Biden pushes through flubs in NATO press conference | The Excerpt

On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: President Joe Biden wrapped up a NATO summit with a press conference Thursday, where he had a number of verbal snafus, but was defiant that he will remain in the presidential race. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Francesca Chambers reports. A new poll found that most Democrats want Joe Biden to drop out of the race. Plus, more Democratic lawmakers call on Biden to drop out. Inflation eased more than expected in June. USA TODAY Senior Reporter Jessica Guynn discusses the retirement savings crisis.

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it.  This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, July 12th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, a closer look at Biden's NATO press conference and what it might mean for him going forward, plus a wave of Democratic lawmakers calling on him to bow out of the race grows louder, and we discuss how many Americans can't afford to retire.

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President Joe Biden wrapped up the NATO summit yesterday with a press conference answering questions from reporters, but what could have been a slam dunk event became a reminder of Biden's persistent verbal flubs. And during the hour long news conference, he repeatedly lost his train of thought. Still he remained defiant about sticking around in the presidential race.

Joe Biden:

I think I'm the most qualified person to run for president. I beat him once and I will beat him again.

Taylor Wilson:

I spoke with USA TODAY White House correspondent, Francesca Chambers, to put last night in context. Hello, Francesca.

Francesca Chambers:

Hey, Taylor. How's it going?

Taylor Wilson:

Good, good. Thanks for hopping back on The Excerpt. So Francesca, this news conference was ostensibly about NATO and how to help support Ukraine, but the bigger story was President Joe Biden and his mental capacity. How did this presser go for him? You were in the room, so what stood out to you?

Francesca Chambers:

Yeah, this is not the way that the White House would've wanted it to go, Taylor. From the get-go, he was making verbal gaffes. He was asked early on about an event just beforehand in which he had accidentally called Ukrainian President Zelenskyy by Putin, the name of his adversary, the Russian president. President Biden laughed it off, but then when he was giving his answer, he accidentally called his own vice president, Vice President Trump.

And then he seemed to lose his train of thought at multiple points in the evening. He said the word anyway as he trailed off again. And so as he tried to make the case that the debate was just one bad night, it was one bad moment in his presidency, he seemed to have several more of them on Thursday evening at the NATO summit.

Taylor Wilson:

You know, Francesca, there's an increasing wave of Democratic voices calling for Biden to drop out and pass the baton to the next generation of leaders. That's something he promised to do when he ran back in 2020. How did he address this and just how defiant was he that he's sticking in this race?

Francesca Chambers:

That did come up, Taylor. He was asked about how he said that he would be a bridge to the next generation of leaders, that he would be a transitional present. And he was asked what changed? And he basically referred to the challenges against democracy that we've seen in the last few years, and his belief that he is the most qualified person to both be President of the United States and to beat Donald Trump in the election.

Now, he was pressed repeatedly on Thursday evening about the fact that his own vice president, Kamala Harris, would either beat Trump in polling or be within the margin of error. He did say that he thought that she was qualified to be president, that he believed that other people could win besides him, but he was very defiant about remaining in the race.

Taylor Wilson:

At one point, Biden was asked about Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who's an ardent supporter, who's also on the shortlist to take over his candidacy should he drop out. She said it wouldn't hurt for him to take a cognitive test. How did Biden respond here?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, he pointed out that he's taken a cognitive test every time he has his annual physical, the last one being in February. But he pushed back again on the idea that he needed to take another one saying that no doctor had said that he should. He hadn't been asked to, and the idea that he takes a cognitive test every day, he said, just by doing the job.

Taylor Wilson:

So there's been so much focus on Biden's status as the Democratic front-runner in this race, and reporters did not let him ignore that last night. There are clearly concerns around the world about this election as well. A Polish reporter at one point pressed him about some of the concerns that a second Trump presidency might bring for Europe and the world. How did Biden respond in general to the possibility of a second Trump term?

Francesca Chambers:

One thing that Biden brought up during the press conference was that he had not actually had any of his European allies come up to him and say, "Joe, don't run." He said, "What I hear them say is you've got to win." And he said that they told him that Trump would be a disaster.

Now, from the conversations that I was having with European officials and attendees of the NATO summit who came from overseas, they did say by and large that they did not want Trump to win the election, that they were very concerned that he would either end the NATO alliance or transform it in ways that were detrimental to European security. And they came away from it feeling that they do need to spend more on their defense, that they do need to prepare for a situation in which they cannot rely on the United States in the same way that they have in the past.

And so to a certain extent, it felt as if European officials weren't willing to talk on the record about some of the issues facing Biden politically because it might be hurtful to him and potentially helpful to former President Trump with whom they do not have the same vision when it comes to European security, if they were to raise those concerns out in the open. And one person even told me they just thought that it would be really disrespectful when they were in the United States and Biden's the sitting president.

Taylor Wilson:

As we've mentioned, President Biden did make some noteworthy flubs with regards to names yesterday on the final day of the summit. Francesca, what can we infer from these kinds of errors which do appear to be more frequent?

Francesca Chambers:

Well, one thing that he said that he would be doing is having fewer events, and he did seem to acknowledge that he wouldn't be having them as late at night anymore. I mean, he said it would be smarter for himself to pace himself a little bit more. He said that instead of starting fundraisers at 9:00 PM, he asked his staff to start them a little bit earlier at 8:00 PM. He'd like to be getting home by 10:00 PM. So he said that that's more what he was talking about, that the mistake that he made was just packing his schedule too much and that that's why he was getting so tired.

Taylor Wilson:

So Francesca, what's next on this conversation?

