U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference on the 75th anniversary of NATO in Washington, D.C., on July 11, 2024.
Eves Herman | Reuters
President Joe Biden accidentally referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” during the first question at a much-anticipated solo news conference in Washington on Thursday.
Biden said, “If I thought Vice President Trump was unqualified to be president, I would not have chosen her.”
After his failed June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump, Biden came to this press conference with a sense of mission: to prove to the public that he can handle tough questions in an unscripted setting.
Earlier Thursday evening, Biden poured salt into his own political wound when he accidentally introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin” at a NATO event honoring Ukraine.
“And now I want to turn it over to the president of Ukraine, who has the courage as well as the determination, ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said, quickly correcting himself.
The last time Biden held a solo press conference was in November 2023, after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California.
This time, the president faces a new level of pressure with the future of his reelection campaign at stake.
Since the failure of the June debate, new cracks have appeared every day in the support of Democratic lawmakers, donors, fundraisers and strategists.
Hours before Biden’s much-anticipated press conference, one of his campaign officials told NBC News that the president should resign. “He’ll never recover from this.”
As of Thursday, at least 14 Democratic lawmakers had publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race and allow a new Democratic candidate to take the lead.
This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
