now solidly in Trump’s corner.
Biden did create one possible opening for his potential challengers, by indicating that his delegates at next month’s Democratic Party convention in Chicago are free to vote their conscience. “Obviously they are free to do whatever they want… if they show up at the convention and say they want somebody else,” he said, leaning into the microphone to whisper: “It’s not gonna happen.”
Maybe not, but that whispered assurance is a massive hostage to fortune.