US President Joe Biden reiterated in a long-awaited press conference that he will continue his re-election campaign and assured that even NATO leaders have asked him to stay to defeat former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021) in the November elections.
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Despite his insistence, two verbal lapses –One during an appearance with NATO and allied leaders and another at his first solo press conference since November.– do not help to dispel doubts about his ability to govern for four more years, until he is 86, if he wins the elections.
First, Biden introduced the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” and at the beginning of his press conference he referred to the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump.”
“I haven’t had a single European ally come to me and say, ‘Joe, don’t run.’ What I hear them saying is, ‘You have to win,'” Biden said at a press conference on Thursday, July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington, marking the alliance’s 75th anniversary.
In this way, the president tried to use the support of allied leaders to strengthen his position and draw contrasts with Donald Trump, who is very critical of NATO.
The press conference, in which 11 journalists asked him questions, was surrounded by great anticipation, with all eyes focused on every cough, cough and pause of Biden, who was heavily criticised after his performance in the June 27 debate against Trump.
Despite the criticism, Biden was confident he could beat Trump.I beat him once and I’ll do it again“he said, adding that it is not “unusual” that there are doubts about his candidacy at this point in the presidential race.
Biden admitted that there are other Democrats who can also beat Trump in the election, but said he would only drop out of the race if he was “told there’s no way I can win.”
The president also tried to make it clear that his desire to continue in the presidential race is not due to ambition, but rather a sense of duty. “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started,” Biden stressed.who is facing an increasingly open rebellion among legislators in his party who are asking him to make way for someone younger.
Biden’s slip with names of leaders
The press conference, however, got off to a bad start. Biden was coming off a NATO summit event where he had mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin” when introducing him to an audience. He quickly corrected himself, but the mistake had an immediate impact in the media.
At the start of the press conference, he again made a mistake when he mistakenly called his vice president, Kamala Harris, “Trump.”
“I would not have chosen Vice President Trump as vice president if I believed she was not qualified to be president,” he said, after a question about whether Harris would be ready to take over the presidency if necessary.
Trump quickly seized on these two gaffes to mock Biden in a series of posts on the social media site Truth Social. “Great job Joe,” the Republican wrote alongside a clip showing the moment Biden mistook Harris for Trump.
“Crooked Joe has a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” the Republican wrote.
59 minutes of press conference
Beyond those mistakes, the press conference, which lasted 59 minutes, was similar to others Biden has given with elaborate answers on foreign policy, going into details and telling already known anecdotes, such as the long personal relationship he has with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he met when he was vice president under Barack Obama (2009-2017).
Biden used teleprompters for opening remarks on NATObut then improvised to answer reporters’ questions. All those who were able to ask Biden questions had received a prior notice from the White House and the president himself showed a white piece of paper with the names written down at the press conference.
At this point in his presidency, Biden has held fewer press conferences than any president since Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
According to a tally by the University of California at Santa Barbara, Biden has given 36 press conferences since arriving at the White House in January 2021, while Trump gave 88 in his four years in office.
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Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/biden-dice-que-sigue-en-campana-pese-a-confundir-a-zelenski-con-putin-y-a-harris-con-trump-rg10
