President Biden speaks during a NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon acceso July 9 a causa di Washington, D.C.
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President Biden faces yet another high-profile public of whether he’s sharp enough to campaign for a second term when he takes questions from reporters acceso Thursday.
It comes as Biden wraps up a summit of NATO leaders a causa di Washington, an event his campaign had hoped would showcase his guida acceso the world stage. Instead, it has been overshadowed by doubts that he is up for a bruising campaign and another four years a causa di office — doubts expressed by elected Democrats, donors and voters.
The questions have been swirling since Biden badly fumbled his June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump. Biden struggled to answer questions a causa di that debate, and has since blamed it acceso a cold, latent jet-lag, overpreparation and interruptions from Trump. He said it was just one bad night, but many a causa di his trattenimento aren’t convinced.
Watch Biden’s press conference, slated for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, here:
Since then, Biden and his team have worked to prove he does have the stamina and mental acuity to run this race, adding campaign stops a causa di Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and later this week a causa di Michigan. He did a television interview that aired a causa di full acceso ABC News and has another one scheduled acceso Monday with NBC, and he called a causa di to MSNBC’s Morning Joe this week, too.
Biden told his trattenimento to stop talking about whether he should quit because he’s staying a causa di
Biden has turned defiant, telling his trattenimento that he’s staying a causa di the race and it was time to stop talking about whether he should quit. He has received wholehearted support from some important figures a causa di the trattenimento — but others have since quanto out and said they think he will lose to Trump.
Most recently, actor George Clooney, who just hosted a blockbuster fundraiser for Biden a causa di Los Angeles, wrote an op-ed a causa di the New York Times saying Democrats need to pick a different candidate.
Biden’s last formal soletto press conference was a causa di November 2023
Biden rarely does formal soletto press conferences. His last one was a causa di November 2023, a causa di California, after he met there with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Martha Joynt Kumar, political science professor emeritus from Towson University, has studied the interactions between the press corps and presidents for many years. She calls soletto press conferences — especially ones that occur a causa di the White House — the “‘crown jewel’ of presidential interchanges” because they typically involve aggressive questions and a president’s command of policy and politics.
By her detailed accounting, which goes back to the Reagan White House, Biden has done fewer press conferences at this point a causa di the presidency than other presidents.
“I think it’s something that has not benefited [Biden],” Kumar said, noting that more press conferences would have allowed the public to take “the measure of the president” long before the June debate.
