- Joe Biden will host his first live press conference since his disastrous debate.
- It will be a massive litmus test in his reelection campaign.
- Supporters argue he'll silence critics, but the dam could break on calls for him to drop out.
Tonight will be a massive litmus test for Joe Biden's reelection campaign — and his critics are ready to pounce.
The president will host an unscripted live press conference to conclude the NATO summit in Washington DC.
The beleaguered president — whose disastrous debate has sparked fallout within the Democratic party and cemented Donald Trump's lead in battleground states — will take questions from reporters live at 6:30 pm ET.
All eyes will be on Biden's performance. The last time voters saw the president live and unscripted was at the debate, where his mumbling voice, frozen stare, and at-times-incoherent answers fueled doubts he is up to the task of taking on Donald Trump.
Biden loyalists are framing tonight's presser as a way for the president — who has repeatedly vowed to stay in the race — to silence his critics.
But calls for him to drop out are growing, and it's possible the dam could break after tonight.
Nancy Pelosi recently urged Democrats to "hold off" on publicly discussing Biden's candidacy until the NATO summit concludes.
"You don't have to put that out on the table until we see how we go this week," Pelosi said Wednesday on Morning Joe.
The president hasn't held a solo news conference for eight months, The New York Times reports, though Biden did sit down for a recorded interview with George Stephanopoulos the week after the debate.
Stephanopoulos was later caught on video saying he didn't believe the president could serve four more years.
The Times reports a White House planning document for the presser lays out potential questions Biden may be asked, including about his age and mental health, calls for him to drop out, and why he wants to stay in the race.
Meanwhile, pressure is growing for Biden to step aside.
Polling reportedly shows Biden is trailing badly in swing states, and even Democratic strongholds like New York are starting to crack.
On Wednesday, movie star and Democratic super donor George Clooney wrote an op-ed calling for Biden to quit and said his performance at the debate wasn't a one-off.
"It's devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe 'big F-ing deal' Biden of 2010," Clooney wrote in the The New York Times. "He wasn't even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate."
Biden's team pushed back by saying Biden has more stamina than Clooney.
Axios also reported that some of Biden's biggest allies — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi — privately say they'd be open to him dropping out.
And by Wednesday night, a sitting US senator had called on Biden to get out of the race.
Thursday's press conference will be a chance for Biden to show he's capable of a vigorous campaign against Trump, a man that he and Democrats call an existential threat to democracy.
But any slip-up may be the excuse wary Democrats need to push them over the edge — and spark a mass public revolt against Biden's candidacy.