President Joe Biden will hold a press conference on Thursday, the most important event in a monumental week in which the incumbent Democratic Party must defend itself calls for resignation as the party’s presumptive candidate after a shaky debate.
It’s exactly the kind of event that many political observers say Biden must successfully handle to push back against demands — including from within his own party — that he withdraw from his re-election fight against the presumptive Republican nominee. Donald Trump.
Biden has argued that he had an exceptionally bad night in Atlanta and that it is not representative of his mental acuity. A strong performance on Thursday could convince members of his party that he still has the ability to win in November and serve a second term. A weak effort — or stumbles similar to his debate performance — could make calls for his withdrawal much louder.
Here are the details of what White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Biden’s “big boy” press conference:
Biden is expected to answer questions from the White House press corps at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Biden will speak from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, a short walk from the White House, where many of the current NATO summit events are taking place.
The White House streams much of its live content. Given the attention to this event, television networks could also abandon the programming to broadcast Biden’s remarks live as soon as he begins speaking.
The Associated Press will offer a livestream on apnews.com.
Probably a lot of people.
CNN reported that 51 million people watched the debate in Atlanta, which was held during prime time, while more than 8 million tuned in to watch Biden’s ABC interview live. If networks cut their daily coverage or cable channels air it live, that would guarantee a significant number of eyes on Biden.
Aside from some apparent exceptions, such as incidents where two black radio hosts said Biden’s campaign sent them planned questions in advance — it is not customary for the president to know exactly what will be discussed during interviews or press conferences.
His aides prepare him for a variety of possibilities based on the headlines of the day. They prepare him for the chance that journalists will want to ask him questions about his suitability for office, the NATO summit or other topics.
That’s not set in stone and there aren’t many precedents.
Biden hasn’t held many press conferences that aren’t tied to a foreign leader’s visit or travel abroad. They’re usually what’s known in the business as a “2+2,” meaning two U.S. reporters and two foreign reporters ask questions.
Biden returns to the campaign trail on Friday with a trip to Michigan. He will also do an interview with NBC on Monday.
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Colleen Long, an Associated Press editor in Washington, contributed to this report.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP