This is what a “big man” press conference looks like: two teleprompt screens, a list of vetted journalists and press aides with microphones, ready to silence tough questions.
The White House had used the term, used for the first time by a journalist, to mean that President Joe Biden would offer a no-holds-barred demonstration of his ability to dodge tough questions.
Yet even with screen railings, protesting aides and an opening statement, Biden struggled at times with a raspy throat, flubbed lines and erratic responses.
Asked if Kamala Harris could beat Donald Trump if she were to top the ticket, she gave a blunt answer.
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump as vice president if I didn’t think she was unqualified to be vice president,” he said, setting off a flood of Republican memes, with mashups of Harris and Trump quickly appearing online.
President Joe Biden held his first solo news conference since November on the sidelines of a NATO summit to defuse criticism that he is no longer up to the job.
But for the most part, Biden did what he had to do. He took questions from 10 reporters and spoke for an hour on topics ranging from the Democratic convention and his health to long-range weapons for Ukraine and how to confront the rise of China.
His allies and concerned Democrats wanted proof that he was still up to the job, and, embarrassing gaffes aside, he delivered.
But that doesn’t change anything: he continues to fight for his political life.
This was never the decisive night the media announced. It was a night of survival or death. No performance would have been good enough to change the fundamentals.
He remains the oldest president in history. He continues to age. And as he struggles to clear his throat over and over again, nights like these will only get harder.
He opened his news conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where world leaders were marking NATO’s 75th anniversary, with a prompted, time-sensitive speech about the importance of alliances and outlining some of his administration’s accomplishments.
The room, packed with about 100 journalists, all with their phones in their hands and the text of their questions prepared, grew nervous.
Is that all? Did Biden do the same thing as Trump and call reporters to a “press conference” only to talk to them and then leave?
The president was asked if Kamala Harris could beat Donald Trump if she were to top the ticket, and he gave an excruciatingly blunt response.
Biden did what he had to do on Thursday night and lives to fight another day.
“With that, I’ll take your questions,” Biden said to the almost audible relief of his audience.
‘I’ve been given a list of people to call here: Reuters, Jeff Mason.’
He was immediately asked about George Clooney’s explosive intervention a day earlier, calling on him to step aside, and about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggesting there was still time to decide.
“There’s a long way to go in this campaign,” Biden said. “So I’m going to keep going, keep going.”
“And because, look, I have more work to do. We have more work to finish this.”
If Biden’s future depended on the NATO summit, it was partly because that was what Biden wanted.
“I think a good way to judge me,” he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC last week, would be to see me at the summit.
Biden leaves after answering questions from 10 journalists for an hour
And, lo and behold, the world certainly did. Perhaps not everyone caught the details of the Ukraine Pact earlier in the day and its array of security agreements and promises, but by now everyone will have seen the way Biden introduced the Ukrainian president.
“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” he said before realizing that he had meant to introduce President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is at war with Putin.
There was a gasp in the room. Some people shouted the correct name as the leader of the free world tried to rally. “No, we are going to defeat Putin,” he said.
Biden made it clear at the press conference that he has no intention of withdrawing from the race.
But this leaves Democrats in a quandary. Major donors, supporters and key lawmakers have sounded the alarm about whether the veteran is prepared to take on Trump in November.
Biden has spent this week surrounded by the pomp and gravitas of NATO. On Wednesday he hosted allied heads of state and government at the White House.
He earlier met with new British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer later said the president was “in good shape” when asked about his health and fitness.
However, he refuses to bend to time and no performance will be good enough to silence his doubters.
“I’m determined to compete, but I think it’s important to dispel fears and let people see me out there,” he told reporters.
Within an hour, his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was determined to put an end to the situation and allow everyone to return home without further damage. “This concludes the press conference,” she shouted from the floor.
Biden couldn’t resist answering one last question.
NBC News’ Peter Alexander noted that he previously confused Harris, his own vice president, with Trump.
“Right now Donald Trump is using that to make fun of your age and your memory,” he said. “How do you combat that criticism?”
“Listen to the other guy…” he said with a smile, leaving with his best comment of the night.