Biden’s effort does not calm the party’s concerns

Joe Biden gave a competent performance when he faced the journalists’ questions, believes Professor Dennis Goldford.

– But that will not calm concerns about his ability to campaign and win the election, he says.

After eight months without a single press conference, the President of the United States finally appeared before reporters on Thursday evening, in connection with the NATO summit in Washington.

– He clearly did not look as lifeless as he did during the debate against Trump. He started off powerfully as he read on the teleprompter, said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Well-educated and competent

Biden appeared largely well-read and competent when it came to policy issues, especially in the foreign field, Goldford emphasizes.

But he also points out that the 81-year-old had more difficulty when he went from giving speeches to answering questions, especially those about his health and abilities.

– Then he responded several times by talking about political measures instead, but that was not what the question was about.

Biden slipped his tongue a couple of times – first he called Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “President Putin” and later he spoke of “Vice President Trump”

“Does not enhance the image”

Misstatements of this type, which the president has made many times before, don’t have to be a problem, according to Dennis Goldford.

– But for those who believe that Biden is too old, this kind of everyday mistake will strengthen the image that he is not at his best.

On the whole, he doesn’t think Joe Biden made any catastrophic mistakes.

– He didn’t dig the hole deeper, so to speak. But did he fill up what he had already dug up? Not really. Maybe this helped the margin a little bit, but there’s no getting away from the fact that he’s 81 years old.