Francesca Chambers:

It's not yet clear, Taylor, based on the performance that he gave in the press conference on Thursday evening. But the president will go to Michigan on Friday and then he'll take some time off over the weekend. And then early next week in a twist of fate, he'll be speaking at Lyndon B. Johnson's Library. Now that's significant because LBJ decided in the middle of a presidential election to drop out of the race. And so some people are drawing parallels between what that might mean for President Biden who's expected on Monday to sit down for an interview with NBC also.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Francesca Chambers is a White House correspondent with USA TODAY. I appreciate your time as always, Francesca. Thanks so much.

Francesca Chambers:

Thanks, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

A new poll has found that most Democrats want Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. The Washington Post, ABC News, Ipsos poll conducted between July 5th and July 9th found that 56% of Democratic adults surveyed want Biden to drop out, while 42% think he should continue his campaign for president. 2% of respondents were skipped. The poll also found that Vice President Kamala Harris would beat former President Donald Trump in a head-to-head matchup. 49% of registered voters surveyed said they'd choose Harris while 47% said they'd choose Trump. Biden and Trump remained tied 46% in a head-to-head matchup.

Meanwhile, more Democratic lawmakers are speaking out. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Jim Himes, came out with a statement calling on Biden to withdraw immediately after his NATO press conference ended. And Congressman Scott Peters followed suit shortly after the press conference wrapped. Additionally, Democratic organizers have abandoned plans for a fundraiser in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention next month as support for President Joe Biden waivers according to a CNN report. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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Inflation eased more than expected in June as falling gasoline prices offset another increase in rent providing a third straight month of relief for Americans struggling with a pandemic-related spike in prices. The development combined with a recently cooling job market should strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in the next couple of months, a move that likely would juice the economy and US stocks.

Overall prices rose 3% from a year earlier, down from 3.3% in May, a third straight monthly pullback according to the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index, a broad gauge of goods and service costs. That's the smallest rise in a year. The price of used cars and airfares dropped while grocery and healthcare costs rose modestly.

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For many folks, the short term relief from inflation though is not enough. Retirement remains out of reach for millions of Americans approaching or reaching retirement age. I spoke with USA TODAY senior reporter, Jessica Guynn, to learn more. Hey there, Jessica.

Jessica Guynn:

Hi, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So would you start by just telling us about Theresa Edwards and her story?

Jessica Guynn:

Sure. Theresa Edwards lives in South Los Angeles. She's 74 years old and she still works six days a week as a caregiver. She's also a caregiver to her husband of 55 years who's pretty frail and recovering from a serious car accident. She told me that she started caring for others at the age of 18 when her grandmother had Alzheimer's. She loves her work and she feels like it keeps her energetic and spry, but she told me she tires more easily these days than she used to, and sometimes she gets dizzy. So the question is, well, why not stop working? And she said, "Well, I can't afford to."

This is a very pragmatic, no nonsense, salt of the earth kind of person. She does not buy new clothes. She saves every cent. She has never depended on anyone. And she said she just does not want to start now, but she can barely make ends meet in terms of her family's expenses each month, which are about $3,000. And she can't see how she could ever do it on what she'd get from Social Security, so she just has to keep working. And the sad fact is that she is not alone. Millions of older Americans are working into their 70s and even their 80s because they can't afford to stop.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, it's so tough, Jessica. So what does research really tell us about the financial stability or lack thereof when it comes to older Americans approaching retirement age?

Jessica Guynn:

Well, retirement is just no longer something many Americans can count on. Costs are going up, housing, healthcare, Social Security pays less than half of your average wages, and it just doesn't stretch far enough. And many older Americans just haven't been able to put enough away in 401K accounts or in savings to be able to get by.

I mean, we've written stories, I've written stories about older Americans choosing to work longer, but not everyone wants to or can keep working. Yet researchers say millions of older Americans can't stop working because they can't afford to. And if they do stop working, they're forced into a standard of living that is far below what they were used to.

Taylor Wilson:

So what are the factors contributing here? I know you wrote about so-called do it yourself pensions in this piece.

Jessica Guynn:

Well, it used to be pretty unpopular to blame 401Ks or do it yourself pensions, but increasingly people are blaming them. Before, we had pensions. They were known as defined benefit plans in which your employer invested on your behalf and you were promised a fixed monthly income when you retired. Those were largely replaced by 401Ks, where you choose your investment options and there's no guarantee of what you will get. And not all companies offer them either. Millions of employees in the private sector don't have any workplace retirement plans, and many people couldn't afford to contribute to them even if they did.

Taylor Wilson:

You touched on this a bit with Theresa, but what solutions are folks having to find? How are they solving this?

Jessica Guynn:

Well, one 70-year-old I spoke with retired and then went back to work. She said it was the only way she could afford to keep living. This is someone who lived very comfortably most of her life. She worked as a real estate agent, a loan officer, a mortgage processor, she owned her own marketing business, which was very successful. And then she had some health issues and had 15 surgeries over 20 years. She was able to get by on credit cards, but then she couldn't keep up with the payments and had to file for bankruptcy. She's no longer a homeowner. She lives in a she shed behind her daughter's home and she's trying to figure out how she's ever going to stop working.

Taylor Wilson:

What direction is this trending, Jessica? I mean, will this retirement crisis get worse as time goes on?

Jessica Guynn:

That seems to be the general consensus. The folks I talked with said that it will only get worse for future generations. And future generations are frankly really worried about this. I spoke with Gen X, Gen Z, millennials. They're very rattled, especially because many of them have less stable employment and less stable incomes.

Taylor Wilson:

Jessica Guynn is a senior reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Jessica.

Jessica Guynn:

Thanks so much for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden pushes through flubs in NATO press conference | The Excerpt