By Emel Akan and Jacob Burg
Contributing Writers
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden stated at a much-anticipated press conference on Thursday that he is the best candidate to win the 2024 presidential election.
“We have more to do,” the president said. “We’ve got to finish the job.”
He made the comments to the press at the close of the three-day NATO summit held in Washington.
He said calls for him to step down as the Democratic nominee were “premature” and urged voters to watch the polling numbers in the coming months “because the campaign really hasn’t even started.”
Biden expressed a commitment to continue the work of his administration into another term.
“What’s going on? We’ve slowed down China’s reach. But there’s a lot of work to do. This is a moving target, and I don’t take it lightly,” he said, noting there’s “so much is at stake” with the 2024 election.
During the press conference, Biden discussed NATO strategies regarding Russia and China, continuing military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, and increases in defense spending among NATO allies.
He also responded to questions about his candidacy and recent media speculation.
A number of media outlets, pundits, donors, and Democrat lawmakers have called on the president to drop out of the race after his performance in the June 27 debate against former President Donald Trump.
In response to critics, Biden has repeatedly said that he has no intention to step aside.
Since the first debate, Biden has been actively rallying support. He visited the The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations at union headquarters in Washington on Wednesday.
President Liz Shuler, who leads the federation of 60 national and international labor unions, told the president, “We have your back” in the election.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday at the NATO summit that he “didn’t understand” a reporter’s question asking his opinion about whether Biden should stay in the race.
“He is my counterpart; he is the president of the United States. And we are happy to have him as the president of the United States,” Macron said.
This year’s annual NATO summit marked the 75th anniversary of the military alliance and came at a time of heightened geopolitical tension throughout the world.
Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine remained a top priority on this year’s agenda.
“I made it clear that I will not bow down to Putin,” Biden said during the press conference. “I will not walk away from Ukraine. I will keep NATO strong. That’s exactly what we did, and exactly what we’ll continue to do now.
“The future of American policy is up to the American people. This is much more than the political question. It’s more than that. It’s a national security issue,” the president said.
During the summit, Biden announced plans to provide Ukraine with new air defense systems.
Several NATO allies also announced plans to send F-16 fighter jets to bolster Ukraine’s defenses. The alliance is also planning to establish a new military command in Germany to train Ukrainian troops, which will be led by a three-star NATO general.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that making Ukraine a full member of NATO is the best way to deter further Russian aggression.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby concurred, stating that the allies held a “deeper discussion” about the path for Ukraine’s membership.
“We absolutely believe that NATO is in Ukraine’s future,” Kirby said.
He also said that the supply of F-16s will help reshape the battlespace in Ukraine’s favor.
“We expect that they will make a significant difference in helping the Ukrainians protect their skies,” he said.
NATO’s 32 member states signed a joint communique called the “Washington Summit Declaration.” In this year’s statement, China is a focus of the military alliance.
During the press conference, Biden also said that he is working to ensure that Beijing “understands there’s a price to pay” for the regime’s actions in the Indo-Pacific and its assistance to Russia’s defense industrial base.
When asked if he is ready to deal with the leaders of China and Russia, the president responded, “I’m ready to deal with them now and three years from now.”
Biden said that he had a strategy to break the cooperation between Russia and China, but he didn’t elaborate.
NATO allies accused the Chinese communist regime of playing a significant role in helping Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“The PRC has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine through its so-called ‘no limits’ partnership and its large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base,” the joint statement reads, referring to the alliance formed between both countries in February 2022, just weeks before the invasion of Ukraine.
During a Wednesday press conference at the summit, Stoltenberg said the message from NATO is “very strong and very clear.”
