.Joe Biden, who now stakes his political survival on every public appearance, made a big mistake on Thursday, just before the start of a press conference considered crucial to his presidential bid.
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Speaking at a NATO summit in Washington, the 81-year-old Democrat declared “President Putin” as he welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the stage.
“Now I’d like to hand over the floor to the president of Ukraine, who is courageous enough to be assertive. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” announced the US president, who was not his first spectacular failure of this kind.
Joe Biden, who had planned a Western response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, stepped away from the microphone before realizing his mistake and returning to say, “He’s going to beat up President Putin.” President Zelensky. I’m more focused on taking down Putin.
His Republican opponents immediately circulated the video on social media.
The error is worse before his press conference at 6:30pm local time (10:30pm GMT).
Without cues, without a teleprompter, the challenge for the US president is to repeat himself clearly and with a confident voice.
On June 27, he failed to do so during a debate against Republican front-runner Donald Trump, whom he is determined to face in the November election.
His opponent’s campaign team predicted defeat.
“If he comes in and looks at a file and finds a reporter with a predetermined question, he’s not going to be the ‘big guy.’ It’s going to tell you everything is staged and pre-scripted,” Jason Miller, a close adviser to Donald Trump, told Newsmags.
“Big Boy”
The White House used the curious expression “big boy press conference” for Thursday’s meeting.
In the Democratic Party, weeks ahead of the August 19-22 nominating convention in Chicago, many doubt the 81-year-old president can still salvage his candidacy.
“Neither tonight’s press conference nor Monday’s scheduled interview (NBC, editor’s note) will provide the president with the political salvation he seeks,” elected official Richie Torres of New York said in a statement.
AFP
According to the New York Times, the campaign team of Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris has begun conducting discreet polls on the 59-year-old vice president’s chances against Donald Trump.
The key figure involved, the first woman but also the first person of African-American and Asian descent in the role, has been unfailingly loyal so far.
“We know this election will be tough (…) but if there’s one thing we know about our President Joe Biden, it’s that he’s a fighter!” He told a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, vowing in a powerful speech: “We will continue to fight.”
According to researcher Martha Joynt Kumar, cited by Axios, Joe Biden has given 36 press conferences during his tenure as president. Of his last six predecessors, only Republican Ronald Reagan had done less.
The Democrat, a former stutterer, has never been a flamboyant speaker, especially when he’s improvising. With age, his speeches become more and more labored.
Getty Images via AFP
Mithrone and Cole
He also has a history of spectacular failures.
In February, he was quick to mention former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996, as a replacement for Emmanuel Macron, and the late Helmut Kohl as a replacement for former German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Thursday’s latest gaffe is another blow to the octogenarian president, who has so far resisted calls from within his own party and from celebrities and the rich in the entertainment world.
An Ipsos poll published by the Washington Post and ABC on Thursday found that 67% of respondents believe the US president should withdraw his candidacy. Among Democratic voters alone, this is the majority opinion, 56%.
Only 24% of voters decide that Joe Biden is “mentally sharp,” while twice as many (58%) judge Donald Trump to be the same.
A dozen Democrats elected to the House of Representatives and one senator have now openly called for their nominee to drop out.
