President Biden misspeaks during NATO summit press conference

Just hours before the press conference Thursday evening, U.S. President Joe Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “President Putin,” mistaking him for the Russian president currently at war with Ukraine. During the press conference—which started nearly an hour late—Biden stumbled over his words several times both while delivering prepared remarks and while answering reporters’ questions. In his answer to the first question of the press conference, Biden referred to his opponent, former President Donald Trump, as his vice president. But for some answers, he remained clear and lucid.

Thursday was his first solo press conference this year where he took reporters’ questions. Previously several Democratic lawmakers called for President Biden to drop out of the presidential campaign. Biden performed poorly late last month in a debate against former President Donald Trump, stumbling over his words and occasionally trailing off mid-sentence.

What sorts of remarks did Biden make during the press conference? Biden praised the NATO conference as successful. He took credit for assembling a coalition of 50 nations before the start of the war in Ukraine to support Kyiv in the event of a Russian invasion. He would not bow down to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. He accused Trump of failing to value NATO alliance members. He reaffirmed that he would continue his bid reelection but said that Vice President Kamala Harris would perform well as president if needed.