The president reiterates his commitment to see the election to its finish.

Follow this authorKaren Tumulty's opinions

On Thursday night, Biden was on top of the issues. And the timing of this rare news conference, which came at the conclusion of the NATO summit over which Biden had presided, allowed him to display his comfort and fluency with foreign policy.

Though he might have bought himself some time and grace, Biden did not quiet the argument inside his party over whether he should end his candidacy. Almost simultaneous with the conclusion of his remarks came a social media post by Rep. Jim Himes (Conn.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee: “The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism. I no longer believe that is Joe Biden, and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.”

Advertisement

National polling is not a particularly useful guide at this delicate moment. A new Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey found the race between Trump and Biden tied at 46 percent among registered voters, essentially unchanged since April, even as most Democrats — 56 percent — said they wanted Biden to drop out.

What matters most now are other pressures, especially coming from Capitol Hill, where the calls from Democrats for him to step aside are mounting.

It was not an auspicious sign when, at a NATO event about an hour before the news conference was scheduled to begin, Biden mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “President Putin,” the Russian leader with whom Zelensky’s country is at war.

Biden quickly corrected himself. “He’s going to beat President Putin. … President Zelensky,” he said. “I’m so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it.” Zelensky replied: “I’m better.”

Advertisement

That kind of slip-up would have gone unnoticed, were this a normal time. But it was the last thing Biden needed at this one, when every word he utters matters so much. It gave........

© Washington Post