President Biden held a high-stakes solo press conference Thursday evening where he doubled down on his earlier pledge to remain in the presidential race while suffering a few gaffes, including trailing off on his thoughts and using the phrase “anyway” at least nine times.
“I just got to just pace myself a lot more, pace myself. And the next debate, I’m not going to be traveling in 15 time zones a week before. Anyway. That’s what it was about,” Biden said after the media asked him about reports he needs to go to bed earlier in the day.
“That’s what it was about. And by the way, even with that, I love my staff. But they add things they add things all the time… I’m catching hell from my wife for that. Anyway,” he continued, again using the phrase, “anyway.”
Biden said “anyway” at least nine times throughout the roughly 58-minute press conference, according to a transcript of the press event, sparking some on social media to joke about an “anyway drinking game.”
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Biden’s press conference comes as concerns mount that he is not mentally fit to serve another four years in the Oval Office, including 17 elected Democrats calling on the president to bow out of the race as he prepares to square off against former President Donald Trump in November.
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“Joe Biden’s record of public service is unrivaled,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on X following the press conference. “His accomplishments are immense. His legacy as a great president is secure.”
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“He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump,” Himes continued.
Conservatives slammed Biden on social media throughout the public event for his handful of gaffes, including holding up a list of reporters he planned to call on, appearing to confuse Vice President Kamala Harris with former President Donald Trump, in addition to repeatedly saying “anyway.”
“This NATO press conference with Biden is another disaster. It is inexplicable the people advising this man continue to think that somehow he’s not going to humiliate himself and this country. Why do they continue to allow this to happen?” Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce posted to X during the press conference.
Allies of the president, however, championed the press event as a success, remarking on social media that Biden’s delivery to the bevy of press questions was “strong.”
“This is a very strong performance. Quite frankly. @POTUS is putting on a master class in how foreign policy and domestic policy intersect, explaining how crucial American global leadership is to our people here at home. Well done, Mr. President,” Democratic strategist Joel Rubin posted on X.
“Tonight Joe Biden offered a lengthy, detailed dive on the major national security issues he’s juggling combined with a comfortable but forceful defense of his view of where this race stands. 50 minutes of Qs. He needed to show up big tonight and he did,” former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield posted to X.
The president again addressed concerns over his mental acuity during the presser, defiantly defending his record in office.
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“Am I getting the job done? Can you name me somebody who’s got more major pieces of legislation passed in three and a half years ago, created 2000 jobs just last week. So if I slow down, I can’t get the job done. That’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that yet… none,” he said.
Biden also addressed whether Harris could serve as president, elaborating that he would not have chosen her as his running mate in 2020 if he thought otherwise.
“First of all, the way she’s handled the issue of freedom of women’s bodies to have control over their bodies. Secondly, her ability to handle almost any issue on the board. This was a hell of a prosecutor. She was a first-rate person, and in the Senate, she was really good. I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president. From the very beginning. I made no bones about that. She is qualified to be president. That’s why I picked her,” he said.
Biden’s press conference comes as he hosted NATO world leaders for the 75th anniversary of the defensive military alliance this week.
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