President Biden held a high-stakes press conference Thursday evening where he doubled down on his earlier pledge to remain in the presidential race while making a few gaffes, including trailing off on his thoughts and using the word ‘anyway’ at least nine times. 

‘I just got to just pace myself a lot more, pace myself. And the next debate, I’m not going to be traveling in 15 time zones a week before. Anyway, that’s what it was about,’ Biden said after reporters asked him about reports he needs to go to bed earlier in the day.

‘That’s what it was about. And, by the way, even with that, I love my staff. But they add things. They add things all the time. … I’m catching hell from my wife for that. Anyway,’ he continued.

Biden said ‘anyway’ at least nine times throughout the roughly 58-minute press conference, according to a transcript of the press event, sparking some on social media to joke about an ‘anyway drinking game.’

Biden’s press conference comes as concerns mount he is not mentally fit to serve another four years in the Oval Office, including 17 elected Democrats calling on the president to bow out of the race as he prepares to square off against former President Trump in November. 

‘Joe Biden’s record of public service is unrivaled,’ Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said on X after the press conference. ‘His accomplishments are immense. His legacy as a great president is secure.

‘He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump.’ 

Conservatives slammed Biden on social media throughout the public event for his handful of gaffes, including holding up a list of reporters he planned to call on and appearing to confuse Vice President Kamala Harris with former President Trump, in addition to repeatedly saying ‘anyway.’

‘This NATO press conference with Biden is another disaster. It is inexplicable the people advising this man continue to think that somehow he’s not going to humiliate himself and this country. Why do they continue to allow this to happen?’ Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce posted to X during the press conference. 

Allies of the president, however, considered the press event a success, remarking on social media that Biden’s delivery while answering reporters’ questions was ‘strong.’

‘This is a very strong performance. Quite frankly. ⁦@POTUS⁩ is putting on a master class in how foreign policy and domestic policy intersect, explaining how crucial American global leadership is to our people here at home. Well done, Mr. President,’ Democratic strategist Joel Rubin posted on X. 

‘Tonight Joe Biden offered a lengthy, detailed dive on the major national security issues he’s juggling combined with a comfortable but forceful defense of his view of where this race stands. 50 minutes of Qs. He needed to show up big tonight and he did,’ former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield posted to X. 

The president again addressed concerns about his mental acuity during the presser, defiantly defending his record in office. 

‘Am I getting the job done? Can you name me somebody who’s got more major pieces of legislation passed in 3½ years, created 2,000 jobs just last week. So, if I slow down, I can’t get the job done. That’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that yet … none,’ he said. 

Biden also addressed whether Harris could serve as president, elaborating that he would not have chosen her as his running mate in 2020 if he thought otherwise. 

‘First of all, the way she’s handled the issue of freedom of women’s bodies to have control over their bodies. Secondly, her ability to handle almost any issue on the board. This was a hell of a prosecutor. She was a first-rate person, and in the Senate, she was really good. I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president. From the very beginning. I made no bones about that. She is qualified to be president. That’s why I picked her,’ he said. 

Biden addressed the media as he hosted NATO world leaders for the 75th anniversary of the defensive military alliance this week. 

President Biden held a roughly hour-long press conference and took multiple questions from reporters Thursday evening as he works to quell concerns over his mental fitness and age ahead of the presidential election in November. 

‘I’m determined on running,’ Biden declared Thursday evening in his solo press conference that lasted roughly 58 minutes. 

Biden’s press conference, dubbed by the media and repeated by the White House as the president’s ‘big boy press conference,’ was a high-stakes public event as voters and traditional Democratic allies increasingly spoke out this week that Biden’s mental acuity and age could or should prevent him from seeking re-election. The press conference follows Biden hosting NATO leaders in Washington, D.C., for the 75th anniversary of NATO. 

‘Am I getting the job done? Can you name me somebody who’s got more major pieces of legislation passed in three and a half years? I created 2,000 jobs just last week. So if I slow down, I can’t get the job done,’ Biden told the media of him remaining in the race. ‘That’s a sign that I shouldn’t be doing it. But there’s no indication of that yet. None.’

