President Joe Biden faces yet another high-profile public test of whether he’s sharp enough to campaign for a second term as he takes questions from reporters on Thursday.
The press conference was slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. ET but got pushed back several times, including after an afternoon event with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the president accidentally called the leader President Putin before quickly correcting himself.
The press event comes as Biden wraps up a summit of NATO leaders in Washington, D.C., an event his campaign had hoped would showcase his leadership on the world stage. Instead, it has been overshadowed by doubts about whether he is up for a bruising campaign and another four years in 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 in that debate and has since blamed it on a cold, latent jet lag, overpreparation and interruptions from Trump. He said it was just one bad night, but many in his party aren’t convinced.