US politics expert: Biden 'has always stumbled over words'
US President Joe Biden made some serious gaffes during a press conference. He's always been that way, observers say, but he's finding it hard to convince voters of that.
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00:00Now, let's bring in U.S. analyst Liz Schuchat.
00:04Liz, looking at this, which is a bit painful, is Joe Biden still fit for office?
00:11I watched the whole thing, and it's a very different image than just a few gaffes.
00:17Yes, he has more frequently, but in the past always stumbled over words.
00:23I think his defenders are going to say these were common mistakes that folks make all the
00:27time under extreme pressure.
00:29He went on for 20 minutes in in-depth conversations talking about NATO, talking about current
00:35conflicts around the world, around trade policy, things that would be really hard to do if
00:40someone was genuinely suffering from mental capacity.
00:44Now, there's two things about this.
00:47He might be fit for office, as he demonstrated as well in this press conference.
00:53But is he fit to convince voters that he is and to beat Donald Trump?
01:00That's such an important question, and it gets at the heart of what people are kind
01:03of not actually saying.
01:05Can he be president?
01:06He's kind of proving again and again he's had an incredibly successful administration,
01:10but can he beat Donald Trump?
01:12And I think that question actually goes back to the DNC.
01:15That goes back to the Democrats.
01:16Donald Trump kind of did its first shot across the bow of Democrats in that debate.
01:20He was classic Trump, really strong, really aggressive, and Democrats responded with panic.
01:26So is it Biden alone that can't beat Trump, or is it all of the Democrats have a problem
01:31waging this campaign?
01:32Well, I mean, the Democrats are between a rock and a hard place, right?
01:35I mean, continuing with Biden might be risky.
01:38Getting rid of him and introducing a new candidate so briefly before the elections, I mean, what
01:43can they do?
01:44Welcome to every campaign ever.
01:45We never knew if Obama was going to win.
01:47Now it seems predestined.
01:48But I remember in 2012, really nail-biter all the way.
01:51And of course, this is a harder time with more grave consequences to the Democrats if
01:57Biden doesn't win.
01:58But they have to ask themselves, are we going to further add to the chaos, or are we going
02:02to stick behind our man and go after Trump?
02:07Why are Democrats calling on Biden to draw part of the race now?
02:12I would love to know.
02:14It's not the most strategic decision.
02:16I don't know if it is coming from sheer panic or if there have been a lot of backdoor conversations
02:22where folks are saying, all right, now we've got enough people supporting me.
02:24I'm not the lone person calling for this.
02:27I think it should be noted the majority aren't calling for it.
02:29We had Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of one of the most important states in the upcoming
02:33election, proudly saying her support.
02:36We have senators coming out saying their support.
02:38So Biden's claim is that it's folks that tried to run against him anyway or wanted him out
02:43anyway.
02:44And it could just be because this election has such huge consequences, folks are trying
02:49to do anything they can.
02:51Now after these most recent incidents, these gaffes, and basically what you just said,
02:57there hasn't been a true flood of calls for him to step down, right?
03:01And the polls haven't really affected that either.
03:03So what some people are saying is they're talking to average Americans in their homes,
03:08and they're not as worried as top punditry and some of the heads of the Democrats.
03:15So maybe this is a generated controversy that didn't need to be this drawn out.
03:20Now the majority of voters apparently describe both Biden and Trump as embarrassing.
03:28Why do both parties stick to these candidates from the beginning?
03:32I love to ruminate on this question.
03:35And I think in some ways we've got to build a time machine and go back in time and talk
03:39about what kind of party, if we're looking at the Democrats, were they building since
03:422008 that didn't have the type of candidates ready for 2020 and by default 2024?
03:49And the Republicans need to have what we in the South call a come to Jesus, where they
03:52need to say, are we going to continue supporting Trump and his ideas?
03:55Are we going to switch our entire tactic?
03:58Now Trump is still leading in the polls.
04:02Can they succeed in the election, the Democrats?
04:06Yes.
04:08Biden has what he loves to talk about, surprise polls, surprise voters multiple times.
04:13It was supposed to be a red wave in 2020, 2022 as well.
04:17And he and his party were very successful.
04:19Even in off-year elections like 2023, very successful.
04:23There is a chance.
04:24And also there's other issues on the ballot.
04:27Women's right to choose is a huge one.
04:29And over 60% of women say they're only voting for women's right to choose.
04:33And that's going to tip in the favor of Democrats.
04:35So there is still a path, but it will be hard and it will be harder without unity inside
04:40the party.
04:41Liz Schuch, a U.S. analyst.
04:42Thank you very much, Liz.
04:43Thank you.