The press conference included a handful of gaffes from the president, including appearing to confuse Vice President Kamala Harris with former President Donald Trump, holding up a list of reporters he was instructed to call on, and repeatedly saying ‘anyway’ while trailing off from a specific thought. 

‘Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [if I thought] she’s not qualified to be president,’ Biden said, not appearing to catch his mistake.

Conservatives panned the press conference as ‘another disaster’ under the president’s belt, while some Democrats and allies of the administration defended the press event as a ‘very strong performance.’

‘This is a very strong performance. Quite frankly. ⁦@POTUS⁩ is putting on a master class in how foreign policy and domestic policy intersect, explaining how crucial American global leadership is to our people here at home. Well done, Mr. President,’ Democratic strategist Joel Rubin posted on X. 

Rubin was echoed by other Democrats, who argued Biden responded with strength as he fielded a bevy of questions from the media surrounding his foreign policy related to NATO and his mental acuity. 

Conservatives, meanwhile, overwhelmingly panned the press conference, citing the president’s handful of gaffes. 

Biden said during the press conference that Harris could fulfill the role of president, despite pushing against calls for him to bow out of the race and pass the mantle to his veep. 

‘First of all, the way she’s handled the issue of freedom of women’s bodies to have control over their bodies. Secondly, her ability to handle almost any issue on the board. This was a hell of a prosecutor. She was a first-rate person, and in the Senate, she was really good,’ Biden said.

‘I wouldn’t have picked her unless I thought she was qualified to be president. From the very beginning. I made no bones about that. She is qualified to be president. That’s why I picked her,’ Biden said.

Biden’s press conference followed another gaffe earlier in the day, when he confused Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

‘And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,’ Biden said. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.’ 

Biden quickly corrected himself, saying: ‘President Putin? We’re going to beat President Putin – President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin, we got to worry about it.’

‘I’m better,’ Zelenskyy quipped back. 

‘You are a hell of a lot better,’ Biden responded.

Concerns surrounding Biden’s health and mental fitness are at a fever pitch this summer, as some Democrats call on him to quit the presidential race following his disastrous debate against Trump last month. Biden has rejected calls to drop out, vowing to remain in the race as his campaign and the White House ramp up his number of public events in an apparent effort to quell concerns the president isn’t up for another four-year term in the Oval Office. 

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, called on President Biden to suspend his 2024 re-election campaign, just moments after the president finished his highly anticipated press conference. 

Biden participated in a press conference with reporters at the end of the NATO summit in Washington D.C. on Thursday night. 

Biden, during the press conference, was peppered with questions from reporters who pressed him on whether he would step aside amid mounting pressure from members within his own party following his disastrous debate performance last month.

Biden said he is ‘determined’ to stay in the race and maintained that he is fit to serve as president now and for the next four years. 

But Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., sounded the alarm moments after the press conference concluded. 

‘Joe Biden’s record of public service is unrivaled,’ Himes posted on X. ‘His accomplishments are immense. His legacy as a great president is secure.’ 

‘He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump,’ Himes posted on X.  

In a statement, Himes continued that it has been ‘the honor’ of his career to work with Biden on ‘achievements that secured his remarkable legacy in American history.’ 

‘It is because of those traits, and in consideration of that legacy, that I hope President Biden will step away from the presidential campaign,’ Himes said. 

A short time later, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., also called on Biden to drop out of the race.

‘The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course,’ Peters said in a statement. ‘My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the President and those around him.’

Peters is the 16th Democrat in the House of Representatives to call on the president to step aside. 

Biden, though, currently has the support of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. 

President Biden’s highly anticipated solo press conference Thursday evening was panned as a ‘disaster’ on social media by conservatives, who criticized the president for a performance that they said featured Biden stumbling through answers to reporters’ questions about foreign policy and the 2024 presidential race.

‘This NATO press conference with Biden is another disaster. It is inexplicable the people advising this man continue to think that somehow he’s not going to humiliate himself and this country. Why do they continue to allow this to happen?’ Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce posted on X during the press conference. 

