Washington:
US President Joe Biden defiantly insisted on Thursday that he will run for and win another term, while a series of verbal slip-ups while chairing a key summit cast a new, harsh light on his fitness.
The 81-year-old president sought to demonstrate his sovereignty as he chaired the NATO summit in Washington, two weeks after a disastrous debate performance raised fears among Democrats that he might lose to Donald Trump.
But Biden mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his Russian enemy Vladimir Putin, but then quickly corrected himself.
At a high-profile evening press conference afterwards, Biden incorrectly referred to “Vice President” Trump.
But he vowed to stay in the race.
“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I’ll beat him again,” Biden said of Trump.
Biden, who is already the oldest person elected to the White House for the first time, said he was “not concerned with my legacy” but with “finishing the work I started.”
Biden faces steady calls from Democrats to abandon his 2024 candidacy because they fear Trump could beat him.
Biden made it clear that he supports Harris – who would succeed him as vice president but is also seen by a growing number of Democrats as a stronger front-runner.
Biden said he would not have chosen Kamala Harris, whom he accidentally named Trump, if “she was not qualified to be president.”
He also denied reports that he had to go to bed at 8 p.m., even though he held his press conference on Thursday.
“Instead of starting every day at 7:00 a.m. and going to bed at midnight, it would be wiser for me to give myself a little more time,” Biden said.
“Slips of the tongue happen”
Biden’s mistake regarding Zelensky’s name drew a sigh of relief from the room, but Zelensky, who led Ukraine during the war against the Russian invasion in 2022, laughed it off.
At the summit, the other heads of state and government answered questions about Biden and gave mostly positive answers.
“Slips of the tongue happen, and if you keep a close enough eye on everyone, you’ll find plenty,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the president’s latest faux pas.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Biden appeared “responsible,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “in good shape.”
But key American supporters have turned away from diplomatic niceties.
Hollywood actor and well-connected Democratic supporter George Clooney has called on Biden to drop out of the race, and party bigwig Nancy Pelosi has so far refrained from fully supporting him.
About 14 Democratic members of the House of Representatives and one Democratic senator openly called on the man who defeated Trump four years ago to withdraw from the candidacy.
According to a poll released Thursday, more than half of Democrats believe Biden should end his candidacy for a second term, and two-thirds of Americans believe he should drop out of the race.
But the former president and the incumbent remain neck and neck at 46 percent, according to the Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos poll.
The New York Times reported, however, that Biden’s campaign team was quietly testing Harris’ strength in a possible duel against Trump.
Some of the president’s long-time associates are now discussing how to persuade him to resign, the newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources.
The White House said the report was “clearly” false.
The once-loquacious Biden has given fewer press conferences than his predecessors, but on Thursday he spoke at unusual length at what his aides called a “big boy” press event.
Biden called his debate breakdown a “bad night” and attributed it to a cold and jet lag.
But Clooney tried to torpedo the narrative that this was an isolated case, saying it was “devastating” to admit it, but the signs were clear at a benefit event he hosted in Los Angeles on June 15.
Biden’s campaign hit back on Thursday with a new advertising campaign on the final day of the NATO summit that portrayed Trump as Putin’s “lapdog.”
NATO allies are also seeking reassurance about Biden’s leadership qualities and their fears that a return of the isolationist, Putin-praising Trump could spell trouble for the alliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
