Critics said President Biden's Thursday press conference was the "worst possible outcome" for Democrats as turmoil within their party continues.
"This is gonna end in the worst possible place for Democrats. Several verbal gaffes. Does nothing to quell nerves. Yet nothing sufficient enough for Democrats to break out the political long needle on his candidacy tonight," Ruthless podcast host Josh Holmes said.
BIDEN'S HIGH-STAKES SOLO PRESS CONFERENCE SLAMMED FROM THE RIGHT AS ‘ANOTHER DISASTER’
"So far this is a very similar Goldilocks performance to Biden's ABC News interview: not bad enough to open the floodgates, but not good enough to silence the critics. A frustrating spot for Dems," National Journal Hotline editor Kirk A. Bado said.
"Trump, RNC benefit, while Democrats waiting to release statements hardest hit," The Spectator editor-at-large Ben Domenech added on X, former known as Twitter.
"This presser going to be a Rorschach test that doesn't lead to definitive action on its own," said Kyle Saunders, political science professor at Colorado State University. "The problem is that this isn't fatality bad, it's just not that good either. Right in that no win zone. Exactly what the Ds did not need."
BIDEN INTERVIEWERS SHED LIGHT ON HIS FRAILTY BEHIND THE SCENES: ‘IT’S IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO NOTICE'
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich shared a text exchange with a Democratic source telling her it's the "worst possible outcome… Unless you are Hunter and need a pardon."
"Because it prolongs him stepping down?" she asked.
"Yes," the Democratic source responded.
There were several moments in the presser when Biden raised eyebrows, including when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump" and said, "I'm following the advice of my commander-in-chief," when he meant to say the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Shortly before the press conference, he mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "President Putin."
