Key takeaways from Biden's news conference: Insistence on staying in the race and flubbed names

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden faced a test Thursday that he had avoided so far this year — a solo news conference with questions from the White House press corps.

The news conference was meant to reassure a disheartened group of Democratic lawmakers, allies and persuadable voters in this year's election that Biden still has the strength and stamina to be president. Biden has tried to defend his feeble and tongue-tied performance in the June 27 debate against Republican Donald Trump as an outlier rather than evidence that at 81 he lacks the vigor and commanding presence that the public expects from the commander in chief.

He made at least two notable flubs, referring at an event beforehand to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin" and then calling Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” when asked about her by a reporter. But he also gave detailed responses about his work to preserve NATO and his plans for a second term. And he insisted he's not leaving the race even as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers ask him to step aside.

Here are some highlights from the press conference:

Perhaps Biden’s biggest slip-up in the press conference came early on when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump,” in saying he picked her because he believed she could beat Trump.

Even before the news conference, Biden had bungled an important name at the NATO summit and instantly lowered expectations for his performance.

“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden said as he was introducing Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is most definitely not Russian President Vladimir Putin. The gaffe immediately prompted gasps, as Biden caught himself and said to Zelenskyy: “President Putin? You’re going to beat President Putin.”

But he was defiant when a reporter brought up his reference to “Vice President Trump” and noted the presumptive Republican nominee's campaign was already promoting the slip-up. “Listen to him,” he said, before walking off the stage.

One House Democrat, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, issued a statement minutes later calling on the president to withdraw.

It’s a delicate dance between the president and vice president, with many Democrats openly pining for Harris to replace Biden on the ticket. Biden didn’t acknowledge that tension, but only brought Harris up in response to pointed questions about whether he believed she had the capability to replace him.

“I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president,” Biden said, citing Harris’ resume from prosecutor to the U.S. Senate.

But in response to a later question he acknowledged he’d moved on from his 2020 campaign promise to be a “bridge” to a new generation of Democrats. “What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited,” he said, without a word about his vice president.

Repeatedly, he said, “I've got to finish this job.”

The press conference ended with Biden being asked directly whether he’d step down for Harris if he saw polling showing she had a better chance of beating Trump. “No, unless they come back and said there’s no way you can win,” Biden responded. Then he added, in a stage whisper, “No poll’s saying that.”

Biden tried to make the case that what he’s doing matters more than how he talks about it.

He praised the just finished NATO summit as elevating America’s standing. “Have you ever seen a more successful conference?” Biden said to a group of reporters who often only got to see the conference during prepared remarks.

He drilled down on how inflation has eased from its 2022 peak as he reeled off stats such as the creation of 800,000 manufacturing jobs under his watch, saying that world leaders would want to trade their own economies for what United States has. He also said he would cap how much rent could grow for tenants of landlords who are part of a tax-credit program for low-income housing.

It’s the same pitch Biden has made in stump speeches without necessarily doing much to move his own popularity. His team believes it will sink in if repeated constantly.

Biden kicked off the press conference by talking at length about NATO and its value to the United States — one of his strongest political issues against Trump, who has been openly skeptical of the alliance and once suggested he'd encourage Russia to attack NATO members whom he considered delinquent.

Biden tied himself to an American tradition stretching “from Truman to Reagan to me” of defending NATO. “Every American must ask herself or himself, is the world safer with NATO?” he asked.

Later, to assure a European journalist asking about governments on that continent worrying Trump could win, Biden launched into a detailed recounting of how he helped shepherd Finland into the alliance. After that, he went into detail about how to push back against China for supporting Russia during its war against Ukraine and contended he will continue to be able to deal with Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Overall, Biden spoke forcefully and fluently about foreign policy, one of his favorite subjects. But the news conference’s focus wasn’t really foreign policy, it was reassuring Democrats and the world that Biden is still able to be president and beat Trump.

That shows how even Biden’s strengths are being overshadowed by questions about his capabilities.

Every politician has a stock set of lines. And whenever Biden could, he went back to his favorite talking points. It was a way to answer the question without necessarily needing to say anything spontaneous or new.

He went after trickle-down economics, borrowing a line about his father never benefiting much from tax cuts aimed at the wealthy (“I don’t remember much trickling down to his kitchen table”). He hailed Delaware for leading the country in corporations. He said he’s the “most pro-union labor president in history.” He explained his decision to run for a second term with a variation on his “finish the job” catchphrase. He went into his standard spiel about computer chips.

With no time limit on his answers like he faced at the debate, Biden went on for several minutes at a time telling stories about his interactions with foreign leaders and making the case for his reelection.

There were few fireworks in Biden’s answers -- with the highly anticipated event at times coming across as more of a think tank lecture than an effort to grab voters’ attention. He went into granular detail on geopolitics and rattled off numbers — asking at one moment, though, to not be held to the precise figure.

