Three days of international diplomacy began in Washington D.C. Tuesday morning with the start of the annual NATO Summit and all eyes will be on how President Joe Biden is able to handle dinners, meetings, public events and a rare news conference scheduled for Thursday that will give him the chance to rebound from a damaging debate performance late last month.
US President Joe Biden walks to the White House in Washington, DC, on July 7, 2024.
The president is expected to welcome NATO leaders at a commemorative event Tuesday night and on Wednesday he will host a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House, meet with NATO members at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and host a dinner for heads of state at the White House.
On Thursday, the president will participate in a meeting of the North Atlantic Council and a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council before hosting an event with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Biden will then host a solo news conference Thursday afternoon, which Bloomberg journalist Justin Sink first called a “big boy press conference” in a cheeky description that was later repeated several times at a White House press briefing by John Kirby, national security communications advisor, and Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Sink pressed Jean-Pierre on if the press conference would be “more limited” as many of Biden’s recent appearances and interviews have been, or if it would be an the open question-and-answer session that some expect journalists will use not to ask about NATO, but to question the future of the president’s campaign.
Biden has said the week of packed events will allow voters and lawmakers to judge if he's up for the job of president for another four years after coming under intense scrutiny and increasing calls to step down as the democratic candidate after his harmful debate performance.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a daily news briefing at the White ... [+]
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"President Biden is set this week to hold a solo press conference to dispel concerns about hit fitness to run for reelection, great news if you want edge-of-your-seat tension and you already finished 'The Bear,'" 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers joked Monday.
The White House has faced a flurry of criticism for using the "big boy press conference" language, which was repeated at least five times during Monday's press briefing. Sky News host Danica De Giorgio later asked, "Will they take him to potty training next?," sparking a furor of jokes online. Former Donald Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the descriptor "rather unbecoming" and other critics said it was hard to take the administration seriously amid the messaging.
The Biden campaign was thrust into the spotlight after a damaging performance by the president in his first televised debate of the election season against President Donald Trump on June 27. Biden's messaging during the debate wasn't clear, he stumbled through answers and appeared confused for much of the 90-minute event, casting doubt on his ability to handle the rigorous job for another four years. Voices on both sides of the aisle have since called for Biden to drop out of the race and give the Democratic nomination to a different candidate that may perform better against Trump in November, but Biden has instead admitted his debate performance was rocky, blamed a busy schedule before the event for exhausting him and doubled down on his intention to stay in the race. On Monday, Biden wrote a letter to Congressional Democrats that read: “I can respond to all this by saying clearly and unequivocally: I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.” So far, those who have called on Biden to drop out include Democratic Reps. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Mark Takano (D-Calif), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.); billionaire Biden supporters Christy Walton, Michael Novogratz and Reed Hastings; and the New York Times editorial board.