Biden opens high-stakes press conference by calling Kamala ‘Trump’s vice president,’ but doubles down on November run

Joe Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” while answering her first question at a closely watched, high-stakes news conference as he faces pressure from Democratic officials to end his reelection campaign against his Republican rival.

Biden has fielded several questions about his fitness for office and viability as a candidate against Donald Trump after the 81-year-old president appeared to break down during a presidential debate against him two weeks ago.

Biden arrived on stage Thursday facing a mandate from Democratic officials and voters to prove he is up to the task of campaigning against Trump for the next four months, let alone serving another demanding four-year term in the White House.

Follow the latest updates on Biden as pressure mounts on him to step down

“Look, I would not have chosen Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president,” he said, before correcting himself.

Asked later whether he would resign if polls showed Harris would fare better against Trump, he muttered: “Nobody says that.”

Biden, who frequently cleared his throat and gave garbled answers, faced several pressing questions from reporters about his viability as he navigated relatively complex statements about foreign policy and U.S. posture.

The president insisted he was still in the race and remained optimistic about his chances and political future, pointing to his record in office and the renewed global alliances at this week’s NATO summit.

“The fact is, I am the most qualified person to beat Trump,” Biden said. “I beat him once, I will beat him again.”

“Where was Trump?” he asked at one point. “He was riding around in his golf cart, filling out a scorecard before he hit the ball?”

Asked if he could reassure Americans that he would not have “another bad night” like his admittedly “stupid” misstep against Trump in their first debate of 2024, Biden said there was “no indication” his work is “slowing down.”

“Am I doing my job? Can you name anyone who has passed more important legislation in three and a half years?” he asked.

“I created 2,000 jobs last week,” he added. “If I slow down and can’t finish the job, that’s a sign I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication that’s happening right now. Nothing.”

He said it would be “smarter for me to moderate myself more.”

“My schedule is very busy,” he said. “I love my staff, but they add things.”

He joked that he was “getting yelled at by his wife” because of his busy schedule.

“I’m not here to leave a legacy,” he said. “I’m here to finish the job I started.”

Asked whether he would get another neurological exam before the November election, he said: “I think it’s important that if a neurologist tells me I need another test … I’m going to ask Trump to get his, okay?”

“I’m not against it, if my doctors tell me,” he added. “If my doctors think I need another test, I’ll do it.”

His mistake with Harris’ name came just hours after he accidentally called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin.” He quickly realized his mistake and turned to a lectern to say, “We’re going to beat President Putin.”

“I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he said.

Zelensky appeared to shrug off the mistake, joking: “I’m better.”

“You’re much better,” Biden told him.

The news conference follows more than two weeks of pressure from a growing number of Democratic officials, donors and voters calling on the president to suspend his re-election campaign.

Biden has framed the 2024 election as the most important of his lifetime and portrayed his Republican rival as an imminent danger to American democracy, but Biden insists he remains the best candidate to defeat him, as he did four years ago.

At campaign rallies following the June 27 debate, Biden suggested that “elites” were plotting against him and that the push to end his campaign came from powerful, unseen adversaries.

Yet it appears to be the exact opposite: Democratic officials are now furious that White House officials and campaign aides are ignoring voters’ concerns about Biden’s age and fitness, which have been an issue since before the debate, or, worse, that his staff is actively covering up signs of the president’s decline.

More than a dozen Democratic members of Congress have publicly called on the president to end his campaign, and reports of dissent among congressional Democrats and officials across the United States are increasing pressure on the Biden campaign to address the concerns head on and at least prove he is a more than viable candidate to defeat Trump.

Most Democratic voters across the country think Biden should step down, according to ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. Sixty-seven percent of American adults believe Biden should end his campaign, including 56% of Democrats.

But the poll shows Biden and Trump remaining largely tied, while other post-debate polls have shown Biden trailing Trump by an average of 3.5 percentage points. Biden’s campaign has argued that his debate performance has not moved the needle in any meaningful way.