Biden’s ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference Delayed Nearly an Hour After He Introduces Zelenskyy as ‘President Putin’

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Joe Biden’s “big boy” news conference was delayed for nearly an hour Thursday evening after a full day of events at the NATO Summit that included a gaffe of monumental proportions.

During a NATO summit press conference earlier in the day, Biden referred to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as “President Putin” when introducing him to the crowd.

“Now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin!” The stunned audience clapped along despite the flub. Biden quickly caught himself and walked back to the mike. “President Putin? He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy,” Biden quipped, amid snickers.

Later, during his “big boy” press conference, Biden referred to Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump.”

Biden’s much anticipated solo conference came at the end of a 3-day NATO summit and two weeks after his debate debacle.

Biden hasn’t held very many news conferences that aren’t tied to a foreign leader’s visit where he only gets asked a couple of questions.

His last solo press event was on Nov. 15, 2023.

Biden finally began his presser at 7:28 p.m Eastern.

After his opening remarks, which were read off of a teleprompter, Biden acknowledged that he had a list of pre-approved reporters to call on.

Biden appeared more rested and alert than he did at the debate, slurring his words less frequently, but he did have several moments where he malfunctioned.

The first question was from a Reuters reporter who asked him how he feels about all the calls for him to step down and what concerns he has about Kamala Harris’ ability to beat former President Donald Trump is she were at the top of the ticket.

“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president {unintelligible] I think she’s not qualified to be President,” he said.

On Ukraine, he said “I’m following the advice of my commander-in-chief, the chief of staff of the military, as well as the Secretary of State and our intelligence community.”

Biden downplayed his earlier gaffe with Zelenskyy, explaining that he had made the mistake because he had just been talking about Putin and it wasn’t a big deal because he quickly corrected himself.

Biden insisted that he is the best qualified person to be president, and denied that he needs a shorter work day and early bedtime as has been widely reported.

“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! None!” he said.

When asked if he would he reconsider his decision to stay in the race if presented with data showing that Harris would fare better against Trump,” Biden said only if they told him there was no way he could win, and then with his signature creepy whisper, he added: “No one’s saying that. No poll says that.”

Biden also confidently claimed that “at least five presidents” had lower “numbers” than he does, although he reportedly has the lowest approval rating of any president in modern U.S. history.

Biden also took several swipes at Trump, saying Foreign policy has never been [President Trump’s] strong point,” among other insults and lies.

At the end of the presser, a reporter informed Biden that he had earlier referred to Harris as Vice President Trump.

“Right now, Trump is using that to mock you. How do you combat that criticism from tonight?” the reporter asked. On Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!”

Biden laughed and replied, “Listen to him!” as he turned and walked away from the podium.

The takeaway from Biden’s presser, according to most conservative pundits, is that he did well enough to survive another week or month amid the clamor for him to step down.

“Biden had a good enough night that Ds will not go into a full, public meltdown- at least not tonight,” wrote former GW Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer on X.

“He bought himself more time, which probably is upsetting to a lot of Ds who think he is the weakest candidate vs. Trump and want to get this over. The Ds are in a real jam.”

Update:

The White House edited the official transcript from the press conference to correct Biden’s gaffe mixing up the vice president.