WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden defiantly insisted on Thursday that he would run for another term and win, as a series of verbal gaffes while chairing a major summit cast a harsh new light on his physical condition.
The 81-year-old president sought to show he is in control as he led a NATO summit in Washington two weeks after a disastrous debate performance sparked fears among Democrats that he could lose to Donald Trump.
But Biden wrongly portrayed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his Russian nemesis, Vladimir Putin, before quickly correcting himself.
At a high-stakes evening news conference later, Biden mistakenly referred to “Vice President” Trump.
But he vowed to stay in the race.
“I believe I am the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once and I will beat him again,” Biden said of Trump.
Biden, the oldest person ever elected to the White House for the first time, said he was not in this “for my legacy” but to “complete the work I started.”
Biden has faced a relentless campaign from Democrats calling for him to drop his 2024 bid, fearing Trump is positioned to defeat him.
Biden made clear he supported Harris, who would replace him as vice president, but she is also seen by a growing number of Democrats as a stronger candidate at the top of the ticket.
Biden said he would not have chosen Kamala Harris, whom he accidentally referred to as Trump, if “she was not qualified to be president.”
He also denied reports that he needed to go to bed at 8 p.m., the time at which he was still holding his press conference on Thursday.
“Instead of starting every day at 7:00 a.m. and going to bed at midnight, it would be smarter for me to pace myself a little bit more,” Biden said.
'Progress' on Gaza deal
The US president said his administration was moving towards a ceasefire agreement in war-torn Gaza.
“These are difficult and complex issues. There are still gaps to be closed. We are making progress. The trend is positive and I am determined to achieve this agreement and end this war, which must end now,” he told reporters at the White House.
President Biden said he would be willing to deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping well into his second term, as he faced questions about his advanced age and suitability for office.
“I'm ready to deal with them now and three years from now… there's no world leader I'm not prepared to deal with,” he told reporters at the White House.
During the news conference, Biden acknowledged concerns about his mental capacity and said he was focused on reassuring Democrats amid growing calls for him to withdraw from the November presidential election.
“I am determined to stand as a candidate, but I think it is important to allay fears,” he told reporters at a high-profile news conference.
Mental fitness
President Biden, seeking to allay concerns about his mental state as he seeks re-election, said neurological examinations found he is in “good shape.”
“I have undergone three major and intense neurological examinations by a neurologist,” Biden said, most recently in February.
“And they say I'm in good shape.”
'Slips of the tongue happen'
Biden's gaffe over Zelensky's name prompted gasps in the room, but Zelensky, Ukraine's wartime leader against a 2022 Russian invasion, laughed it off.
The other leaders attending the summit answered questions about Biden, and their responses were largely supportive.
“Slips of the tongue happen, and if you keep a close eye on everyone, you'll find enough of them,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said after the president's latest gaffe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Biden looked “in command,” while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “in good form.”
But key American supporters have shied away from diplomatic niceties.
Hollywood actor and well-connected Democratic supporter George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race, and party grandee Nancy Pelosi stopped short of fully endorsing him.
About 14 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have openly urged the man who defeated Trump four years ago to retire, along with one Democratic senator.
A poll released Thursday showed more than half of Democrats say Biden should retire for a second term and two-thirds of Americans think he should drop out of the race.
But the former president and the current president remain tied at 46 percent, according to the Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
But the Biden campaign was quietly testing Harris' strength in a potential showdown with Trump, The New York Times reported.
Meanwhile, some of the president's long-time advisers are discussing how to convince him to step down, the paper also said, citing unnamed sources.
The White House said the report was “unequivocally” false.
The once talkative Biden has held fewer news conferences than his predecessors, but on Thursday he spoke at unusually length in what aides called a “big-picture” press event.
Biden called his debate meltdown a “bad night,” blaming a cold and jet lag.
But Clooney sought to torpedo the narrative that it was an isolated incident, saying it was “devastating” to admit, but the signs were also clear at a June 15 fundraising event in Los Angeles that he hosted.
Biden's campaign hit back Thursday with a new ad campaign on the final day of the NATO summit that portrays Trump as Putin's “lapdog.”
NATO allies have also sought reassurances about Biden's leadership ability and their fears that a return of the isolationist, Putin-praising Trump could spell trouble for the alliance.
