President Joe Biden managed to ease some concerns about his political future during a choreographed news conference on Thursday night, even as he made some major gaffes.

Democrats have been calling for the president to withdraw from the race for weeks. Two weeks after debating former President Donald Trump, Biden was taking questions at a key press conference with his political future hanging in the balance. Despite some gaffes that circulated on social media, the president held strong enough throughout the rest of the press conference that he could have delayed calls for him to resign. (Related story: Briefing erupts after reporters bombard KJP with questions about neurologist's White House visit)

“Biden had a good enough night that Democrats aren't going to have a public meltdown, at least not tonight. Biden bought himself some time, but that's probably frustrating for a lot of Democrats who see Biden as the weakest candidate against Trump and want it to be over quickly. Democrats are really in a bind,” said Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary in the Bush administration. I have written In a tweet.

Biden had a good enough night that the Democratic Party is unlikely to completely and publicly collapse — at least not tonight.

He has bought himself some time, but this will likely upset many Democrats who see him as the weakest candidate against Trump and want this case over quickly.

Ds is really in a tough spot.

— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) July 12, 2024

During an already long-delayed, nearly hour-long news conference, Biden made several gaffes as he sought to prove to reporters and allies that he was capable of serving a second term in office.

The first gaffe came before Biden even took the stage at a news conference about two hours ago, when while introducing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden mistakenly called him “President Putin.” Biden took a moment to realize his mistake and correct himself.

BREAKING: President Joe Biden referred to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “Putin” during the NATO summit.

Wow.

“And now I want to hand it over to a President of Ukraine who has as much courage as he did. Be determined, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President… pic.twitter.com/6ug5qh2nF8

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 11, 2024

Biden took the stage for the press conference just before 7:30pm, after it was postponed to 6:30pm, originally scheduled to begin at 5:30pm. After delivering his opening statement via teleprompter, Biden told reporters he had a list of people he was going to call. The president called a total of eight reporters on his list before taking questions yelled out as he walked offstage.

Here's a list of reporters Biden called tonight: pic.twitter.com/cIhbGifTNv

— James Lynch (@jameslynch32) July 12, 2024

Immediately after answering the first question, Biden confused Vice President Kamala Harris with Trump.

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“my question for you teeth, how teeth you Incorporate these development In your decision To Stay and Separately, what Concerns do you have about Vice president Harris' ability To beat Donald Trump if she was in of Up of of “Tickets?” the reporter asked.

“look, I Won't have Selected Vice president Trump To Become familiar Vice Mr. President, she Qualified To Become familiar president. So let's start “There,” Biden began.

At a later press conference, Biden referred to the military chief as “commander in chief” when speaking about the Russia-Ukraine war.

“The question is, he has the weapons that we're giving him, how do we best use them,” Biden began. “I've acquired more advanced, longer-range capabilities and defensive capabilities. So our military, following the advice of the commander in chief, the chief of staff, the secretary of defense, the intelligence community, is looking every day at what they should do, how far should they go. That's the logical thing to do.”

Biden has exceeded expectations. His fake Hollywood friends are falling apart.

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) July 12, 2024

Amid the gaffes, Biden managed to address concerns that he would be unable to handle late-night events and the demanding presidential schedule — concerns Democrats expressed when they called on him to drop out of the race.

“I am determined to run, but I think it's important to allay any fears by letting people see me there and me seeing them. You know, for a long time, Mr. Biden has not been ready to sit down with us unscripted. Mr. Biden is not ready for that in any way. So I've been doing over 20 major events from Wisconsin to North Carolina just to show that I am going to the areas where I think we can win, where we can convince people to move to our side, or people who are already there,” the president said, directly attacking criticism that he cannot speak without a teleprompter.

Perhaps the worst case scenario for the Democrats: It was enough to activate the Blue Magas, but it was bad enough that viral videos of “Vice President Trump” and “Putin” circulated among ordinary voters all weekend.

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) July 12, 2024

Unlike Biden's debate performance and his prime-time ABC News interview, the president's public appearance did not seem to cause panic within his party or among his allies. Instead, he appeared to simply live up to already low expectations at a high-profile press conference.

Some conservatives praised the performance, saying it was enough to keep a weakened Biden in the race, but others said it was below par for a president seeking reelection. “Probably worst case scenario for Democrats,” tweeted Sagar Enjeti, a former White House correspondent for The Daily Caller.

“This is the worst possible outcome,” said a Democratic official Said Jackie Heinrich, senior White House correspondent for Fox News;