President Biden speaks to reporters at a news conference during the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Biden seemed to realize his embarrassing verbal stumble mentioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and attempted to quickly correct himself.
"He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin," he said. "We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President."
A similar gaffe happened once Biden began to speak, with the president confusing Vice President Kamala Harris with Trump.
"I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump if I didn't think she was qualified to be president," Biden told the press.
When President Biden finished his opening remarks, he opened the floor to questions but announced he had been "given a list of people to call on."
The statement surprised many journalists, as the Biden administration's reliance on screening questions and pre-approving reporters has been a consistent point of criticism.
During and after the press conference, Biden's immediate team and wider ecosystem of allies were quick to tout the event as an overwhelming success.
Many claimed the president's answers regarding foreign policy issues showed him to have expertise in international affairs.
BIDEN'S HIGH-STAKES SOLO PRESS CONFERENCE SLAMMED FROM THE RIGHT AS 'ANOTHER DISASTER'
Some within President Biden's camp have touted his performance at the press conference as proof of his expertise in foreign policy and fortitude. Others say his repeated gaffes and weak cadence further harmed his image. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"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!" Trump joked on his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.
Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Democrats in Congress and supporters of the president want to see leadership in the effort to defeat Trump in November but cannot decide how to proceed.
"Nobody knows the path forward," Psaki said. "And members of Congress and people who are rooting for him want to know, how do you win this race? How do you defeat Donald Trump? People just want a little something to go with, and they don’t have it."
At least 10 House Democrats and one in the Senate have publicly called on Biden to end his re-election bid, and a growing number of both House and Senate Democrats have publicly and privately warned that the president will lose to Trump in November.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Former White House press secretary, MSNBC host Jen Psaki said that President Biden's team was not doing enough to show his "empathy" as concerns about Biden's cognitive ability threaten his campaign. (NBC)
Former House Speaker House Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week the Democrats are keeping their thoughts on Biden quiet "until we see how we go this week."
"Let’s just hold off," she said on MSNBC. "Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week."
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser, Jeffrey Clark, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Emma Colton and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.
Subscribed
You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter!
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/5-takeaways-from-bidens-comeback-press-conference