July 11 (UPI) — Aiming to reassure world leaders and fellow Democrats that he is fit to serve four more years, President Joe Biden on Thursday delivered a solo press conference to close the 75th NATO Summit in Washington, D.C.
In his opening remarks of the press briefing, Biden declared the consensus among NATO members was that the three-day summit was a “great success,” and he emphasized the importance of the 75-year-old alliance to deter aggression globally.
“For those who thought NATO’s time had passed, they got a rude awakening when [Russian President Vladimir] Putin invaded Ukraine,” Biden said. “Some of the oldest and deepest fears in Europe roared back to life.”
Biden took aim at his political rival Donald Trump, saying the former president has ” made it clear he has no commitment” to NATO.
“He’s made it clear that he would feel no obligation to honor Article 5,” Biden said, referencing the article that states an attack on one NATO country is considered an attack on all member nations.
The president dismissed concerns about his age and fitness for office by pointing to his record on the economy, inflation and job growth, saying he has been “the most pro-union labor president in history.”
“We had the Treasury Department do a study that when unions do better, everybody does better,” he said.
Regarding China’s involvement in with Russia in the Ukraine war, which NATO allies denounced on Wednesday, Biden said Chinese President Xi Jinping must understand “there’s a price to pay” for helping to arm Russia.
When asked whether he would have changed anything about his involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, Biden replied, “Israel occasionally was less than cooperative” in delivering aid to Gaza.
“I know Israel well, and I support Israel, but this war cabinet is one of the most. conservative war cabinets in the history of Israel, and there’s no ultimate answer other than a two-state solution,” Biden said.
Biden said the plan he put forward states there must be no Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip once the war ends. He also expressed disappointment with the U.S. military-led project to build a pier off the coast of Israel to facilitate aid into Gaza.
“I was hopeful that would be more successful,” he said.
When asked why he chose to run again as president despite in 2020 saying he intended to only serve one term, Biden said, “What changed was the gravity of the situation I inherited, in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division.
“We got more major legislation passed no one thought would happen,” he said. “And I want to finish it, to get that finished.”
Representatives of the 32-nation alliance had been in Washington since Tuesday to develop new strategies to bolster NATO’s ability to deter Russia and its allies amid the war in Ukraine.
Biden, who faces pressure from a small but growing minority of Democrats to step down following his concerning debate performance against Donald Trump in June, also came under scrutiny from world leaders during the NATO summit.
According to reporting from Politico, visiting leaders are bracing for what they believe is an inevitable Trump victory in November, which many fear could harm NATO’s recent momentum and ability to aid Ukraine.
One diplomat anonymously told Politico, “It’s a very weird feeling to be in Europe listening to the president of the United States, and you’re more stressed about whether he will go off script than being excited to listen to the leader of the free world.”
“You’re worried if he knows which direction he’s going or whether he’s going to fall or what he’s going to forget or if he’ll say ‘North Korea‘ when he meant ‘South Korea.’ It’s just a weird experience.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who left the summit early on Thursday to meet with Trump at Mar-a-lago, reportedly had told other leaders that NATO allies still betting on Biden “were like people on the Titanic playing violins as the ship went down,” according to the Financial Times.
In the hours leading up to Biden’s press conference, at least four more Democrats publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, including Reps. Brand Schneider, of Illinois, Greg Stanton of Arizona and Ed Case of Hawaii.
“The Democratic Party must have a nominee who can affectively make the case against Trump and have the confidence of the American people to handle the rigors of the hardest job on the planet for the next four years,” Stanton said in a statement on X. “For the sake of American democracy, and to continue to make progress on our shared priorities, I believe it is time for the president to step aside as our nominee.”
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., went as far as to suggest Biden should resign as president altogether.
“Like most people I represent in Southwest Washington, I doubt the president’s judgment about his health, his fitness to do the job, and whether he is the one making important decisions about our country, rather than unelected advisers,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement to local media.
“The crisis of confidence in the president’s leadership needs to come to an end. The president should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first.”