First lady Jill Biden needles her husband over his busy schedule, the president claimed during a Thursday evening press conference.

“I love my staff, but they add things,” President Joe Biden said. “They add things all the time. I’m catching hell from my wife for that.”

Biden admits Nurse Jill runs the show: “I love my staff, but they add things … I’m catching hell from my wife. Anyway…” pic.twitter.com/bKUXdFSOnl

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 11, 2024

The aside came in response to a reporter’s question about whether Joe Biden will feel up to the presidency in two or four more years. The press conference itself was hotly anticipated in Washington as Joe Biden fights to remain the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Joe Biden also attacked his opponent, former President Donald Trump, in his answer, saying he has spent the last two weeks hiding out.

“If you look at my schedule since I made that stupid mistake in the debate, my schedule has been full bore,” Joe Biden said. “Where has Trump been? Riding around in his golf cart, filing out his score card before he hits the ball. Look, he’s done virtually nothing.”

“I’ve done roughly 20 major events, some of them with thousands of people showing up,” Joe Biden added. He then acknowledged he needs to “pace myself” before swiping at his staff for adding things to his schedule.

Contrary to the claim, the spotlight on Jill Biden since the June 27 debate has focused on allegations that she is pushing her husband to seek reelection despite his frail health.

Megyn Kelly tore into the first lady’s Vogue magazine cover story last week, saying Jill Biden “turns out to be a bit of a grifter. She’s power hungry.”

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Another media celebrity, podcast host Joe Rogan, wondered aloud if the first lady has “just, like, a power thing” driving her to push her husband into a second term.

However, polling suggests that voters think it is Joe Biden’s staff that’s the power behind the throne rather than his wife. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 9% of respondents believe Jill Biden is actually making decisions at the White House, compared to 39% who named “senior political advisers.”

President Joe Biden acknowledged that his Democratic delegates are “free to do whatever they want,” — but said what they want is to back him.

“Obviously they’re free to do whatever they want. But I got overwhelming support, overwhelming support,” he said in a Thursday evening press conference. “I won — I forget how many votes I won in the primary, but [it was] overwhelming. And so tomorrow, if all of the sudden I show up at the convention and everybody says we want somebody else, that’s the democratic process. It’s not gonna happen.”

Biden fielded question after question about his 2024 candidacy and the calls from elected Democrats and celebrities for him to exit the race. He said many of those politicians are worried about their own elections and implied that he will not sink their races even if loses.

When asked if Democratic National Convention delegates could vote for someone else at next month’s Chicago convention, Biden said, “Sure.” Biden won roughly 99% of the 3,939 delegates in a noncompetitive party primary this spring, though the delegates are not legally bound to back him in Chicago.

Biden also said that Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to be president one day, but that his leadership is needed during the next four years.

“Do you think our democracy is under siege based on this [Supreme] court? Do you think it is under siege based on Project 2025?” Biden said. “We have never been here before. That’s the other reason why I didn’t hand off to another generation — I’ve got to finish this job. I’ve got to finish this job because there’s so much at stake.”

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Harris has fared relatively well in hypothetical polls taken since Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate. But when asked directly if she should take over based on those figures, he declined.

“No [I won’t drop out], unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win,” Biden said. “No one is saying that. No poll says that.”

President Joe Biden touted the qualifications of “Vice President Trump,” starting off his press conference Thursday evening with a gaffe.

Speaking at the NATO summit in Washington, Biden began answering a question about his faltering reelection bid by saying he believes in his vice president — while naming his opponent.

“I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if I thought she’s not qualified to be president,” Biden said. “So let’s start here.”

Biden’s remarks were highly anticipated as he’s fighting to stay in the 2024 race and tends to struggle the most during unscripted remarks or interactions with the press. The White House dubbed his rare solo event with the media a “big boy” press conference.

The Donald Trump-Kamala Harris mixup came at the beginning of his answer to the first question he was asked, which is unlikely to reassure nervous Democrats about his candidacy.

“The fact is that — the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president,” Biden continued. “I’ve beat him [Trump] once, and I will beat him again.”

Earlier in the evening, Biden mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian President Vladimir Putin during an event at the 75th NATO summit. 

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“Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin,” Biden told the crowd Thursday moments before his high-stakes press conference capping the summit.

Biden then corrected himself to say “President Zelensky” to a smattering of claps from NATO leaders gathered at the Washington, D.C., summit.

One of the closest confidantes to President Joe Biden as he fights to remain the Democratic Party’s nominee is his embattled son, Hunter Biden.

Multiple news outlets have reported that the younger Biden is acting as an adviser, and even as a gatekeeper, to the leader of the free world in spite of his long-standing addiction problems and a recent felony conviction.

Hunter Biden has been living at the White House since the disastrous June 27 debate, according to the New York Post, and has even joined meetings with high-level advisers to the president. The Washington Examiner has contacted the White House seeking confirmation on Hunter Biden’s whereabouts as his father fights to stay atop the Democratic ticket.

Both Joe and Hunter Biden have been drawn together by tragedies within their family and seem to draw closer during times of crisis. Hunter Biden and his brother, Beau Biden, survived a car crash when they were toddlers that left their mother and sister dead. Beau Biden later showed promise of following in his father’s footsteps as a national politician before succumbing to brain cancer in 2015.

Since that time, Hunter Biden has struggled with extreme addiction and financial troubles, fathered a child with an ex-stripper whom his father only recently acknowledged, been convicted on federal gun charges, and faces a looming tax trial in September.

None of that has stopped Joe Biden from being seen with his son publicly and saying he remains “proud” of him. Not only that, Hunter Biden frequently flies aboard Marine One, was with him during debate prep at Camp David, and reportedly has assisted in writing his speeches.

Following the revelation that Hunter Biden sat in on White House meetings, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) wrote a letter to White House chief of staff Jeff Zients demanding to know if the younger Biden had received any non-public information.

“According to news reporting, the President’s son’s sudden presence at official meetings has caused confusion for some White House staff, prompting a reaction of, ‘What the hell is happening?’” the letter says. “It is disturbing to learn these events are transpiring in the West Wing, especially via news sources. It is unclear what official meetings and phone calls Hunter Biden is participating in and in what capacity and whether these discussions include classified information.”

On July 2, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that Hunter Biden was involved in some of his father’s official business.

“He spent time with his family, as you all know and reported, at Camp David,” she said. “Hunter came back with him and walked with him into that meeting, that speech prep. And, you know, he ended up spending time with his dad and his family that night.”

Pressed for clarification, she added, “[Hunter] walked him into the speech prep, and he was in the room. That, I can tell you: He was in the room.”

Hunter Biden also stayed in the White House near this time last year. The Washington Post reported last August that Hunter Biden stayed in the executive mansion for two weeks beginning on June 21, 2023. If accurate, that would mean that Hunter Biden left the White House on July 5 — one day after it was announced that cocaine had been found on the premises.

Joe Biden has pledged not to pardon his son or commute any sentence resulting from his conviction. Nonetheless, Hunter Biden has many incentives to see his father continue to reside in the White House beyond January.

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Hunter Biden is reportedly one of the strongest voices urging Joe Biden to stay in the 2024 presidential contest, and he attended a ceremony last week posthumously awarding the Medal of Honor to several Union soldiers.

The next day, Hunter Biden watched the fireworks on Independence Day with his father from a White House balcony, leaving the area after the show ended to chants of “four more years” from supporters.