Biden joined the media Thursday afternoon while wrapping up a NATO summit in the nation’s capital, where the president made a series of gaffes, including confusing Vice President Kamala Harris with former President Donald Trump, trailing off while answering a question, and announcing to the room that he had a list of reporters he would call on. 

‘This press conference is a disaster. Joe Biden is not answering the questions,’ Fox News contributor Leo Terrell posted on X during the press conference. 

‘Crooked Joe begins his ‘Big Boy’ Press Conference with, ‘I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, though I think she was not qualified to be president.’ Great job, Joe!’ Trump added on Truth Social. 

Conservatives and critics of the president unleashed on Biden’s press conference.

Biden’s press conference comes as he faces heightened concerns over his health in the wake of his poor debate performance late last month, which opened floodgates of concern in the Democratic Party that the president’s 81 years of age and alleged slipping mental acuity will cost the party as the Biden campaign squares up against Trump.

Biden has vowed to remain in the race despite rising concerns and calls for him to drop out and let another candidate take on Trump. 

‘There’s been a lot of speculation: What’s Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What’s he going to do?’ Biden said Friday in a speech in Madison, Wisconsin. ‘Well, here’s my answer: I am running and going to win again.’

As speculation and calls for Biden to drop out, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said earlier this week that Democrats are keeping their thoughts on Biden quiet ‘until we see how we go this week.’

‘Let’s just hold off,’ she said on MSNBC. ‘Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.’

Thursday marks the first time Biden has held a solo press conference since November of last year. 

President Biden faces a growing number of calls to step aside from the 2024 race for the White House, leading many Americans to question what the Democratic Party’s nomination process will look like if he stays in the race or ultimately allows for the selection of a new candidate.

Biden has stated several times since his damaging debate performance last month he will not drop out of the race. But matters would be less complicated for the Democratic Party if the president willfully chose to step aside before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19-22.

Democrats will officially choose their nominee at the convention, though they reportedly plan to nominate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the convention next month.

At the convention, a candidate must win support from the majority of the party’s nearly 4,000 delegates, the party officials who formally select the nominee. Delegates are distributed to candidates based on the results of primary elections in each state.

For the Democratic Party, there are ‘pledged’ and ‘unpledged’ delegates. Pledged delegates have to vote for whichever candidate in their party wins the primary or caucus in their respective state, while unpledged delegates may choose to vote for any candidate. In the Democratic Party, unpledged delegates are known as ‘superdelegates,’ current elected officials and party leaders who can support any candidate.

A total of 1,976 delegates are needed to clinch the Democratic nomination for president. Biden has won roughly 3,900 this year. Those delegates have ‘pledged’ to support Biden’s candidacy, according to DNC rules.

Though Biden has not indicated he plans to withdraw from the race, if he were to do so, his delegates would no longer be pledged to him. His withdrawal would lead to an open convention, resulting in Democrats being able to make suggestions for potential nominees and cast votes until one candidate receives a majority of delegate votes.

‘She’s a liability, but he would also, by getting rid of Kamala, insult and lose a valuable constituency. He’s not going to do that.’

— Craig Shirley, presidential historian

‘Biden has a hammerlock on those delegates and alternates. Only he can release them if he wants, and he’s not gonna release them,’ Craig Shirley, a presidential historian and biographer of former President Reagan, told Fox News Digital.

If Biden does not willingly drop out of the race, however, DNC regulations could seemingly make it possible for delegates to force Biden out of the race. Though it has not been tried in the modern political era, there is one rule that leaves open the possibility of giving delegates some leeway in who they support for the nomination.

Rule 13 (J) of the DNC’s Delegate Selection Rules states, ‘Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.’

To date, there is no definition or any prior history of what would constitute ‘in all good conscience.’

Shirley dismissed the rule, insisting the delegates will remain bound to Biden and that all of the ‘hype’ and ‘hot air spewing forth’ about what delegates will ultimately do is ‘all media (speculation) right now.’

‘What is going to happen is this: Biden is going to be renominated with Kamala Harris. He can’t afford to get rid of Kamala Harris because he’s stuck with her. He doesn’t want her. She’s a liability, but he would also, by getting rid of Kamala, insult and lose a valuable constituency. He’s not going to do that,’ Shirley said.

