Biden’s NATO Press Conference
In a press conference in which President Joe Biden was repeatedly asked about whether he would — or should — stay in the presidential race, Biden made a few remarks that were misleading or could use more context.
- Biden said that border apprehensions were now “lower today than when Trump left office.” That refers to the latest seven-day average compared with former President Donald Trump’s last week in office. But apprehensions fluctuated wildly under Trump. The latest average is still 30% higher than the daily average over Trump’s entire term.
- The president left the misleading impression that his “initial initiatives” didn’t contribute to inflation or the debt or yearly deficits. Economists point to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic as the main cause of inflation, but many say a pandemic relief measure signed by Biden had some impact. And it did add to the deficit.
- Biden claimed there were “at least five presidents running or incumbent presidents” with lower polling numbers than he had at a later point in their campaigns. But the White House provided only one example of an incumbent who went on to win, trailing by a wider margin in the polls than Biden is now.
- He was largely accurate in describing comments Trump had made about NATO, Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin. We provide the context to those remarks.
Some Democratic lawmakers for Biden to, which was held during the in Washington, D.C., on the 75th anniversary of the alliance.
