“There’s so much we can do still, and I’m determined to get it done,” Biden said. “I’ve got to finish this job. I’ve got to finish this job. Because there’s so much at stake.”
Biden is right that the stakes could hardly be higher. But what he refuses to acknowledge is that his choice to carry on could also jeopardize everything that he has accomplished.
The president’s delivery over the span of nearly an hour could not be called sharp. His answers meandered; his voice was weak. At one point, he confused the name of his opponent with that of his running mate — who many Democrats would like to see replace him at the top of the ticket. “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [if] I think she’s not qualified to be president,” he said.
Still, it was a far better performance than he put in at his debate two weeks ago against former president Donald Trump — a disaster which imperiled his nomination as the Democrats’ standard-bearer, and deepened concerns that, at 81, he is too old and frail to do his job for another four years.
On Thursday night, Biden was on top of the issues. And the timing of this rare news conference, which came at the conclusion of the NATO summit over which Biden had presided, allowed him to display his comfort and fluency with foreign policy.
Though he might have bought himself some time and grace, Biden did not quiet the argument inside his party over whether he should end his candidacy. Almost simultaneous with the conclusion of his remarks came a social media post by Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee: “The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden, and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.”
National polling is not a particularly useful guide at this delicate moment. A new Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey found the race between Trump and Biden tied at 46 percent among registered voters, essentially unchanged since April, even as most Democrats — 56 percent — said they wanted Biden to drop out.
What matters most now are other pressures, especially coming from Capitol Hill, where the calls from Democrats for him to step aside are mounting.
It was not an auspicious sign when, at a NATO event about an hour before the news conference was scheduled to begin, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” the Russian leader with whom Zelensky’s country is at war.
Biden quickly corrected himself. “He’s going to beat President Putin. … President Zelensky,” he said. “I’m so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it.” Zelensky replied: “I’m better.”
That kind of slip-up would have gone unnoticed, were this a normal time. But it was the last thing Biden needed at this one, when every word he utters matters so much. It gave commentators something to chew over as they waited for the president’s appearance, which was delayed by an hour.
Trump, it should be noted, is no stranger to verbal flubs. During his primary battle with Nikki Haley, the former president apparently confused the woman who had served as his own U.N. ambassador with former speaker Nancy Pelosi. He claimed Haley was responsible for security lapses at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. At the time, Haley suggested Trump was experiencing “a decline” and questioned whether he was “mentally fit” for another term in office.
It is also true that Biden, even in his prime, had a tendency to commit gaffes; to his admirers, it was endearing evidence of his authenticity. But when the question is whether he is fit to serve another four years, these stumbles become danger signals.
More directly than he has before, Biden addressed why the oldest president in history, and a candidate who four years ago suggested he would be a bridge to another generation of leaders, is determined to stick around for another four years.
“What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division,” Biden said.
Age, he added, “creates a little bit of wisdom if you pay attention.” Growing numbers of Democrats are desperately hoping that is true.
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