Biden's Nato summit blunders 'nail in the coffin' for Democrats' efforts to beat Trump - Ray Addison

The use of the patronising term was quickly copied by National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby and then picked up by the world’s press.

Although the White House claimed the presser would assuage fears about Biden’s age and mental acuity, they had effectively damned him before it even started and infantilised him in the process.

What had begun after Biden’s dismal debate performance against Donald Trump, with The First Lady telling her husband: “Joe, you did such a good job” in the gushing tone of a kindergarten teacher, had now become common practice.

But still, the message to the president was clear.

If you’re refusing to step down, it's time to step up and deliver. Unfortunately, a series of gaffes have overshadowed whatever positives there may have been.

The first came a few hours before the press conference started when he mistakenly referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Nato summit as "President Putin", drawing gasps from around the room.

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

Although Biden eventually realised his mistake, his attempts to explain it away fooled no one.

He said: "Going to beat President Putin, President Zelenskyy. I am so focused on beating Putin."

Then during the one-hour press conference, at times Biden seemed unable to focus on anything, also mixing up the names of his vice president, Kamala Harris, and his rival Trump.

"Look, I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she was not qualified to be president. So start there," Biden said as he responded to a question about his confidence in his VP.

Biden also appeared to momentarily forget he was in charge, mistakenly referring to the country's top military leaders as "commander in chief," the title he holds as president.

"And so our military is working on following the advice of my commander in chief my, my, my, the chiefs of staff, of the military as well as the secretary of defense and our intelligence people."

Although Biden demonstrated a command of foreign affairs such as the Israel-Gaza conflict and the need for Western countries to produce more weaponry to counter Russia and China, he was hard to follow, coughed frequently and gave answers which trailed off into nowhere.

Pretty calamitous stuff, and it's these errors, witnessed around the world, that will remain the focus.

Russia's state TV channel Russia24 picked up on Biden’s Putin mistake, describing it as 'an embarrassment' saying: “'This just shows what state he is in at the moment."

Meanwhile, many American voters will be asking themselves: “Is this really the man we want sitting across the table from President Putin?”

The press conference is just the latest nail in the coffin of the Democrats’ increasingly beleaguered efforts to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

Although Biden may flatter himself that it is him and his ideas that his party wants, in truth, Democrats will accept anyone capable of beating Trump, convinced as they are that this election will define the future of American democracy.

Meanwhile, they face an increasingly frustrated electorate, many of whom feel they have been gaslit by Democrat officials who repeatedly claimed that the president was “sharp” and “intensely focussed” whilst left-leaning members of the press pushed talk of “cheap fake” videos.

The good news for the Democrats is that there is momentum against Biden.

At least 16 of the 213 Democrats in the House and one of the Senate's 51 Democrats have appealed publicly to the president to withdraw from the race.

Stressing that “the stakes are high” and “we are on a losing course” Representative Scott Peters of California posted a statement immediately after the presser urging Biden to stand aside and calling on all Democrats to join him “in putting the country first”.

He was joined by Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, who said he no longer believed Joe Biden was the strongest candidate “to confront the threat” posed by Trump and urging him to “put our nation first”.

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No Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Biden to end his candidacy, though former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday declined to say he should stay in the race.

Of course, in an ideal world, this would be the turning point. The president still has time to step aside with some dignity, however, he has stubbornly refused saying he’ll only go if ordered by the “Lord Almighty” himself.

Meanwhile, the campaign has commissioned a survey to test how Vice President Kamala Harris would fare if she were to replace Biden as candidate, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

The fallout leaves the Democratic Party in more chaos now than it was yesterday, and with every day that passes, the window of opportunity to field a winning candidate is getting smaller and smaller.

Biden’s next challenge comes on Monday in a sit-down interview with NBC’s Lester Holt during the Republican National Convention.

Democrats are sure to be watching from behind the sofa following his disastrous interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos where he admitted he couldn’t remember if he had watched the debate back.

Allies of the president believe it is these unscripted moments with journalists that give him the chance to prove he still has what it takes to lead the country. Unfortunately, so far all they have done is expose his failings.