President Biden spoke at NATO’s 75th anniversary celebrations at Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC on July 9.
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When Biden answers questions from reporters on Thursday, he will face a high-profile, public test of whether he has good enough judgment to campaign for a second term.
The announcement came as Biden wrapped up a NATO summit in Washington, an event his campaign had hoped would showcase his leadership on the world stage. But those hopes have been clouded by doubts about whether he can withstand a tough campaign and another four years in office — doubts expressed by Democratic lawmakers, donors and voters.
Questions have been swirling since Biden’s epic debate blunder with former President Donald Trump on June 27. Biden struggled to answer questions during the debate and has since blamed it on the cold, potential jet lag, over-preparation and interruptions by Trump. He says it was simply one bad night, but many in his party aren’t convinced.
Watch Biden’s news conference, scheduled for Thursday at 5:30 p.m., here
Since then, Biden and his team have added campaign stops in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and, later this week, Michigan, in an effort to prove he has the stamina and mental fortitude to fight this race. He gave a television interview, broadcast in full on ABC News, and has another scheduled for Monday on NBC. He also appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe This week too.
Biden has told his party to stop talking about whether he should step down because he’s staying on.
Biden turned defiant, telling his party he was going to keep fighting and that the debate about whether he should step down was over. He received heartfelt support from some key figures in his party, but some have since publicly said they think Biden will lose to Trump.
Recently, actor George Clooney hosted a major fundraiser for Biden in Los Angeles. The New York Times Democrats say they need to choose a different candidate.
Biden’s last formal solo press conference was scheduled for November 2023.
Biden rarely holds formal solo news conferences – his last one was in November 2023 after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California.
Martha Joynt Kumar, a Towson University political science professor emeritus who has studied presidential interactions with the press for years, calls solo news conferences, especially those at the White House, “the pinnacle of presidential interaction” because they allow for aggressive questioning and test a president’s understanding of policy and politics.
According to her detailed records dating back to the Reagan administration, Biden has held fewer press conferences than any other president since taking office.
“I don’t think it’s profitable. [Biden]Kumar noted that holding more press conferences would have allowed the public to “assess the president” well before the June debate.
