Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Joe Biden react as they attend a Ukraine Compact meeting, on the sidelines of the NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, U.S. July 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A defiant Joe Biden insisted Thursday that he will run for another term as U.S. president and beat Donald Trump, as a string of verbal gaffes at a major summit threw a harsh new spotlight on his fitness.

In a high stakes press conference at the end of the NATO summit in Washington, the 81-year-old acknowledged the need to “allay fears” among Democrats but said he was determined not to step aside.

His bid to portray himself as in command was undermined by introducing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as his Russian foe Vladimir Putin earlier in the day, and then referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” at the news conference.

Mr. Biden’s candidacy has been in crisis since a disastrous debate performance against Mr. Trump two weeks ago renewed concerns around his age — and the rare solo press conference, lasting about an hour, was designed to show he still has what it takes.

“I’m the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump.

Already the oldest president in U.S. history, Mr. Biden said he was “not in this for my legacy” but to “complete the job I started.”

The president has faced a steady drumbeat of Democrats calling for him to abandon his 2024 candidacy, fearing that Mr. Trump is in a position to beat him.

More calls from House representatives came Thursday night after the news conference.

Mr. Biden made clear he supported Ms. Harris — who as vice president would take over from him in the event of an emergency, but is also seen by a growing number of Democrats as a stronger candidate at the top of the ticket.

‘Pace myself’

Amid reports that Mr. Biden’s campaign was quietly testing Ms. Harris’s strength in a theoretical match-up against Mr. Trump, the president said he would not have picked her if “she was not qualified to be president.”

He also denied reports that he needed to go to bed by 8 p.m., a time at which he was still holding his news conference on Thursday.

But after blaming his debate debacle on a mixture of jet lag and a cold he admitted it would be “smarter for me to pace myself a little more.”

He stressed too that neurological exams showed he was in “good shape” and said he would take another if his doctors recommended one, but they hadn’t.

Mr. Biden also fielded a series of foreign and domestic policy questions with detailed if occasionally meandering answers and relatively few slip-ups, though he did mix up Europe and Asia.

With questions swirling about his ability to hold his own against autocratic leaders like Mr. Putin or China’s Xi Jinping, Mr. Biden said he was “ready to deal with them now and three years from now.”

Yet his relatively assured performance failed to stop the bleeding, with three more Democratic lawmakers calling for him to quit the race, bringing the total to 17.

Mr. Trump meanwhile mocked Mr. Biden over his gaffes during the press conference itself.

“Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president… Great job, Joe!” Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social site.

After a shaky debate performance on Thursday night, political analysts and several US media organisations have been calling for US President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 election race. Democratic leaders rallied behind Mr Biden following his poor performance last week, as the White House denied a report he was meeting with family to assess his candidacy. Now, his wife and First Lady Jill Biden has spoken about the debate and has said that they “will continue to fight”.

Talking to Vogue from Camp David where the family was spending the weekend, she told the magazine “will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been president.”

She continued, “We will continue to fight,” and claimed that Mr Biden “will always do what’s best for the country.”

Notably, President Biden’s age is a particular concern with voters and there have been calls from some Democrats for him to step aside for a new candidate. Despite weak poll numbers and questions about his age, he has stuck to his plan to seek a second term.

On June 27, the 81-year-old’s performance in the presidential debate, rekindled calls for him to step away. When responding to a question about the economy posed by a CNN anchor, the POTUS, who is often observed stuttering and freezing during public events, seemed to lose his train of thought. When asked if voters felt “worse off” under his presidency, the Democrat committed yet another error.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said after the debate that he would defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race. He said, “I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious. I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to.”

“I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high,” he said at a rally.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden. File Photo
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Donald Trump turns 78 on Friday, a milestone that will remind voters that the two major-party candidates running for U.S. president this year are the oldest ever to seek the office.

Age and mental sharpness have been at the center of the contest between the Republican Trump and his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden, often getting more attention than substantive policy issues in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election.

Public opinion polls show Americans are more worried about the advanced age of Mr. Biden, who is 81. But at 78, Mr. Trump is just three and a half years younger, and he would be the oldest person ever to be inaugurated if he wins a second term.

