In an unconvincing performance at a solo press conference Thursday evening, President Joe Biden tried his best to seem cogent and up to the task of taking on former President Donald Trump in November.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Biden’s disastrous debate showing — which has prompted several Democratic lawmakers and multiple pundits to call for him to get out of the party’s way — has led to speculation over whether he will drop out of the race or — as Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has suggested — should resign because of his seemingly diminished cognitive ability.
During the half-hour-long press conference, Biden frequently lost his train of thought and seemed to struggle to defend himself against reporters’ questions about his fitness to be commander-in-chief, not to mention committed two massive name-related faux pas.
Here’s what Fox 4 KDFW reported on what could be the death knell of the president’s re-election bid:
Before his highly anticipated news conference on Thursday, Biden was winding down his remarks at an event on the sidelines of the NATO summit with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other leaders when he made an untimely verbal flub: He referred to the Ukrainian leader as “President Putin.”
“And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said.
The room, and Zelenskyy, gasped at Biden’s gaffe, which the U.S. president quickly sought to clean up.
“President Putin? You’re going to beat President Putin,” Biden said to Zelenskyy at the event to mark the unveiling of an agreement called the Ukraine Compact. “I’m so focused on beating Putin; we got to worry about it,” Biden explained.
Zelenskyy joked: “I’m better” than Putin.
Biden agreed. “You’re a hell of a lot better.”
Things didn’t get much better from there. As Fox 4 put it:
After giving a speech touting his administration’s progress with lowering inflation and the country’s leadership in international affairs, Biden told the press that he had a list of reporters he would call on instead of calling on them at random for questions.
When asked his opinion on whether Vice President Kamala Harris would be a fit replacement should Biden decide to step down, the president accidentally referred to his running mate as “Vice President Trump.”
Biden was also 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.”
Well, it’s a good thing he’s not worried about his legacy.