President Biden is hell-bent on showing he is not too old for the White House as he helms a critical NATO summit while Democratic lawmakers scrutinize his performance to determine whether he belongs on the 2024 ticket.
Mr. Biden, 81, welcomed 31 leaders from NATO member states Tuesday afternoon, launching a critical three-day period to prove his fitness to Democrats analyzing his every word and move.
The president delivered a robust speech with no gaffes while reading off teleprompters.
“NATO makes us all safer,” Mr. Biden said. He announced “a historic donation” of air and defense equipment to Ukraine for its battle against Russia. He affixed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg without a hitch.
The president is scrambling to squelch calls to step aside after his disastrous debate performance on June 27 and a cascade of bad polls and damning leaks about his mental frailty.
“He’s more determined than ever to get the job done,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday. “He’s on fire, he’s ready to go. He wants to get out there and continue to show that he has more work to do.”
Hours before Mr. Biden delivered opening remarks at the NATO summit, House and Senate lawmakers met separately to consider whether he should be on the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket.
The debate, followed by more evidence of mental struggles in an ABC News interview and a new round of plummeting polls, has put the party in a full-blown panic.
Mr. Biden refuses to step aside. With the Democratic National Convention just weeks away, many in the party are begrudgingly sticking with him.
“The president made very clear yesterday he’s running, and for me, that’s dispositive. We have to support him,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a top Democrat from New York.
On Sunday, Mr. Nadler privately told House Democratic leaders that Mr. Biden should withdraw from the ticket.
Several skeptical lawmakers said they would closely watch Mr. Biden’s leadership at the summit and a critical press conference on Thursday, during which he won’t be able to rely on a teleprompter.
House Democrats are not “on the same page” about Mr. Biden remaining on the ticket, House lawmakers said after they huddled about the president.
“We’re not even in the same book,” said Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee.
As party leaders express support for Mr. Biden, polls show he will drag down House Democrats if defeated in November.
In several post-debate polls, Republicans have opened a 2 to 3 percentage point lead on the generic ballot, a sign that Democrats may lose their chance to take the House majority from Republicans.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has moved three battleground states — Arizona, Georgia and Nevada — from “toss-up” to “lean Republican” and edged three more swing states toward the Republican Party.
Worried Democrats want Mr. Biden to turn around the ship — fast.
“What you have to see from the president is go out there and make the case with the American people about the existential threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy and our lives,” said Rep. Greg Landsman, Ohio Democrat. “And do it day in and day out for the next couple of weeks, and things will change.”
Mr. Landsman said Democrats want Mr. Biden to “stop talking about us, stop calling into ‘Morning Joe’ and saying, ‘You know, I’m frustrated with my colleagues on the Hill.’”
Moments before Mr. Biden delivered his NATO address, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey Democrat, called on him to drop out of the race.
“I have heard from people in my district who are united in their concern for our country and our future,” she said in a statement.
Mr. Biden is fighting for political survival as more questions about his fitness for the job are raised nearly every day. News reports citing leaks from anonymous staffers and others reveal a president who has become frailer and more confused over the course of his first term.
A report in The Wall Street Journal quoted a source who said Mr. Biden failed to attend a June 2022 event with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the early evening because “he had to go to bed.”
Other leaks reveal the president’s increasing forgetfulness and the involvement of first lady Jill Biden in policy meetings, suggesting she needs to help him navigate his job.
Mrs. Biden is attending several of the NATO events alongside her husband this week.
Neurologists who have not treated Mr. Biden say he appears to have Parkinson’s disease, which White House aides deny.
Asked Wednesday whether Mr. Biden could serve a full second term, Ms. Jean-Pierre answered, “Yes.”
• Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.