Joe Biden‘s first solo live press conference of the year is about to begin and the stakes couldn’t be higher. After a June 27 debate to prove the president is still mentally fit to run the country didn’t go so well, and then a July 5 ABC News interview to prove he’s still mentally fit to run the country went kinda-OK-but-not-really, now there’s Thursday’s live press conference to prove … well, you know (video and play-by-play commentary is below).
It’s hard to imagine one presser — which some have condescendingly dubbed a “big boy press conference” — turning things around for the embattled president. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s briefings have become rather tense and hostile affairs as the press corps increasingly suspect the White House hasn’t exactly been honest about many of the things they’ve said the past few years regarding Biden’s health, along with their claimed reasons for Biden’s increasingly strict stage managed public appearances (wait, you mean Biden didn’t turn down the traditional Super Bowl interview which reaches 120 million Americans during an election year because “voters simply want to tune into the game“?).
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It’s not too strong to suggest the fate of Biden’s presidency might hang on the next hour, which is extraordinary, surreal and depressing all at once.
Question: What is a faithful Democrat supposed to be rooting for here? Does one want Biden to give an increasingly all-too-rare strong public performance to push back on the rising tide of those trying to shove him out of the race? Or does one want this to be a nail in the coffin, as to mercifully speed his campaign’s collapse, in the hope of making way for a replacement who is different and better? One could earnestly argue this both ways.
(Personal prediction, feel free to skip: The presser, at best, could buy a little time. Before the debate, I wrote an essay dubbing that fateful face off “the debate from hell,” and its points aged rather well — unfortunately. Ever since, my unsolicited take to colleagues on the debate fallout has gone like this: The Biden presidency is now like James Cameron’s Titanic during the wheelhouse scene after the iceberg strike. As the navel architect explains to the captain: “She can stay afloat with the first four compartments breached, but not five!” There’s been a quickening drip-drip-drip of leaks from insiders and calls for Biden to step down — all of which is like water spilling over the bulkheads and flooding into the staterooms on the Orlop and Lower G decks. The Titanic presidency is still afloat, true. But she’s made of iron, sir, and no matter how much Biden and his supporters work those pumps — and this press conference is one of those pumps — this ship will founder.)
20 Minutes Before Presser: Biden is currently at the NATO summit where the press conference will be held. News just broke that at an earlier event, he introduced Ukrainian President Zelensky by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.” So that is quite the lead in. Do we still need the press conference?
6:35 ET: Biden’s a bit late. He could be weary from hanging out with President Putin. The White House feed is playing “Bright Sunshine” on an aggressive loop. The song is described by Soundhound as “uplifting folk pop.”
6:41: While we’re waiting for Biden and thinking about end-times, one thing that always seemed really weird about the movie Deep Impact is how much of its plot centered on which reporter would get the first question during a White House press briefing about a killer asteroid coming to destroy the planet.
6:43: Still waiting. In fairness, we’re well after 4:30 p.m. ET, which has been reported as Biden’s typical office hours cut off. At least the hold music has changed. Staffers are centering eight flags behind the podium.
7:01: Okay, this is edging into Madonna concert level tardiness. The range of things that could be causing this delay range from last-minute makeup to last-minute notes to … so much, in theory, could happen during this press conference.
7:06: Press are filing into their seats. Seems they knew this was going to be held up a bit. The music now sounds like we’re in an intensely rousing World War II epic. I’m pretty sure we just conquered something.
7:27: Finally starting an hour late. Biden is opening by talking about the NATO Summit and its importance. Like in the ABC News interview, Biden looks like he’s hitting the bronzer pretty hard. He’s struggling a bit with a cough. “For those who thought NATO’s timing past, they got a rude awakening, Putin invaded Ukraine, some of the oldest and deepest fears in Europe. We’re back to life because once again, a murderous madman was on the march.” He points out Donald Trump called Putin’s invasion “wonderful … that’s exactly what he said.” This is important, of course, but not what a single reporter in that room actually wants Biden to talk about.
7:33: Biden’s talking about inflation, which had a positive update today. “Core inflation is the lowest in three years.” He points out that Trump’s tariffs plan could increase inflation again. He reiterated his commitment to ending the Israel-Hamas war. So far, however, this is a speech and not a press conference.
7:35: Okay, he’s now taking questions. “I’ve been given a list of people to call on” — why does he say that? Biden is asked about Kamala Harris’ ability to potentially take over as president: He said, “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump” — you read that right — “to be vice president if she’s not qualified to be president. I think I’m the most qualified person. I beat him once and I’ll beat him again. The idea of senators and congressmen worrying about the ticket is not unusual. There are at least five presidents who have run with lower numbers than I have now.”
7:38: Biden is asked about mixing up Putin and Zelensky earlier: “Officials here are saying off the record that your decline has become noticeable. Hasn’t this now finally become damaging for America’s standing in the world?” Biden got feisty: “Do you see any damage we’re seeing in my Leaders Conference? Have you seen a more successful conference? What do you think? And the most important piece I was talking about Putin?” But he also referred to his military commanders as his “commander in chief.”
7:40: Biden is pressed again about staying in the race and potentially ruining his legacy if Trump wins. “I’m not in this for my legacy, I’m in this to complete the job I started.” He’s starting to drop into the intense whisper thing.
