Even With Benefit Of Obedient Media, Biden Fails To Ease Concerns About Mental Fitness At 'Big Boy' Presser

Joe Biden walked on stage Thursday for his much-anticipated "big boy" press conference as calls for his removal from Democrat politicians, elites, and donors have intensified. 

The president did not ease those concerns during the presser.

He arrived nearly an hour late, following what he called a "busy" day at the NATO Summit events. Hours before, Biden made headlines for mistakenly referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination. Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin," Biden said while introducing Zelenskyy and before catching his error. "He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin. We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President."

Biden started the presser, his first formal solo press conference in Washington since 2022, by touting his record in office and discussing future plans on behalf of NATO. 

He then held up a list of reporters he was told to call on. "With that, I’ll take your questions. I’ve been given a list of people to call on here."

And then came the first of many blunders. A reporter asked Biden about his confidence level in Kamala Harris should she need to serve in his place. He responded by calling his vice president Donald Trump.

"Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president," Biden said, not appearing to catch his mistake, "if I didn't think she was not qualified to be president."

Later, Biden told reporters he is "following the advice of [his] commander-in-chief" regarding imposing limitations on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his country’s use of American weapons on Russia. Note: Biden is the commander-in-chief.

Luckily, for Biden, the pre-selected journalists in attendance rarely pressed him on what Americans want to know: can he serve four more years?

Instead, the obedient little puppets enabled the president to milk the clock with long-winded answers about NATO and China, most of which failed to advance the conversation.

"No one cares about fucking NATO," Clay Travis commented on X. "Embarrassing series of questions by the media. We have a president with dementia."

American news journalists have, in essence, two responsibilities: 1) hold power accountable; 2) ask the people in power hard questions that Americans want to know the answer to.

In aggregate, the American press has ignored both responsibilities for three and half years. They did so again on Thursday.

"Everyone who agreed to have their name put on a freaking list of pre-approved questions should give up their press credentials," added Clay. "You aren’t journalists, you are chosen propagandists. Almost zero actual difficult questions. No grilling. This is pathetic."

Still, despite the soft questions, Biden often struggled to put together coherent sentences on stage. "I'm catching hell from my wife for that. Anyway. Umm. Sorry," he mumbled while blaming his staff for booking him an exhausting schedule.  

"Well, anyway" is code for when Biden is confused. He is often confused.

President Joe Biden at a news conference during the NATO Summit in Washington, DC on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ultimately, Joe Biden began Thursday night trailing Trump in every battleground state, according to internal Democrat polling via Open Labs. He needed to reassure doubters he could not only win the race but also serve until – wait for it – January 2029.

He didn't do that. 

Democrat Jim Himes, the top-ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has seen enough. Himes called for Biden to step down moments after the presser ended.

"[Biden] must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump, Himes posted on X.

But Biden remains adamant he's staying in the race.

Donald Trump should hope so. While Trump would likely be the favorite against Biden or Harris, the former is currently the weaker candidate. 

Harris could at least benefit from not being Joe Biden.  In football terms, fans are known to rally around the interim coach for a few weeks, no matter their long-term prospects.

The prediction here is that if Biden stays on the ticket, voter turnout will decline steeper than expected. Previous Biden voters – who can't bring themselves to vote for Trump – will simply stay home.

Politics aside, biases behind – Joe Biden is not capable of serving four more years in the White House. He's feeble, duncical, and diminished. Thursday gave doubters no reason to believe otherwise.

Well, anyway.