Biden mistakenly calls Ukraine leader Zelenskyy 'Putin' before high-stakes speech

WASHINGTON (TND) — In a solo press conference, President Biden addressed the White House press corps amid increasing calls for him to drop out of the presidential race.

Biden repeated a similar mistake he made earlier when he misidentified theUkrainian President callingVolodymyr Zelenskyy "President Putin."

The president was asked what concerns he had if Vice President Kamala Harris was in the running in November.

Biden referred to Vice President Harris as "Vice President Trump" saying he wouldn’t have picked her if she wasn’t able to serve.

His news conference, which lasted nearly an hour, was meant to reassure some Democratic lawmakers, allies and voters he's the guy for this year's election.He addressed concerns about his health and if he is still able to serve as president.

Biden was clear that he's staying in the race.He repeatedly said throughout the press conference, "I've got to finish this job."

When asked he'd reconsider running if data showed Harris could beat Donald Trump he said, "No, unless they came back and said "there's no way you can win," me. No one is saying that. No poll says that."

Biden said, "I wouldn't have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president," in response to questions about whether he believed Harris had the capability to replace him.

The 81-year-old president was asked if he would take a neurological examination.Political opponents and some supporters have demanded Biden to get testing done after his debate performance. "Every single day, I'm surrounded by good docs. If they think there's a problem. I promise you or maybe they don't think it's a problem, but think, think I should have a neurological exam again, I'll do it. But no one is suggesting that to me now," responded Biden.

Polls conducted after the debate have largely agreed that Democrats nationwide have doubts about Biden’s ability to lead the ticket in November.

Biden made it a point to reassure his party and voters June 27 was a "bad night."

"The best way to assure them is why I assure myself. And that is, am I getting the job done? Am I getting the job done? Can you name me somebody who's gotten more pieces of legislation passed in three and a half years?I created 2,000 jobs just last week. So, if I slow down, I can't get the job done, that's a sign that I shouldn't be doing it, but there's no indication of that yet," he said.

Biden also denied needing to be in bed by 8 p.m. "Instead of my every day starting at 7 a.m. and going to bed at midnight, it would be smarter for me to pace myself a little more," he explained.

His post-debate remark comes after reports indicated that the president told governors he needed to get more sleep and stop holding events after 8 p.m.

Otherhighlights from the press conference:

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 the 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.

He also brought up his work on NATO.

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.

Editor's Note: The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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