7:44: He’s asked what specifically Harris has done to prove she’s ready to be president: “The way she’s handled the issue of freedom of women’s bodies, to have control over their bodies. Secondly, her ability to handle almost any issue on board. She was a hell of a prosecutor. She is a first-rate person. I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president. From the very beginning. I make no bones about that. She is qualified to be president.”
7:45: Biden is then asked about reports that he’s cutting back his schedule to be in bed earlier. “That’s not true. Look. What I said was, instead of my everyday starting at 7 and going to bed at midnight, that it would be smarter to pace myself more … that’s what I’m talking about. My schedule has been full bore … and for the next debate, I’m not going to be traveling 15 time zones a week before.” Biden also seemed to break his narrative that he expressed in the ABC News interview that the debate was all his fault, saying that he loved his staff but that they “add things” late in his prep work.
7:48: Biden is asked again about how can he assure Americans that he won’t have more “bad nights” and public lapses over the next four years. It was part of a two part question. But he then forgot about the second part and had to be reminded. It’s not great when you have to be reminded of a question about your memory. “The best way to assure them is the way I assure myself — getting the job done … If I slow down, I can’t get the job done…but there’s been no indication [I’ve slowed down] yet.”
7:51: So far … there are some embarrassing verbal flubs (“Vice President Trump’ is going to haunt him) and a couple of momentary space-outs … he looks like he’s struggling a bit … but he’s been mostly fine. Many of his answers are detailed and full of substance and specifics, particularly on foreign policy. It’s difficult to say, really, what the standard is now. I suspect viewers will have rather different opinions on this. But let’s keep going.
8:03: Biden is asked if he could still deal with Putin and Xi Jinping three years from now. Biden basically dodges this and focuses on the present moment. “I’m dealing with Xi right now. I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now. There’s not much he is prepared to do in terms of accommodating any change in his behavior … Last time I talked to Putin was trying to get him to pick up the arms control agreement related to nuclear weapons in space. That didn’t go very far.” Then later he flubs a bit when listing NATO allies (“I already mentioned Australia…”)
8:08: There’s some detailed discussion of the Israel war that I don’t want to shortchange by abbreviating here. But the second part of the reporter’s question is Biden being asked about his pre-election declaration about being a “bridge” president to a new generation of leadership: What happened to that plan? (The one that everybody kinda liked). “What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, foreign policy and domestic division.” Biden talks about his accomplishments again and wanting to finish them. “Anyway…it’s gonna change.” There are a lot of answers trailing off with an “Anyway…”
8:15: Another question that’s basically: Are you really sure you want to stay in? “I’m determined on running but I think it’s important I ally fears by [letting voters] see me out there. For the longest time it’s been, ‘Biden’s not prepared to sit with us unscripted’ … We’re demonstrating that I’m going out to areas where we think we can win, or we could persuade people to move our way.”
8:17. Sudden ANGRY BIDEN. Yells, “MORE CHILDREN are killed by a bullet than any other cause of death. The United States of America, what are we doing?!” Two things can be true: Gun violence in America is a perfectly understandable reason to be outraged. But also: It looks startling when the president abruptly yells about it.
8:18: At this point, Biden is starting to slip more. Some of his answers are getting mangled and he seems frustrated. The rest of this doesn’t go well.
8:19: Pressed about taking a neurological exam, Biden replies: “I’ve taken three significant and intense neurological exams by a neurorogussurgeonologist.” Yikes. “And they say I’m in good shape.” Do they? Can they give a press conference? “But I do have a problem with my left foot because I broke my foot and I didn’t heal right because I didn’t wear the boot I’m tested every single day by my neurological capacity, the decisions I make every day …” Biden then starts meandering about Japan, then gets back on topic: “The only thing age does is creates some wisdom if you pay attention. If my neurologist tells me if he thinks I need another exam — and, by the way, I’ve laid every bit on the record out. Go ask Trump for his. I’ve laid it all out. Every single day I’m surrounded by good docs. If they think there’s a problem, I promise you — even if they don’t think there’s a problem, they think I should have a neurological exam again, I’ll do it. No one is suggesting that to me now. I’ll ask you another question, no matter what I did, no one is going to be satisfied. Did you have seven docs? Two? … I’m not opposed if my doctors tell me I should have another neurological exam.”
8:23: Are his delegates free to vote their conscience at the convention in August if they like a prospective candidate better than Biden? “They’re free to do whatever they want, but I have overwhelming support. If tomorrow I show up at the convention and everybody wants somebody else, that’s the democratic process.” [Weird whisper] “It’s not gonna happen … how accurate do you think the polls are these days? … All the polling data, which I think is premature because the campaign hasn’t really started. It hasn’t started in earnest yet … a lot can happen. I think, I know, I believe I’m the best qualified to govern and the best qualified to win. Others could beat Trump too. But it’s hard to start from scratch.”
8:25: Last question: “You earlier explained your confidence in your vice president. If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former President Donald Trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?” Biden says: “No, not unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Me.” Biden drops into that whisper again: “No one’s saying that. No poll says that.” By now Biden’s handlers trying to end this amid shouting from the press.
8:26: The president is lured back for one more question, but he’s not going to like it. A reporter points out he called Harris “Vice President Trump” earlier in this press conference and that Trump is already using that to mock his age. So: “How do you combat that criticism?” Biden, inexplicably, replies, “Listen to him.”
There’s a lot of yelling of questions as Biden leaves the stage.
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