Mr. Trump is scheduled to speak on Friday at a birthday party organized for him in West Palm Beach, Florida, by a group of die-hard supporters.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump has not explicitly made an issue of Mr. Biden’s age, but has sought to capitalize on his opponent’s every verbal mistake, as well as Mr. Biden’s slowing gait, to cast him as unfit for the Oval Office.

Mr. Biden has responded to questions about his age by telling voters to focus on his accomplishments in office as evidence of his acuity and strength. He has also described Mr. Trump as a threat to democracy and criticized his sometimes rambling speeches, as well as Mr. Trump’s use of inflammatory rhetoric against immigrants.

Still, even some Democrats have expressed concerns about Mr. Biden’s ability to complete another term, which would take him to age 86.

In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in February, some 78% of respondents – including 71% of Democrats – said Mr. Biden, already the oldest president, was too old to work in government. Some 53% of respondents said Mr. Trump, who was president from 2017-2021, was too old for government work.

“It’s not about age, it’s about mental competence,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, arguing that voters can see the contrast between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, whom she described as “sharp as a tack with elite stamina.”

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Presidential historian Timothy Naftali said Mr. Trump projects energy in public appearances, making him appear to be more vital physically, but that does not mean he is sharper mentally.

“It’s not clear listening to the two men who’s in better command of his faculties,” Mr. Naftali said.

Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University and well-known presidential prognosticator, said Mr. Trump had made gaffes and spread false information to an extent that should be raising more questions about his mental fitness.

“People somehow focus on the mistakes Biden has made while totally ignoring the way in which Mr. Trump seems to be entirely unhinged from reality,” he said.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden are neck-and-neck in national opinion polls, with Mr. Trump ahead in several of the battleground states that could decide November’s contest.

It is unclear just how much age will be a factor in the final outcome. Among issues that voters will be weighing is the strength of the economy, which overall is performing well but is beset by inflation, as well as immigration and abortion rights.

Voters also have Mr. Trump’s legal troubles to consider. Last month, a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election. He faces three additional criminal cases, though none are likely to go to trial before the election.

The first televised debate on June 27 will be an important test for both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, with voters looking for verbal slip-ups as a possible indicator that they might not be up to the task of leading the country.

United States President Joe Biden recently released a campaign advertisement for the 2024 Presidential Elections on social media and cracked jokes about his age. “Look I’m not a young guy, that’s no secret,” he said in an ad released on Saturday.

The 81-year-old President appeared relaxed in the video and responded to the joke about his age by citing his many years of experience, “But here’s the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people.” He then described the achievements of his administration, such as combating the Covid-19 crisis, strengthening the economy, and bringing down the cost of prescription drugs, before launching into talking points that are particularly pertinent to younger voters. 

I’m not a young guy. That’s no secret. But, here’s the deal: I understand how to get things done for the American people.

Here’s the first ad of our spring media campaign. pic.twitter.com/SFvwMdgzwv

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 9, 2024

“Today, we have the strongest economy in the world. I passed a law that lowers prescription drug prices, caps insulin at $35 a month for seniors,” he said.

“For four years, Donald Trump tried to pass an infrastructure law and he failed. I got it done. Now we’re rebuilding America. I’ve passed the biggest law in history to combat climate change because our future depends on it,” he continued

Reiterating his commitment from his State of the Union address, Joe Biden asserted that former US President Donald Trump “took away the freedom of women to choose”. Mr Biden then vowed to restore Roe v. Wade as “the law of the land.” “Donald Trump believes the job of the president is to take care of Donald Trump. I believe the job of the president is to fight for you, the American people and that’s what I’m doing,”  he added.

The ad ended with an outtake in which a producer off-camera requests another take from the President, to which he joked, “Look, I’m very young, energetic, and handsome. What the hell am I doing this for?”

Donald Trump routinely slams Joe Biden as old, decrepit and unfit for office. Shredding Mr Biden over his State of the Union address, Mr Trump called his speech “terrible” and said that he suffers from a “terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Fox News reported.

“He was angry, mentally disturbed, and misrepresenting a lot of the facts concerning almost every subject he discussed. But he got through it. He is still breathing, and they didn’t have to carry him out in a straight jacket. Other than that, I think he did a terrible job,” he said.