NEW YORK — Towards the end of his closely watched news conference On Thursday night, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, President Joe Biden spoke about being tested by doctors for his mental acuity. Suddenly, a little frustration crept through.
“No matter what I do,” he said, “no one will be satisfied.”
That’s the challenge Biden faced as he met with U.S. and international reporters, two weeks after a poor debate performance prompted calls to step aside and let another candidate run the Democratic campaign against former President Donald Trump.
Biden was animated at times, particularly during an opening statement in which he spoke of the importance of the NATO alliance and defended his presidency on issues of the economy and the border with Mexico. He relished the opportunity to talk about the country’s relationship with China and where that might be headed.
But on the very first question he was asked, he also rewarded viewers, opponents and journalists looking for gaffes: He referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Donald Trump. He rambled at times, dropped inexplicable facts and sounded tired, especially as the hour passed 8 p.m. Eastern Time. His voice was hoarse and sometimes hesitant.
Ultimately, the press conference was an inkblot test for those following him, NBC News’ Hallie Jackson said at the end. Supporters were likely encouraged by his grasp of the issues, she said, “but if you think he should get off the ticket, this probably hasn’t changed your mind.”
Biden appeared determined, giving no indication that he doubted he would be the best candidate to take on Trump in the November general election.
Still, the press conference indicated how difficult it will be for him to change the subject. The first five questions were a salvo on the same topic: his ability to perform in office. Even reporters who broached other subjects — Ukraine, China, NATO — tended to mix in questions about his fitness to serve in the future.
Even after Biden ended the press conference, NBC’s Peter Alexander asked about his gaffe with Harris’ name and how Trump was already using it as ammunition against him.
The news conference was widely anticipated all week, prompting pundits to repeatedly stress the stakes. Tensions have been running high between reporters and the Biden team, a result of the president’s relatively infrequent news conferences and interviews compared to his predecessors. Little of that hostility was on display at the news conference, but the questions he faced were still sharp.
Have you ever thought about what a loss would mean for his legacy? Is Vice President Harris ready to serve as president? How can you say that you’re up to the task in two or three years? How can you assure Americans that there won’t be more bad nights like the debate? Are you open to more cognitive testing?
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos covered the same topics extensively during last week’s primetime interview, and NBC’s Lester Holt will likely do the same in the interview scheduled for Monday.
Some of the immediate reactions from pundits on live newscasts were as expected: MSNBC’s Joy Reid suggested that gaffes like name-swapping are unlikely to hurt Biden because people who know him expect that. On Fox, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “It was hard to watch. It was a car crash.”
“How much is this going to cost?” said Jesse Watters of Fox News. “Is this guy so pain tolerant that he can take this kind of beating from now until the convention?”
Still, Fox’s Martha MacCallum said, “I think he’s managed to do it there and do it pretty well, considering how low the bar has been set.”
David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Barack Obama who, as a CNN commentator, has angered some members of the Biden team with his candid assessments of the campaign, said he didn’t expect the news conference to change many minds.
“The issue isn’t so much his track record or history,” Axelrod said. “It’s his ability to move forward. And when he was asked those questions, he really didn’t have a good answer for what people could expect going forward.”
The debate had only been going on for a few minutes — on some networks, just a few seconds — before pundits and reporters began discussing how the discussion would proceed.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him on http://twitter.com/dbauder.