Biden’s crucial news conference amid calls to step aside

After a dismal debate performance, Biden’s candidacy is still under question. The first Senate Democrat, Peter Welch of Vermont, and over a dozen House Democrats have publicly called for Biden to end his campaign.

One of the staunchest supporters in the president’s corner has been his wife Jill Biden. As she tries to help her husband salvage his campaign she’s also coming under new scrutiny from critics who’ve cast her as a power-hungry wife pushing her 81-year-old husband to run again.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024

Follow the AP’s coverage of the NATO Summit: https://apnews.com/hub/nato

President Joe Biden acknowledged disappointments, missteps and frustrations with Israel’s hard-right government but also pointed to increasing hopes of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, which has devastated Gaza’s people.

Speaking in a much-watched news conference at the site of the just ended NATO summit, the president called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government the most conservative Israeli administration he has experienced and said he urged that country’s leaders not to follow the example that the U.S. set against al-Qaida and other extremist militant groups.

“Don’t think that’s what you should be doing, doubling down,” he said he told them.

Biden said he had been “disappointed” that his order for the U.S. military to build a sea pier to bring aid to Gaza, along with some other efforts, “have not succeeded as well.”

But Biden said Israel and Hamas have now agreed to the broad terms of a deal to pause fighting and free hostages. Mediators are working on gaps in agreement, he said.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said he hopes Biden will step away from the campaign.

Himes said in a post on the social platform X immediately after the president’s news conference that it has been “the honor of my career” to work with Biden, but “the 2024 campaign will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism.”

Himes said he no longer believes that person is Joe Biden “and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first, and as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.”

More than a dozen House Democrats have now called for Biden to leave the campaign. Peter Welch of Vermont is the only Democratic senator to say he should step aside.

Biden has wrapped up a nearly hourlong news conference in which he batted away questions about his age and fitness for office, while defending his record.

The president opened with an eight-minute statement, largely about the NATO summit he hosted in Washington, before taking reporters’ questions.

Biden called on reporters from 10 news organizations. He was asked about Democrats calling on him to drop his reelection bid, Vice President Kamala Harris and foreign policy.

The president insisted that he has no plans to drop out to make room for Vice President Kamala Harris or anyone else.

Asked if he would considering bowing out before November if shown data that Harris could perform better against Trump, Biden responded, “No, unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’”

“No one’s saying that,” Biden said. “No poll says that.”

He conceded that there are probably other candidates “who can beat Trump” but pointed to his campaign’s strong fundraising and operations in battleground states, noting that anyone other than him would have “to start from scratch.”

None of the nine Democratic governors present at the National Governors Association conference remained around a TV watching as Biden’s news conference entered its final stretch.

Only a handful of party staffers were still nearby as the event wound down. The rest of the group left to mingle in the courtyard of the Salt Lake City hotel.

Pressed about if he would undergo cognitive testing, Biden reiterated that his job as president is proof of his mental acuity.

The president said he took three “significant and intense neurological exams” done by a neurologist, most recently in February. He added that he is “tested every single day” as he tackles the challenges of the White House.

Biden said that if his doctors say they “think I should have a neurological exam again, I’ll do it,” but “no one’s suggesting that to me now.”

The president is reiterating his determination to run for reelection, despite the growing number of Democratic lawmakers and others who are calling for him to step aside.

“I think it’s important that I allay fears,” he said, referring to campaign appearances on Friday in Detroit and next week in Texas and Nevada.

“I gotta finish this job,” he said. “I gotta finish this job, because there’s so much at stake.”

Some Democratic governors are watching the president’s press conference in a private viewing during a meeting of the National Governors Association.

A couple of groans could be heard as Hawaii Gov. Josh Green stepped outside during the news conference. It wasn’t immediately clear what they were responding to.

Green told The Associated Press that he supports the president’s choice to run.

“My admiration and love for the president is not going to wane no matter how many ‘moments’ he has,” Green said. The governor said the state loves him because of what he did to help after the Maui fire.

Biden’s news conference has shifted largely from questions about whether he’s up to continuing his reelection campaign to foreign policy.

“There isn’t any world leader I’m not prepared to deal with,” the president said.

He also vowed to maintain a hard line against Russian President Vladimir Putin: “If we allow Russia to succeed in Ukraine, they’re not stopping in Ukraine.”

Journalists at Biden’s news conference charged from the gate with questions about his health, showing no hesitation at tackling the issue head-on.

The first five questioners all asked something about his health — some by itself, some embedded in questions about other things.

Finally, 15 minutes in, a reporter — a non-American — asked about European concerns if Donald Trump were to resume the presidency.

For his part, Biden answered some of the health questions emphatically but, on others, shifted the answers to focusing on the economy, the success of the NATO conference and other non-health-related topics.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee posted on his social media network a video clip of when Biden said “Vice President Trump.”

Trump added sarcastically at the end: “Great job, Joe!”

Biden said the best way to reassure anyone who is concerned about him having another “bad night” is “the way I assure myself and that is, ‘Am I getting the job done.’”

The president said “there’s no indication yet” that he’s slowing down on that front.

Biden had explained his poor debate performance against Trump last month by saying he had a “bad night.”

Biden is denying that he previously said he needs to cut back on his schedule to get to bed by 8 p.m.

The president told reporters that, in previous conversations, what he meant was “it’d be smarter to pace myself a little bit.”

He suggested that working from early in the morning until near midnight was probably not a great idea and suggested that evening fundraisers for his reelection campaign could begin an hour or two earlier going forward.

Biden also vowed that, ahead of his second debate with Trump in September, “I’m not going to be traveling 15 time zones.”

“Pace myself. Pace myself,” he said.

Asked whether the focus on his flubs and the pressure to drop out of the race has become damaging for the United States, Biden pushed back on the question.

“Have you seen a more successful conference?” he asked. “What do you think?”

Biden did not address the question, but he asserted that the just-concluded NATO summit was “the most successful conference I attended in a long time.”

Biden was asked how it might hurt his place in the history books if he were to keep running and lose to Trump in November — but insisted he’s not concerned. Instead, he said, his focus is continuing four more years of policies to grow the economy and help the middle class.

“I’m not in this for my legacy,” Biden said. “I’m in this to complete the job I started.”

The first question of Biden’s press conference was about him losing support among many of his fellow Democrats and key unions, and about Vice President Kamala Harris possibly replacing him on the ticket.

Biden was at first defiant, saying the “UAW endorsed me, but go ahead,” meaning the United Autoworkers.

But then he flubbed the answer, mixing up Harris and Trump: “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she wasn’t qualified.”

President Joe Biden opened his news conference by talking about NATO and security for Ukraine. He then shifted to discussing inflation and border security in the U.S., as well as negotiations for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.