President Joe Biden on Thursday held his first solo news conference with reporters at the White House, tackling questions on the Mexican border, a raging debate over the filibuster and his administration’s Afghanistan strategy.
Many Americans were curious to see how the 78-year-old would do in his first go-around with the national media as president.
So, how’d he do?
"Let’s face it. Joe Biden is rickety at this stage in his career in front of the camera, especially when he’s unscripted. Even when he’s scripted, he’s sometimes rickety," said San Francisco Chronicle Political Reporter Joe Garofoli.
But, as Garofoli told KCBS Radio’s "The State of California," Biden "passed the test on that score today."
Throughout his career, Biden has been known for missteps, fumbles and stumbles in public speaking settings, even by his own admission. In answering reporters' questions at the White House on Thursday, he seemed keenly aware of the spotlight and surprisingly cut himself off a few times.
"It was definitely something a lot of reporters and a lot of Americans wanted to see," Garofoli said. "You want to be able to have confidence your president can stand up there and answer basic questions in a coherent manner."
Unlike his predecessor, Biden has been camera shy in his administration’s first two months, something Garofoli believes is a calculated step.
"They have been trying to minimize his exposure in an unscripted manner in front of reporters with no net and they went a long time," he added. "I think this is a lot longer than most presidents go without a full-blown press conference like this. They got this out of the way. He did okay."
Performance aside, the first-term Democrat certainly made headlines by saying - when pressed on the issue - his "plan is to run for reelection." Biden also pledged to administer 200 million doses by the end of his first 100 days in office, upping his previous goal of 100 million doses in the same timeframe.
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