More Democrats called for Biden to bow out of the race.
President Joe Biden faced a critical point in his reelection bid as Democratic calls for him to exit the 2024 race continued to mount despite his efforts to shut them down.
A poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June reignited questions about Biden's age and fitness to carry out his campaign and serve another four years. While Biden defiantly insisted he was staying the course, he later announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Council spokesman John Kirby are in the room as are Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and National security adviser Jake Sullivan.
This is Biden's first solo press conference since the APEC Summit in California eight months ago.
Biden, facing a political crisis as Democrats question the viability of his campaign, is minutes away from holding his first solo press conference of the year -- and since the debate two weeks ago.
It's an opportunity for Biden to change the narrative after his poor performance that night triggered a drumbeat of concerns in his own party that he might be too weakened to win against Donald Trump this November.
But any stumbles in the unscripted setting will only add fuel to the fire, despite Biden's repeated attempts to rebuff his critics and his insistence that he is staying in the race.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed Biden's viability and future during an interview Thursday on the PBS NewsHour, saying, "it would be a big mistake to underestimate the president."
"I just can tell you from my perspective, as someone that is speaking with Biden, he is very focused and he is very, intensely doing what the president of the United States has to do for leading [NATO]," Scholz said.
Scholz said that had not seen moments in his most recent interactions with Biden that indicated the president is not up for another four years.
-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Will Gretsky
Biden introduced Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as President Putin at a meeting about the Ukraine Compact at the NATO summit Thursday evening.
Biden quickly corrected himself, saying that he was "so focused on beating Putin."
Zelenskyy laughed off the gaffe.
"I'm better," Zelenskyy said.
"You are a hell of a lot better," Biden replied.
The exchange came shortly before Biden was scheduled to hold his first solo news conference since the presidential debate.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
