Biden says he’s determined to contest election as calls for him to step down grow: NPR

President Biden, in a nearly hour-long press conference, reiterated his decision to stay in the race, despite growing calls and skepticism from leaders and supporters that he should step down from the ticket and that he will not be able to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.

“I think I’m the most qualified person to be president,” Biden said of Trump. “I beat him once and I’ll beat him again.”

“I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to finish the work I started,” Biden said.

Asked if he was determined to stay in the race despite the fears of some Democratic lawmakers, Biden said, “I’m determined to run, but I think it’s important that I put aside the fear of seeing — let them see me out there. Let them see me out there.” He said his campaign is strong and working hard in “toss-up states.”

Biden addressed 10 reporters without a teleprompter during the event, held after the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington. He spoke evenly and at times seemed excited when talking about the economy and gun violence prevention. Biden answered many questions briefly, but spoke at length on some topics of foreign policy and the country’s economic recovery after Covid.

But the president misspoke early on and referred to Vice President Harris as “Vice President Trump.”

Biden was asked what concerns he had about Harris’ ability to defeat Trump if she were at the helm. “Look, I wouldn’t pick Vice President Trump as vice president (if) I didn’t think he was unqualified to be president,” he said.

This mistake has happened at a time when just a few hours ago, while speaking on the stage with NATO leaders, Biden had referred to Ukrainian President Zelesniky as President Putin, but later he immediately corrected his mistake.

At the end of the press conference, the 11th reporter asked a question, asking Biden how he would respond to Trump’s criticism of him getting Harris’s name wrong.

“Listen to them,” Biden said before walking off the stage.

The NATO summit has been an event his campaign hoped would showcase his leadership on the world stage. Instead, it has been overshadowed by doubts about whether he is ready to survive a difficult campaign and four years in office — doubts expressed by elected Democrats, donors and voters.

Questions have been raised since Biden’s poor performance in the debate against former President Donald Trump on June 27. Biden struggled to answer questions in that debate and has since blamed a cold, latent jet lag, overpreparation and interruptions from Trump. He said it was just a bad night, but many in his party disagree.

Since then, Biden and his team have worked to prove he has the stamina and mental acuity to run this race, adding campaign stops in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and this weekend in Michigan. He gave a televised interview that aired in full on ABC News and has another scheduled with NBC on Monday, and he also spoke on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Even this week. And Biden has told his party he will stay in the race and it’s time to stop talking about whether he should quit. He has received full support from some important figures in the party – but others have since said they think he will lose to Trump.

Biden said he would undergo another neurological exam if necessary

The president said he has undergone three neurological tests during his tenure, as disclosed by the White House. He said he would undergo another test if his doctor advised it.

“I’m fine,” he said. “My neurological capacity is tested by the decisions I make every day.”

“Every day I’m surrounded by good doctors,” he said. “If they think I should have another neurological exam, I will do that.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a co-chair of Biden’s campaign, recently said it “wouldn’t hurt” if Biden got another test.

Biden said he needed to add ‘momentum’ to his program

Biden said he must bring more speed to his work, seeking to clarify reports that he told the nation’s Democratic governors last week that they should go to bed early and not hold events after 8 p.m.

“Instead of starting every day at 7 a.m. and going to bed at midnight, it would make more sense to pick up your pace a little bit more,” Biden said.

Biden said his schedule has been “completely packed” since the debate in June. And he added that Trump, on the other hand, has “done virtually nothing.”

“Where has Trump been? Riding around in a golf cart and filling out a scorecard before he even hits a ball?” Biden asked.

At times, Biden has pushed back against notions that he is unqualified to be president or run for president.

“The best way to reassure them is the same thing I reassure myself,” Biden said about how to make it clear to Americans that he won’t have another “bad night” like he had during the debate. “And that is, am I going to get my job done?”

“If I slow down and don’t get the job done, that means I shouldn’t be doing this job. But there’s no indication of that yet. None,” he said.

NPR’s Asma Khalid asked Biden why he didn’t make his presidency a “bridge” to the next generation of Democratic leaders, as he said in his 2020 campaign. Biden said the reason was the gravity of the issues, from the economy to foreign policy, he inherited.

Biden also spoke about threats to democracy, and referenced recent Supreme Court decisions and the Republicans’ Project 2025 plan.

“We’ve never been here before. And that’s another reason I didn’t, as you say, hand it off to another generation. I’ve got to get this job done. I’ve got to get this job done because there’s so much at stake,” Biden said.

Biden says he will stay in office — until polls say ‘there’s no chance you can win’

Despite Biden insisting for days that he would stay in the race, some Democrats, including Vermont Senator Peter Welch, are still calling on the president to step down — and pointing to Harris as a better choice for the party.

On several occasions during the press conference, Biden praised Harris’s work on reproductive rights and gun violence prevention.

“I would not have chosen him unless I thought he was qualified to be president. From the beginning, I had no hesitation about that,” he said. “He is qualified to be president. That’s why I chose him.”

However, Biden told reporters that he would stay in the race even though his own team had conducted a survey showing Harris had outperformed him against Trump.

“Unless they come back and say, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Nobody is saying that,” he said.

Biden also generally dismissed the polling data for the race so far, saying the race will only really start after Labor Day. He said there are other candidates who can beat Trump, but they will have to start their campaigns from scratch.

“A lot of things can happen,” he said. “I think I’m the most qualified to govern. And I think I’m the most qualified to win.”