US President Joe Biden says he will still run for reelection, and insists he is the most qualified person for the job.
He held a rare unscripted news conference on Friday (NZT), his first time taking questions publicly since his debate with Donald Trump two weeks ago, and first news conference since last year.
Responding to the first question, posed by a reporter from Reuters about his political future amid suggestions he should stand aside, Biden accidentally called his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, 'Vice President Trump'.
Joe Biden takes a moment to recall what he wants to say during the briefing. Photo: AFP / Saul Loeb
Asked by another reporter about accidentally calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "President Putin", he laughed, then talked up how other world leaders at the just-finished NATO summit had personally thanked him.
On Harris' readiness to be president, said he would not have picked her if she could not do it.
Asked about reports that claimed he was planning to go to bed at 8pm every night, he said it was not true. He said he just wanted events to begin earlier so people could go home earlier, and criticised the amount of time he said Trump spent on golf courses.
"I've just got to pace myself anymore. Pace myself… I love my staff, but they add things. They add things all the time. I'm catching hell from my wife."
Photo: AFP / Getty Images
Biden earlier opened the press conference talking up the NATO summit, praising the alliance's success at preventing attacks on its members and calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderous madman".
He said many heads of state had thanked the US - and him personally - for what NATO had achieved, and criticised Republican rival Donald Trump's past comments about the alliance.
Biden also talked about working on a ceasefire in Gaza, falling inflation and domestic issues such as illegal immigration.