President Joe Biden‘s press conference was intended to help end the growing list of doubts within the Democratic Party about his candidacy, but the event has not stopped the questions about whether he can continue as the nominee.
Scheduled two weeks after his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump, Biden’s appearance at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., offered mixed results as he was able to survive the rare solo news conference.
These are the four main takeaways from Biden’s Thursday press conference.
Biden isn’t backing down
Throughout his press conference, Biden was asked directly by journalists about mounting pressure for him to drop out of the presidential race — from those worried about his ability to win to those concerned about downballot effects. He defiantly proclaimed that he believes he is the Democrat who can beat Trump in November.
“I think I’m the most qualified. I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” Biden said. “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in it to finish the job I’ve started.”
Biden’s insistence on staying in the race comes as he continues to fall behind Trump in the polls taken after the June 27 debate.
The press conference did not reassure Democrats
Biden’s press conference was meant to reassure Democrats that he was mentally sharp and that his rough performance at the Atlanta debate was a uniquely bad night. But in answering the first question, he made a flub. The president confused Vice President Kamala Harris with his opponent, referring to his running mate as “Vice President Trump,” with more gaffes throughout the press conference.
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Shortly after the press conference ended, three more House Democrats said that Biden should step aside, and reports have continued to swirl about questions other Democrats are having about the president’s candidacy behind closed doors.
Foreign policy items were his strongest answers
The highlights for Biden during the press conference were his foreign policy answers. Despite accidentally calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” at an event earlier on Thursday, Biden gave his most comprehensive answers on matters ranging from Ukraine to Israel.
While Biden’s press conference was dominated by questions about his age, his foreign policy, or his ability to continue his campaign, some of the questions aimed at the president overlapped. When asked if he would be able to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping or Russian President Vladimir Putin in a second term, Biden was clear.
“I’m ready to deal with them now and three years from now,” Biden said.
Biden leaves the door open for his vice president
While Biden has said he is not stepping aside, he did offer confidence in Harris’s ability to replace him at the top of the ticket if it were required. While responding to the question in which he erroneously called her “Vice President Trump,” he did give her a vote of confidence.
“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President [Harris] to be vice president if I thought she’s not qualified to be president,” Biden said. “So let’s start here.”
He also stated that he would not step aside unless his campaign came back to him and claimed there was no path to victory in November.
“No, unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Me,” Biden said, before whispering into the microphone that “no one’s saying that. No poll’s saying that.”
Biden did say that the delegates at the Democratic National Convention are “free” to pick someone other than him, but the president said they would not do that, again arguing he is the strongest candidate to take on Trump.
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“Obviously, they’re free to do whatever they want, but I get overwhelming support,” Biden said. “I think I’m the best call. I know I believe I’m the best qualified to govern.”
The DNC is scheduled for Aug. 19-22, but the delegates are nevertheless expected to meet virtually ahead of the convention to nominate Biden to comply with state ballot deadlines.