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Election 2024 live updates: Biden to hold news conference as pressure from Democrats grows
President Joe Biden arrives for the NATO summit in Washington, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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President Joe Biden will hold a news conference at 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday, the key event in a monumental week for his campaign as he fends off calls for him to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee.
His candidacy is still under question as the first Senate Democrat, Peter Welch of Vermont, and a ninth House Democrat, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, publicly called for Biden to end his campaign yesterday.
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How to watch Biden’s news conference today
President Joe Biden speaks to active-duty military service members and their families during a Fourth of July celebration and barbecue on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Biden will hold a news conference later today that is the key event in a monumental week for his campaign.
It’s just the type of event that many political watchers have said the Democratic incumbent needs to pull off successfully to turn back demands — including from within his own party — that he withdraw.
Biden will be speaking from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, a short distance from the White House, where many events of the ongoing NATO summit are being held.
And aside from some apparent exceptions — like incidents in which two Black radio hosts said Biden’s campaign sent them planned questions ahead of time — it’s not standard practice for the president to know precisely what will come up during news conferences like this one.
▶ Here’s how to watch it and what to know
Defiant, Biden borrows some tactics from Trump’s playbook
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 7, 2024, after returning from a trip to Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
As an increasingly defiant Biden rejects calls to step aside after a disastrous debate performance, he’s been embracing some of the tactics used by a man he calls a mortal threat to democracy: his rival, former President Trump.
To be clear, there are significant differences between the men’s approaches. But longtime Trump watchers say there is nonetheless something familiar in some of the ways Biden has pushed back at criticism in recent days.
▶ Read more about how Biden is trying to put his debate debacle behind him
An imperiled reelection campaign runs into new trouble
President Joe Biden’s imperiled reelection campaign is hitting new trouble. Rather than urging him to stay in, on Wednesday former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should.
A sudden flurry of grave pronouncements despite President Joe Biden’s determined insistence he is not leaving the 2024 race put on public display just how unsettled the questions over his candidacy remain among Democrats. Among yesterday’s notable moments:
- Rather than urging him to stay in the race, House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said “it’s up to the president to decide” if he should.
- Celebrity donor George Clooney said he should not run.
- Vermont Sen. Peter Welch called on Biden to withdraw from the election, becoming the first Senate Democrat to do so.
- An eighth House Democrat, Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, and later a ninth, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, publicly asked Biden to step aside.
▶ Catch up on yesterday’s election updates