Washington.-US President Joe Biden faced a roomful of journalists live on Thursday, without a written text to hold on to, at a press conference in Washington considered “the most pressured in modern history” and a crucial test for his political survival.
He arguably came through and was substantially better than in his disastrous debate last month once morest Donald Trump, though questions regarding his health will likely linger.
“I am the most qualified person to be president. I beat Trump once and I will do it once more,” said Biden, who is seeking to convince his critics that he is in a position to be the candidate to beat the Republican in November and lead the White House for four more years, while pressure is mounting for him to withdraw from his candidacy.
The president began the conference, organized as part of the closing of the summit for the 75th anniversary of NATO, with the results of the meeting of the Atlantic alliance. “I will keep NATO strong,” said Biden, at the beginning of the press conference. “We must lead the world,” he said, and took the opportunity to review the economy, the border, etc.
He then took questions from reporters who obviously focused on his abilities and the calls for his resignation. “We have made great progress, we have more work to do,” he said energetically and in a much firmer voice than he has heard of lately, although with a clearing of the throat that made him uncomfortable.
Supporters, detractors and Americans in general were glued to the television to follow the performance of Biden, 81, who looked rigid and incoherent in a debate with Trump on June 27, which many described as a “disaster” and left the Democratic Party “in panic.”
Since then, Democratic officials and lawmakers have suggested privately (and a dozen congressmen have done so publicly) that Biden is not healthy enough for the job, that he should step aside for a more competitive candidate like Vice President Kamala Harris or others, although for now none of them are polling higher than the president.
Biden has tried to stop the offensive by saying that he will not resign and that he is the only one who can beat Trump in November, but he has not managed to convince a large part of the Democrats. The president gave an interview last Friday in which he was seen sitting and was better, although he did not manage to dispel the doubts.
“I’m in this to complete the work I’ve started.” “I just want to keep moving forward,” he replied when asked regarding his legacy.
“If you look at my schedule, it’s full. Not like Trump, who is in golf carts all day, he doesn’t do anything,” Biden said, adding that he has recently attended 20 large events with thousands of people. “I just have to go a little more at my own pace. I go at my own pace,” Biden said, adding that the job of the presidency is “one of the most stressful in the world.”
Regarding his performance in the fateful debate, he said that it was “a stupid mistake” and that in the next one, scheduled for September, “I will not be traveling the week before,” in order to be more rested, and that the best way to leave that dark night behind is “by doing the work.”
There was a difficult moment when he was asked regarding Vice President Kamala Harris’s abilities and in his response he confused her with Trump. “I would not have chosen Vice President Trump to be vice president,” he said. He later added that she is clearly qualified to lead the White House and that was why he had chosen her as vice president.
Asked if he would take a cognitive test, Biden said his job at the White House is a daily test, but he wouldn’t object if his doctors asked him to. He said he’s already taken three and passed them. “If the doctors suggest another one, I’ll do it,” he said.
The press conference began later than expected, at around 8 p.m. local time, the time at which the press, citing White House sources, said the president needed to rest. Biden denied those reports.
The president is not a great speaker, it is known, and since childhood he has struggled with a stutter that he has been able to overcome, but which sometimes shows up. But his performance has deteriorated over the years and he looks worse than before the 2022 election. Many speculate that he might suffer from Parkinson’s, a neurodegenerative disease that causes rigidity, a mask-like face and voice problems, among other symptoms. But the White House has denied this.
Biden got off to a bad start in the followingnoon. Shortly before the press conference, at a meeting with NATO leaders on Ukraine, he introduced President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin.” Although he immediately corrected himself, it was a misstep when he is under tremendous scrutiny.
The press conference was a much riskier step because he was without his usual teleprompter (the device where speeches are projected) and in front of live journalists who constantly fired questions at him regarding his abilities. But Biden was there, for almost an hour answering questions regarding his health and various other topics and he looked much sharper than in other presentations. He was energetic at times in his answers, especially when referring to the threat to democracy that Trump represents.
Biden is clinging to his economic achievements: he swears that he created 15.7 million jobs, that wages grew at a good pace and that today inflation is at its lowest level in less than three years. Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell gave him a helping hand a few days ago by pointing out that the US economy is healthy and that he might even soon lower interest rates, which have risen since the pandemic.
However, Biden is not the inspiring leader he once was and many of his supporters believe he does not have the vigour and health necessary to beat Trump and govern the world’s leading power for another four years. They might replace him if he withdraws from his candidacy since he has not been formally nominated at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August.
A recent Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that 56% of Democrats think Biden should step aside given his debate performance. However, that puts him tied with Trump in the race at 46%, the same as in April.
His career has come under increasing threat from lawmakers who are calling for his resignation, and the blows have not stopped. He has been strongly criticized by actor George Clooney, one of the most powerful financiers of Biden’s campaign who called for him to resign, and by the influential former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Today’s press conference gave Biden breathing room to keep fighting and keep his candidacy hanging by a thread for now. This weekend will be crucial. The president did his job and will fight until the end, but it may not be enough to convince the Democrats who are trying to get him out of the race.Clarín.
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2024-07-16 13:24:40
