President Joe Biden read his opening remarks through a teleprompter at his pivotal press conference Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal, before embarking on a wide-ranging 50-minute question-and-answer session with reporters where he took the chance to address concerns about his age and the election,
The presumptive Democratic nominee spoke with reporters at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on the final day of this year’s NATO summit.
Biden appeared on stage about an hour after its scheduled start time and started with prepared remarks that lasted nearly 10 minutes, recapping the U.S. hosting the three-day NATO summit in Washington. While occasionally fumbling his words, Biden emphasized that he is committed to NATO unlike his rival, former President Donald Trump, who has criticized the alliance.
Throughout the conference, Biden answered questions about the concerns from his own political party and the possibility of Vice President Kamala Harris replacing him on top of the ticket.
The press conference comes as Biden tries to reaffirm voter doubting his competence since his botched debate performance last month.
Biden is scheduled to continue his campaign by visiting Michigan on Friday and participating in another televised interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt airing on Monday.
Concerns about Biden aides handling of media
The questions about Biden’s fitness for office coincide with a series of revelations and allegations that his aides have tried to manipulate his media appearances.
Progressive talk-radio network Civic Media admitted Thursday that it made two edits to its interview with Biden on his campaign’s behalf before the broadcast aired. While saying the decision fell short of “journalistic interview standards,” the Wisconsin-based network said it stood by the host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview on July 3, which aired on July 4. The station also uploaded full interview available online without edits.
And in Philadelphia, WURD Radio announced Sunday it has parted ways with host Andrea Lawful-Sanders after she used questions given by President Joe Biden’s team in an interview with him last week.
“On July 3, the first post-debate interview with President Joe Biden was arranged and negotiated independently by WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders without knowledge, consultation or collaboration with WURD management,” Sara M. Lomax, President and CEO of WURD Radio, said in a statement.
Lawful-Sanders later told CNN that the White House had provided eight questions to her and that she had approved four of them.
The controversies with both hosts fueled doubts about Biden’s ability to navigate unscripted conversations.
Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the president, said it’s not uncommon for interview subjects “to share topics they would prefer.”
“These questions were relevant to the news of the day — the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he’d delivered for Black Americans,” Hitt said. “We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners.”
Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi, Jessie Opoien and Molly Beck
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