Joe Biden vows to stay in the 2024 race as news swirls about his campaign conducting polling to determine how Kamala Harris would fare against Trump

Joe Biden takes questions at NATO press conference ((Reuters)

 

President Joe Biden vowed to stay in the race last night, despite calls from fellow Democrats for him to withdraw in the wake of a weak debate performance against presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump. Biden took questions from journalists for about an hour as part of a press conference tied to the 75th-anniversary NATO Summit in Washington, D.C.  Biden made it clear he has no intention of withdrawing from the race. (Note: Near the end, this post includes analysis from New York Times reporters.)

The statement came after news earlier in the day that the Biden campaign was conducting polling to determine how Vice President Kamala Harris would perform in a head-to-head battle against Trump. That suggested the campaign was considering a move to place Harris atop the ticket, with Biden stepping aside. But in his remarks last night at the NATO event, Biden said that would not be happening. From a New York Times report under the headline "At High-Stakes News Conference, Biden Vows to ‘Finish the Job’; President Biden, in a nearly hourlong appearance, gave no indication he would consider dropping out and made the case that the “gravity of the situation” at hand calls for experience

President Biden delivered a series of sometimes shaky answers to questions from reporters during a nearly hourlong news conference Thursday, but he also demonstrated a command of foreign policy and avoided repeating the worst moments of the presidential debate two weeks ago that set off turmoil within his party.

After initially reading from a teleprompter then repeating his vow to stay in the race, Mr. Biden tried to defuse some questions about his age and fitness for office, but at one point fumbled a question about Vice President Kamala Harris, saying that he “wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president” if he didn’t have confidence in her. That came shortly after he introduced President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as “President Putin” at a NATO meeting.

The solo news conference, his first in eight months, was designed to demonstrate that he remains capable of the nimbleness and stamina required to prosecute the case against former President Donald J. Trump. He stood before the reporters amid news that some longtime advisers and allies are said to be considering ways to convince him to end his candidacy.

Here’s what else to know:

• Another flub: Mr. Biden’s flub about Ms. Harris was followed by another stumble during the news conference, when the president said that he — the American commander in chief — would consult “my commander in chief” on questions about arming Ukraine.

• Attacking Trump: Mr. Biden opened his news conference by boasting about his accomplishments on the world stage and attacking former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Biden noted the decline in inflation in the United States and said he was optimistic that Hamas and Israel can complete an agreement to bring an end to the war in Gaza. At the end, he was asked how he would respond to Mr. Trump taking note of the flub over Ms. Harris’s name, Mr. Biden said, “Listen to him,” appearing to suggest that Mr. Trump says far more objectionable things.

• Best qualified: Most of the questions from reporters were about Democratic calls for him to step aside, which he again rejected, insisting that, “I think I’m the best qualified person to do the job.” Also for the first time, Mr. Biden conceded that polls show “other people can beat Mr. Trump in the fall,” but added that, “it’s hard to start from scratch.”

• China policy: The president gave a long, detailed answer to a question about the economic and political competition with China, appearing more comfortable dealing with the foreign-policy issues at the heart of the just-concluded NATO meeting in Washington.

• Political outreach: Earlier in the day, the Biden campaign dispatched staff members to Capitol Hill to meet with Democratic lawmakers in an effort to calm their nerves, even as more members of the House called on the president to step aside.

• Campaign assesses Harris: Mr. Biden’s campaign has begun to assess the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris in a head-to-head matchup against former President Donald J. Trump, according to three people informed about the voter survey who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

  Biden later used humor and social media to correct his mix-up of Harris and Trump: President Biden just responded to mixing up Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump in a tweet. “By the way: Yes, I know the difference,” Biden wrote. “One’s a prosecutor, and the other’s a felon.” Many Democrats have said Biden should talk more about Trump’s criminal conviction. Biden is now doing just that as he tries to turn the narrative from his age to attacks on Trump.

  Regardless of whether Biden succeeds, for now, in stemming more high-level defections, interviews across the country this week made clear that the concerns among the Americans he needs to win re-election are real, grave and growing.

  Biden’s final words at his news conference tonight were “Listen to him,” a three-word admonishment to the news media that encapsulates his campaign’s belief that the media has paid comparatively less attention to Trump’s pronouncements and policy planks than to Biden’s every gaffe.

  People close to Trump are thrilled about Biden’s solid enough performance. It was strong enough, they perceive/hope, to keep his candidacy alive. They foresee a landslide with Biden as their opponent and would rather not have anything happen to introduce risk, change or uncertainty. The status quo is their clear preference, even if they hardly fear Kamala Harris.

  On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow praised Biden’s substantive performance, while warning that his elliptical and halting speaking style could be a liability. “There’s a big mismatch between his stylistic presentation and his truly masterful command of the subject matter,” she said.

  Biden was prepared tonight, but not overprepared with statistics, as he was two weeks ago. He wandered, but didn’t lose the thread. He gave a solid, deep answer on dealing with Israel, and in response to a question I asked him said he was ready to interrupt the relationship between Russia and China — but he declined to describe the strategy.

  Biden said that if his staff showed him data that Vice President Harris could beat Donald Trump, he still wouldn’t consider dropping out unless he was shown he couldn’t win. He said no one is saying that to him.

  Biden confirms a story Lisa Lerer and I wrote in February about Biden’s gait being impaired by breaking his foot. He was told to wear an orthopedic boot afterward.

  Biden replied “sure,” to a question about whether delegates to the Democratic National Convention should be free to vote their conscience. But the party’s current rules have bound nearly all of the delegates to Biden on the first ballot.