Though that rule is in place, the DNC could alter its own party rules at any point.

The rules have been changed in the past, for example, when President Lyndon B. Johnson decided not to seek re-election in 1968. At the time, the party shifted from an open convention process, where delegates could vote for whomever they wanted, to a bound process, where a delegate was attached to a candidate based on primary results.

The DNC is considering formally nominating Biden as early as mid-July, two Democratic sources confirmed to Fox News Digital this month.

A potential date for Biden’s nomination is July 21, the day the Democratic National Convention’s credentials committee meets virtually. Party officials have said the reason is that the convention falls after Ohio’s ballot deadline of Aug. 7. 

Earlier this summer, Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation altering the state filing deadline to Aug. 31, ensuring the Democratic nominee could be placed on the state’s November ballot even without the early virtual roll call vote.

Word of the potential July 21 roll call was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Former President Trump on Thursday evening formally requested Judge Merchan overturn his guilty verdict in New York v. Trump after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents have immunity for official acts. 

Trump was found guilty in an unprecedented criminal trial last month on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, following a six-week trial stemming from Bragg’s investigation. 

The formal motion was filed Thursday evening. 

‘The Court should dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s verdicts based on violations of the Presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause,’ Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote in the motion. 

Trump signaled last week that he would move to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office. 

In the formal motion Thursday evening, Blanche pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, and argued that certain evidence of ‘official acts’ should not have been admitted during the trial. 

Specifically, Blanche argued that testimony from former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks; former Special Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout; testimony regarding The Special Counsel’s Office and Congressional Investigations and the pardon power; testimony regarding President Trump’s response to FEC Inquiries; his presidential Twitter posts and other related testimony was impermissably admitted during trial. 

Trump attorneys also pointed to Trump’s disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics as president. 

Blanche said that ‘official-acts evidence’ that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg presented to the grand jury ‘contravened the holding in Trump because Presidents ‘cannot be indicted based on conduct for which they are immune from prosecution,” the motion reads. ‘The Presidential immunity doctrine recognized in Trump pertains to all ‘criminal proceedings,’ including grand jury proceedings when a prosecutor ‘seeks to charge’ a former President using evidence of official acts.’

Blanche argued that Bragg ‘violated the Presidential immunity doctrine by using similar official-acts evidence in the grand jury proceedings that gave rise to the politically motivated charges in this case.’ 

‘Because an Indictment so tainted cannot stand, the charges must be dismissed,’ Blanche argued. 

Blanche also explained that the Supreme Court’s decision does not allow for an ‘overwhelming evidence’ or ‘harmless error’ exception to ‘the profound institutional interests at stake.’ 

‘Indeed, Trump contemplates a pretrial interlocutory appeal of an adverse Presidential immunity determination precisely because even the prospect of such a trial is constitutionally unacceptable,’ Blanche wrote. ‘It necessarily follows that the results of a trial conducted in breach of these holdings is invalid.’ 

Trump was set to be sentenced Thursday, just days before the Republican National Convention where he is set to be formally nominated the 2024 GOP presidential nominee. 

But Merchan, last week, granted Trump’s request to delay that sentencing. Merchan moved the sentencing hearing to September 18, ‘if such is still necessary.’ 

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on presidential immunity came from a question that stemmed from charges brought against Trump in a separate, federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith related to the events of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach and any alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case. 

A moderate House Democrat said President Biden’s White House tenure must ‘come to an end’ on Thursday, the most significant voicing of opposition to his leadership from a member of his own party so far.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., previously said she believed Biden would lose to Trump, but now she is the 15th congressional Democrat to call on the president to end his re-election bid.

‘I’ve spent the past two weeks listening to my constituents express their concerns about the President’s age and health,’ she said in a statement to local outlet KGW, an NBC affiliate.

‘Americans deserve to feel their president is fit enough to do the job. The crisis of confidence in the President’s leadership needs to come to an end. The President should do what he knows is right for the country and put the national interest first.’

Gluesenkamp Perez is one of the most vulnerable Democrats of this election cycle and has frequently broken from her own party on votes.