While it didn’t erase the stumbles and blank stares from the debate, it showed that he could engage with reporters’ questions on a range of issues without losing focus.

There was still regular coughing and throat clearing. And at times he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper that evoked the rasp of his voice on debate night.

Overall, his presentation was a reminder that people are focused on him now with an almost clinical eye toward possible slip-ups and mistakes, the kind of pressure that is unlikely to go away for as long as Biden insists he’ll stay in the race.

Riccardi reported from Denver.

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

President Joe Biden's news conference is projected onto a screen inside the media center on the final day of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference Thursday July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden clears his throat as he speaks at a news conference Thursday July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference Thursday July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference Thursday July 11, 2024, on the final day of the NATO summit in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Joe Biden's news conference is projected onto a screen inside the media center on the final day of the NATO Summit in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 19 people overnight, including a woman and her six children, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the region on Sunday to try to seal a cease-fire deal after months of contentious negotiations.

The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar appeared to be closing in on a deal after two days of talks in Doha, with American and Israeli officials expressing cautious optimism. But Hamas has signaled resistance to what it says are new demands by Israel, and the long-running talks have repeatedly stalled.

The evolving proposal calls for a three-phase process in which Hamas would release all hostages abducted during its Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the deadliest war ever fought between Israelis and Palestinians. In exchange, Israel would withdraw its forces from Gaza and release Palestinian prisoners.

The mediators hope to end a war that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, displaced the vast majority of the territory's 2.3 million residents and caused a humanitarian catastrophe. Experts have warned of famine and the outbreak of diseases like polio.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted around 250. Of those, some 110 are still believed to be inside Gaza, with Israeli authorities saying around a third are deceased. More than 100 hostages were released in November during a weeklong cease-fire.

The latest Israeli bombardment included a strike early Sunday on a home in the central town of Deir al-Balah that killed a woman and her six children, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital counted the bodies.

Mohammed Awad Khatab, the children's grandfather, said his daughter, a school teacher, was with her husband and their six children when their house was struck. He said the children ranged in age from 18 months to 15 years, and that four of them were quadruplets. He said the father was hospitalized after the strike.

“The six children have become body parts. They were placed in a single bag,” he told reporters outside the hospital. “What did they do? Did they kill any of the Jews?... Will this provide security to Israel?”

A strike in the northern town of Jabaliya hit two apartments in a residential building, killing two men, a woman and her daughter, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another strike in central Gaza killed four people, according to the Awda Hospital. Late Saturday, a strike near the southern city of Khan Younis killed four people from the same family, including two women, according to Nasser Hospital.

Israel says it only targetes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militant group conceals fighters, weapons, tunnels and rockets in residential areas. But the monthslong Israeli bombardment has wiped out entire extended families and orphaned thousands of children.

The mediators have spent months trying to halt the fighting, efforts that gained new urgency after the targeted killing of two top militants last month, both attributed to Israel, brought vows of revenge from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out war across the Middle East.

An American official said Friday that mediators were beginning preparations for implementing the latest cease-fire proposal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office expressed “cautious optimism” a deal could be reached.

An Israeli delegation is set to travel to Cairo on Sunday for further talks, and Blinken is expected to meet with Netanyahu on Monday.

Hamas has cast doubt on whether an agreement is near, saying the latest proposal diverged significantly from a previous iteration they had accepted in principle. Hamas has rejected Israel’s demands for a lasting military presence along the Gaza-Egypt border and a line bisecting Gaza where Israeli forces would search Palestinians returning to their homes. Israel says both are needed to prevent militants from rearming and returning to the north.

Israel showed flexibility on retreating from the border corridor, and a meeting between Egyptian and Israeli military officials was scheduled for next week to agree on a withdrawal mechanism, according to two Egyptian officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the private negotiations.

Magdy reported from Cairo.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Palestinians evacuate Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, as part of a mass evacuation ordered by the Israeli military ahead of an operation, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian woman evacuates Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, as part of a mass evacuation ordered by the Israeli military ahead of an operation, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A Palestinian child rides in the trunk of a car as he evacuates Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, as part of a mass evacuation ordered by the Israeli military ahead of an operation, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and their supporters wear blindfolds to call for their immediate release and to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A man takes part in a protest by relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and their supporters calling for their immediate release and to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A woman takes part in a protest by relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and their supporters calling for their immediate release and to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and their supporters call for their immediate release and to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A woman and child walk through a replica of a tunnel used by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, ahead of a weekly protest by families of hostages held by the group to demand their release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

A Palestinian carries his belongings as he evacuates Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, as part of a mass evacuation ordered by the Israeli military ahead of an operation, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Einav Zangauker, center, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, who was kidnapped by Hamas, protests for his immediate release along with other families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip and their supporters and against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)