(The Center Square) – In his first news conference since his sharply criticized debate performance two weeks ago, President Joe Biden made numerous gaffes Thursday as he spoke for about an hour. He took questions from 10 select reporters that focused primarily on his fitness for office but also included topics such as the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine.
“I’ve been given a list of people to call here,” Biden said as he began the question-and-answer portion of his news conference, later mistakenly referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
Media since Biden’s performance in late June debate Anti-former President Donald Trump activists have reported that Biden is being closely monitored by White House staff, some of whom claim that this is an attempt to hide the president’s cognitive decline. Due to Biden’s recent gaffes, Many Democrats They have asked Biden to step aside and allow the party to choose another candidate to run against Trump in November. Biden has been defiant, insisting he will stay in the race.
“I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started,” Biden said after being asked whether his refusal to drop out of the race could backfire and cost the Democratic Party the Oval Office as well as elections in down-ballot congressional races. Republicans hold a slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and Democrats hold the Senate. One or both could flip in November, depending on voter sentiment.
Asked if Harris was ready to become president if Biden decided to step aside, the president said: “I would not have chosen Vice President Trump as vice president if I thought she was not qualified to be president. Let’s start there.”
Trump was quick to mock Biden for the gaffe on his Truth Social account.
“Crooked Joe begins his Big Boy press conference by saying, ‘I would not have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President, even though I believe she was not qualified to be President,’” Trump posted. “Good job, Joe.”
Biden also lost his train of thought several times during the press conference, ending his responses with “well, anyway” without finishing his answer.
Asked if he was capable of carrying out the job of the presidency for another four years, Biden said yes, but “I have to control myself more.”
Earlier in the day, Biden had mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “President Putin” during an appearance. Vladimir Putin is the president of Russia, which invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.
Biden’s press conference came after he spoke at the NATO summit on Thursday, highlighting the U.S. commitment to providing aid to Ukraine and the importance of unity among NATO members. Biden hosted the summit and various world leaders in Washington, D.C. this week.
Asked during the press conference whether he would reconsider the possibility of the US allowing Ukraine to use American weapons in its war against Russia, Biden wrongly said: “I’m following the advice of my commander in chief.” As president, Biden is the commander in chief of the US military. He later added: “My chief of staff of the military, as well as the secretary of defense and our intelligence people.”
NATO is now 75 years old and remains the most powerful and far-reaching deterrent pact in the world.
“The fact that NATO remains the bulwark of global security did not happen by accident,” Biden said at the summit’s opening ceremony on Wednesday. “It was not inevitable. Time and again, at critical moments, we chose unity over disunity, progress over retreat, freedom over tyranny, and hope over fear. Time and again, we stood up for our shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous transatlantic community.”
According to the US Department of Defense, NATO has provided at least 175 billion dollars to Ukraine, including weapons, fighter aircraft, ammunition and training.
Trump has long criticized the alliance, highlighting its over-reliance on U.S. monetary aid and defense funding.
Trump’s threats to no longer provide protection to members who fail to pay their dues have many in Europe concerned about his commitment to the alliance.
“If we don’t pay, are they still going to protect us? I said, ‘Absolutely not,'” Trump said at a campaign rally in South Carolina, referring to an interaction he had with a purported member president.
While a unilateral withdrawal from the alliance is not possible, there has been speculation about plans that would restructure the alliance to make it less dependent on U.S. funding and defense platforms.
