NEW YORK — Toward the end of his closely watched news conference Thursday night on the sidelines of the NATO summit, President Joe Biden was talking about being examined by doctors for his mental acuity. Suddenly, a little frustration slipped through.
“No matter what I did,” he said, “no one’s going to be satisfied.”
That’s the challenge Biden faced during his meeting with American and international reporters, two weeks after a poor debate performance ignited calls for him to step aside and let another candidate take up the Democratic campaign against former president Donald Trump.
Biden was animated at times, particularly during an opening statement when he spoke about the importance of the NATO alliance and delivered a defense of his presidency on issues of the economy and the border with Mexico. He relished an opportunity to talk about the nation’s relations with China and where that might go.
But on the very first question put to him, he also rewarded viewers, opponents and journalists who were looking for gaffes: He referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. He rambled at times, dropping in stray facts inexplicably, and came across as tired, particularly as the hour drifted past 8 p.m. Eastern. His voice was gravelly and, at times, tentative.
Ultimately, the news conference was an ink-blot test for people who were watching him, NBC News’ Hallie Jackson said at the end. Supporters were likely encouraged by his grasp of issues, she said, “but if you think he should step off the ticket, this probably didn’t change your mind.”
Biden appeared determined and gave no indication that he doubted his ability to be the best candidate to take on Trump in the November general election.
Yet the news conference indicated how difficult it will be for him to change the subject. The first five questions, taken together, formed a volley on the same topic: his ability to perform in the office. Even reporters who brought up other topics — Ukraine, China, NATO — usually mixed in questions about his fitness to serve moving forward.
Even after Biden had called an end to the news conference, NBC’s Peter Alexander asked a question about his flub with Harris’ name and how Trump was already using it as ammunition against him..
The news conference had been widely anticipated throughout the week, leaving pundits to repeatedly emphasize the stakes. Tension between journalists and the Biden team has been running high, an outgrowth of the president giving relatively few news conferences and interviews compared to his predecessors. Little of that hostility was evident at the news conference, but the questions he faced were still pointed.
Have you spent time thinking about what an election loss would mean for his legacy? Is Vice President Harris ready to serve as president? How can you say you’d be able to handle the rigors of the job in two or three years? How can you reassure Americans that there won’t be more bad nights like the debate? Are you open to taking more cognitive tests?
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos bored in on the same issues during their prime-time interview last week, and NBC’s Lester Holt is likely to do the same with their interview scheduled for Monday.
Some of the immediate pundit reaction on live newscasts was as expected: MSNBC’s Joy Reid suggested gaffes like mixing up a name aren’t likely to hurt Biden, because they’re what people who know him have come to expect. On Fox, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “it was hard to watch. It was a car wreck.”
“How much is it gonna take?” Fox News’ Jesse Watters said. “Is this guy that pain-tolerant that he can withstand this type of beating from now until the convention?”
Yet Fox’s Martha MacCallum said, “I think he was able to get out there and do fairly well given how low the bar has become.”
David Axelrod, a former aide to President Barack Obama who has angered some on the Biden team with candid assessments of the campaign as a commentator on CNN, said he didn’t think the news conference was likely to change too many minds.
“The issue really isn’t about his record or history,” Axelrod said. “It’s about his ability to move forward. And when he was asked those questions, he really didn’t have a great answer for what people should expect in the future.”
The debate had been over for mere minutes — on some networks, just seconds — before pundits and reporters began talking about how that discussion will continue.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.
