Criticized after a failed start to the campaign, Joe Biden reassures on the substance but commits huge slips of the tongue in front of the press

During a long press conference on Thursday, the American president, who is increasingly contested, sometimes stammered or struggled to finish his sentences, but also demonstrated his mastery of international issues in particular.

Pressured by part of his camp to withdraw after a failed start to the campaign, Joe Biden was expected to deliver on Thursday, July 11, during a long press conference, organized at the end of the NATO summit. During this highly anticipated exercise, the American president displayed a certain mastery of the issues, but made huge slips of the tongue that risk not dispelling concerns about his state of health. “I am determined to run, but I think it is important to allay fears,” he acknowledged, promising to campaign actively.

A former stutterer, the American president has never been a flamboyant speaker. On Thursday, he sometimes stammered or struggled to finish his sentences, but also demonstrated his mastery of international issues in particular, without notes or a teleprompter. Nothing comparable to his calamitous debate on June 27 against Donald Trump, during which he appeared very confused and tired.

Joe Biden has repeatedly said he wants “finish the job” committed in 2020, and assured that he would still be able, if re-elected, to “manage” Chinese and Russian presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in three years.

“I had three intense and substantial neurological examinations” led by a neurologist, the last “in February”he recalled, and “They say I’m in good shape”. He once again brushed aside the bad polls and claimed that he was “the most qualified” to win in November against his Republican predecessor.

“There are other people who could beat Trump too, but it’s terribly difficult to start from scratch.”he said, four months before the presidential election. The Democratic leader, whose mental acuity and physical stamina are the subject of lively debate, only acknowledged that he had to “take care of yourself a little more”.

Joe Biden, who is no stranger to this, also made some spectacular slips of the tongue on Thursday, which immediately delighted his rival. In response to the first question at the press conference, he said: “I would not have chosen Vice President Trump to be vice president if I did not think she was qualified to be president.” He obviously wanted to mention Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Good job, Joe,”quipped Donald Trump on his Truth Social network. Joe Biden did not recover, as he had done shortly before, by committing another monumental blunder.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Washington, he announced the “President Putin” as he welcomed Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky on stage, before recovering almost immediately. “I’m so focused on beating Putin,” he justified himself.

“We all make slips of the tongue. It happened to me, it will probably happen to me tomorrow,” Emmanuel Macron defended it to the press at the end of the NATO summit, demanding “indulgence”.

Many Democrats doubt that the American president can still save his candidacy, a few weeks before the nomination convention that will be held from August 19 to 22 in Chicago. Some have already said this publicly, without the calls for his withdrawal being massive for the moment, or relayed by party leaders.

According to New York Times, The campaign team of Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris has begun to quietly conduct polls on the chances of the 59-year-old vice president against Donald Trump.

CBS says many Democratic lawmakers are already ready to publicly call for withdrawal, as are the dozen or so who have already done so. In an Ipsos poll released Thursday by the Washington Post and ABC, 67% of respondents believe that the American president should withdraw his candidacy. Among Democratic voters alone, this is also the majority opinion, at 56%.