Biden, meanwhile, is fighting for his political life in the wake of his disastrous debate performance against former President Trump late last month.

Biden spoke with a hoarse voice, which he attributed to a cold, and stumbled over his answers several times during the primetime event. Viewers also observed him appearing tired and noticeably less sharp than he looked the last time he faced Trump in 2020.

It spurred concerns among members of his party that he would lose to Trump in November and may not be fit to serve another four years.

Gluesenkamp Perez told KATU after the debate, ‘About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate. I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can’t undo that, and the truth, I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump.’

Biden, for his part, has maintained several times that he is not budging. 

Gluesenkamp Perez’s statement comes just a few hours before Biden’s 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time press conference. It’s a pivotal event for the president as he seeks to fight back doubts that he’s not physically or mentally fit for the White House.

House Democrats left Capitol Hill around noon on Thursday to return to their districts for a week-long break. 

Before that, left-wing lawmakers spent the week huddled as both a caucus and in smaller groups to discuss the path forward for Biden. 

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who has said he is behind the presidential ticket, told reporters earlier Thursday that he did not believe Biden was a drag on vulnerable Democrats.

‘House Democrats are engaged in conversations with House Democrats at this moment in time. Those conversations have been candid, clear eyed and comprehensive, and that’s important for us to do as a House Democratic caucus family. And as long as those conversations are ongoing, I’m going to respect the sanctity of those conversations until we conclude that process,’ he said.

The narrative aggressively pushed by the Biden campaign and White House in recent weeks about President Biden, which included trying to quash concerns about his mental fitness by calling videos of him struggling ‘cheap fakes,’ took a significant hit on Wednesday after a top Hollywood actor and former Obama aide spoke out.

On Wednesday, actor George Clooney called on Biden to leave the 2024 race, citing what he witnessed at a Hollywood fundraiser in late June where the president was criticized for seemingly needing to be led off the stage by former President Obama.

‘It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate,’ Clooney, a longtime friend of Obama, wrote. 

That conclusion was backed by former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, who attended the Hollywood fundraiser.

‘It was not surprising to any of us who were at the fundraiser,’ said Favreau, a member of the group of staffers often referred to as the ‘Obama bros’ during their tenure in the White House. 

‘I was there. Clooney was exactly right, and every single person I talked to at the fundraiser thought the same thing, except for the people working for Joe Biden, or at least they didn’t say that.’

Favreau’s blunt comments come just a day after he joined two of his fellow advisers and members of the ‘Obama bros’ in dedicating the majority of their latest ‘Pod Save America’ episode to ganging up on Biden following his poor performance in the first presidential debate and in a subsequent interview.

Immediately following the June 18 fundraiser where videos circulated of Biden being led off the stage by Obama, the Democratic Party along with the media launched a coordinated effort to dispel any questions about Biden’s age.

‘CLAIM: Biden froze onstage during his fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday night and had to be led away by Obama,’ the Associated Press wrote. ‘THE FACTS: Biden paused amid cheers and applause as he exited the stage with his predecessor following an interview moderated by late-night host Kimmel.’

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates described the moment as ‘the President taking in an applauding crowd for a few seconds.’

Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer attributed the negative characterizations as a distraction tactic from those who ‘are so scared of losing to Joe Biden, they’ll make anything up to distract from the fact that their candidate for president, Donald Trump, has been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault, committed financial fraud, and only cares about himself.’

In response to a question at a press briefing the following Monday about videos that have been edited to make Biden appear frail or confused, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called such footage ‘cheap fakes video’ that are ‘done in bad faith.’ She added that they demonstrate ‘everything that we need to know about how desperate, how desperate Republicans are here.’

A source who helped organize, and attended, the fundraiser told the AP that there was nothing noteworthy about this moment and that Obama wanted to be ‘chummy’ by walking offstage with Biden.

Lewis Kay, a spokesperson for Jimmy Kimmel, who was also at the event, called the claims spreading online ‘nonsense.’

