President Joe Biden insisted Thursday he was the best qualified candidate to run against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election in a back-and-forth with reporters that had him, at times, railing against the decisions of a conservative-led Supreme Court and explaining in great detail some of the nuances of U.S. foreign policy when it comes to China, Russia, Australia and South Korea.
Biden parried with journalists over his fitness for office even as he tried to make the case that the economy and national security had improved during his time in the White House. But his efforts were hampered somewhat by a gaffe in which he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” and the ensuing attention to that detail shows just how much the nation has been concerned about his age and fitness in the aftermath of a poor showing at a presidential debate two weeks ago.
The president vowed again to stay in the race, calling himself “the most qualified person to run for president,” and suggesting that he felt the gravity of the challenges he inherited after winning the Oval Office in 2020 were significant enough to warrant him going back on a previous plan to serve as a sort of “bridge” between his generation and that of Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden made persistent comparisons between himself and Trump, noting he felt that Trump could not stand up to leaders in Russia and China, or manage the world around them as he could in the nation’s highest office.
While Trump poked fun at Biden’s early verbal blunder on social media, some journalists seemed impressed by his answers. “President Biden demonstrates depth of knowledge and fluidity” in his answers on foreign policy, said CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Twitter. “This is where @JoeBiden is the most comfortable: foreign policy. This allows him to show the contrast with Trump hating NATO. We know Donald Trump could never speak like this on foreign policy matters,” said Roland Martin, an independent journalist who broadcasts on his own platforms.
Even so, the risks for Biden were obvious. More than a dozen members of Congress have called for him to step aside and let a younger candidate take the wheel of the campaign. Actor George Clooney penned an op-ed in the New York Times asking for the same, citing Biden’s age and condition.
Biden responded to questions for over an hour, and responded to a drumbeat of queries about his fitness for the role and whether he could handle the duties if he were to win a second term.
He also suggested at the end of the scrum that he was aware of his predicament. Biden acknowledged that he could consider dropping out if he was convinced that he simply could not defeat Trump. “If I show up at the convention and everybody says we want somebody else, that’s the Democratic process,” Biden said. Then he followed, in a whisper: “It’s not going to happen.”