The eyes of the world will be on Joe Biden on Thursday night and all the 81-year-old has to do is give strong, forceful answers to a series of questions, proving he can perform well in an unscripted environment and calming rumors that he is not mentally prepared for a second term in office.
But in a sign of how concerned his aides are about his performance at the 5:30 p.m. ET news conference, they have a backup plan in case Biden is at a loss for words and stares into space as he did in the first presidential debate.
Biden is under pressure as he tries to silence calls within the Democratic Party for him to leave the presidential race and shore up support for his candidacy. At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers have called for his departure.
A strong showing can reassure his frantic allies that he has the mental and physical energy to compete against Donald Trump. A poor showing could be a disaster and the nail in the coffin of his chances of remaining the Democratic nominee.
The president has repeatedly said he will not drop out of the race.
President Joe Biden has been preparing for the press conference all week.
Biden has been preparing for the news conference all week, the White House said, with officials arguing that this is not a one-time, high-stakes event but part of a broader strategy to make Biden more public and more available to the media.
Additional events are already planned, a series of public events with pictures to counteract any unfortunate moments that might occur at the news conference: The president will sit down with NBC’s Lester Holt for an interview on Monday during a trip to Texas, travel to Detroit on Friday, and next week, in addition to Austin, he will visit Las Vegas.
But the press conference could be the decisive moment for his candidacy.
Lawmakers, party officials, donors, allies and enemies alike will be watching.
White House spokesman John Kirby said he did not know how long the news conference would last, but that Biden would personally call reporters. In the past, the president has used a list prepared by White House staff with the names of reporters he should call.
“How long it will take will depend on how many questions are asked,” Kirby said on Fox News on Wednesday. “I can’t give you a time frame, but it will be a substantial press conference, again with multiple reporters and him, alone, calling them on.”
The president’s last solo press conference was in November 2023.
The challenge for Biden will be to show himself as a strong and clear communicator, capable of arguing why he can beat Trump in November and win a second term.
The president, who may rely on a teleprompter, will also have to demonstrate he can improvise and think on his feet while being asked multiple questions in real time.
His allies argue that it will help reestablish his candidacy.
“The press conference and other events like that will be helpful in getting us back to the contrast between Biden and Trump that we need and that the country deserves,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
But it’s not just the press conference.
Lawmakers and party officials will be closely watching polls released in the coming weeks that have been conducted since Biden’s debate performance became known.
And even Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos poll found that a majority of Democrats believe Biden should end his campaign based on his debate performance.
The poll found that 56 percent of Democrats say he should end his candidacy, while 42 percent say he should continue seeking re-election.
Party members will also be keeping a close eye on the president’s next round of fundraising numbers. Donors have expressed fury over Biden’s performance in the debate. Some claim the party misled them about Biden’s ability to get the job done.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden at the June 27 presidential debate
Biden has held 36 press conferences to date, including 14 solo and 22 joint press conferences with other leaders.
The president still faces calls from some Democratic lawmakers to drop out of the race, and other bad news has piled up.
George Clooney, a lifelong Democrat and major party donor, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times on Wednesday calling on Biden to drop out of the race. The prominent actor’s call sent political shockwaves through the Democratic Party.
Additionally, the Cook Political Report moved six states toward Trump in its Electoral College ratings on Tuesday, citing Biden’s slide in national and private post-debate battleground polls.
Other prominent Democrats have not supported the president at all.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who appear to question Biden’s decision to stay in the race.
“It’s up to the president to decide whether he’s going to run or not. We all encourage him to make that decision, because time is running out,” she said on Morning Joe on Wednesday.
Biden has repeatedly said he is in the presidential race to stay.
“I want you to know that despite all the speculation in the press and elsewhere, I am firmly committed to staying in this race, to running this race to the finish, and to beating Donald Trump,” Biden wrote to Democratic lawmakers on Monday as he began a forceful strategy to regain the trust of his party.
So far, his week has gone well. His inaugural NATO speech was almost disastrous, but he managed to avoid a gaffe when reading from the teleprompter.
He has held on for two weeks after his disastrous debate with Trump, in which he often stared blankly into the camera and struggled to find words.
And some Democrats have stuck with it.
“I’m not going to advise the president anything other than ‘stay in power. You’re our guy and I’ll have your back,'” Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Wednesday.
Joe Biden and Jill Biden walk off the debate stage after their poor performance
But fears are growing among Democrats that Biden will not only lose in November, but will take Democratic lawmakers down with him.
If Republicans win the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, Donald Trump would have no checks on his presidential power.
“I think Donald Trump is on track to win this election, and maybe win it by a landslide and take the Senate and the House of Representatives with him,” Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado told CNN.
“For me, this is not a question of polls or politics, but a moral question about the future of our country.”
Bennet also expressed what many Democrats have argued privately: If the Biden campaign has a plan to win a second term, they are not sharing it either publicly or privately.
“The White House, since that disastrous debate, I think has done nothing to really demonstrate that it has a plan to win this election,” Bennet said.