‘Attendees in the front were shouting at him, and President Biden was trying to hear them,’ he wrote in an email to the AP. ‘It’s as simple as that.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Biden campaign for comment but did not receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie and the Associated Press contributed to this report

The White House and the Biden campaign ‘unequivocally’ denied a report claiming a handful of President Biden’s longtime aides are working on a plan to convince the president to drop out of the 2024 presidential race. 

‘Unequivocally, this is not true. President Biden’s team is strongly behind him,’ White House spokesman Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital. 

The New York Times reported Thursday afternoon that a handful of aides and advisers that have long worked with Biden are convinced he will need to bow out of the 2024 race as concerns mount surrounding his health and age, and are working on a plan to convince him to drop out. 

‘A small group of Mr. Biden’s advisers in the administration and the campaign – at least two of whom have told allies that they do not believe he should keep trying to run for a second term – have said they would have to convince the president of several things,’ the report states. 

The report added that the Biden insiders have to convince him to drop out as he ‘remains convinced of the strength of his campaign.’

The Biden campaign also denied the report in a comment to Fox Digital. 

‘Patently false. This team stands with the president,’ campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo told Fox News Digital. 

The New York Times report follows other media outlets claiming other Biden insiders are saying they don’t see a path forward for Biden following his botched debate performance against former President Trump late last month. 

NBC News, for example, reported Thursday: ‘Several of President Joe Biden’s closest allies, including three people who are directly involved in efforts to re-elect him, told NBC News they now see his chances of winning as zero – and the likelihood of him taking down fellow Democratic candidates growing.’

The New York Times also ran a story Thursday claiming the Biden campaign is testing the viability of Vice President Kamala Harris running in place of Biden. 

‘As President Biden faces mounting pressure over the future of his candidacy, his campaign is quietly testing the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris against former President Donald J. Trump in a survey of voters, according to three people informed about the effort,’ the New York Times reported. 

Concerns surrounding Biden’s health and mental fitness are at a fever pitch this summer, as some Democrats call on him to quit the presidential race following his disastrous debate against Trump last month. Biden has bucked calls to drop out, vowing to remain in the race as his campaign and the White House ramp up his number of public events in an apparent effort to quell concerns the president isn’t up for another four-year term in the Oval Office. 

Biden is expected to hold a news conference on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. after hosting NATO leaders in Washington, D.C., this week. The press conference is highly-anticipated, with lawmakers sounding off that the presser will serve as an ‘ultimate test.’ 

‘Just as all of his public appearances go on, it will be very interesting to see him do what they themselves have called a big boy press conference. Look, it’s been the biggest political cover up, probably in the history of the country,’ House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., previously told Fox News Digital when asked about the press conference. ‘I think the more public appearances and speeches he does, the more that will put that on vivid display. And I think there’s a lot to answer.’

The media have dubbed the press conference a ‘big boy press conference,’ with the president fielding questions from the media solo. It marks Biden’s first solo press conference of the year and the first time he will speak to the media at a presser since the debate on June 27, Fox News found.

Since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, Democrats and the media have repeatedly said that if Biden remains in the race, he needs to hold more interviews and press conferences.

‘The only way for him and the campaign to respond is not by talking to senators or governors, because this is not a tell-me situation. It’s a show-me situation,’ Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told CNN last Wednesday. ‘So he’d have to be out and about in the hurly-burly of a campaign, open-ended press conferences with folks like you, engagements with voters that are unscripted.’

Biden did sit down for an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopolos that aired on July 5, but the interview did little to quell mounting concerns over the president’s mental acuity and age, most notably when Biden repeatedly dodged whether he would take a cognitive test.

‘Have you had the specific cognitive tests, and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination?’ Stephanopoulos asked.

‘No, no one said I had to.… They said I’m good,’ Biden responded.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden a third time on taking a cognitive or neurological test and whether he would release the results of such a test to the public. The president, however, brushed off the question again. 

‘Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,’ Biden said. ‘Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world. Sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world.’

Biden did deliver a strong NATO speech on Tuesday, but praise from fellow Democrats was few and far between. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview the following day that Democrats are keeping their thoughts on Biden quiet ‘until we see how we go this week.’

‘Let’s just hold off,’ she said on MSNBC. ‘Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week.’