DAILY NEWS: Biden press conference news, analysis, quotes and highlights

President Joe Biden will face reporters late Thursday afternoon in his first solo press conference since his disastrous debate last month. He is expected to be asked tough questions about his theory of case for running for president at 81, as polls show him behind his Republican opponent, former President Trump.

President Biden is gearing up for a crucial press conference Thursday evening, the first solo press event since the APEC Summit in California eight months ago.

On Nov. 15, Biden met with China’s President Xi Jinping and reportedly left the meeting optimistic that he had reduced tensions between U.S. and Chinese forces in the Asia-Pacific, a feat he was aiming to button up prior to announcing his re-election bid. The president's press conference for the summit lasted about 20 minutes, and he answered roughly five questions before leaving.

However, throughout Biden's 41 months as president, he has gone a total of 30 months without a solo news conference, 16 months without a TV news interview, and 10 months without either, according to a Fox News count.

President Biden's campaign is "quietly" testing Vice President Kamala Harris' performance against former President Trump in internal polling, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The Biden campaign's analytics team reportedly commissioned the survey this week as Biden is fending off a steady stream of defections from Democratic lawmakers and donors. The three sources insisted on anonymity before speaking with the Times, and they did not specify the plans behind the poll, the outlet reported.

The report is the first indication that Biden's campaign may be considering a change of course. Biden himself has insisted that he is staying in the race, and top Democratic leaders have backed him in public statements, though rumors of discontent continue to leak out from party sources.

A Thursday poll from ABC News and the Washington Post found that Biden and Trump are essentially tied, even as 67% of voters say they believe Biden should drop out of the race. That poll also tested Harris in a contest with Trump and found that she overperformed Biden, holding a slight lead of 49%-46%.

A White House official told The Atlantic that President Biden making a public gaffe at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. might be fatal to his campaign.

"This is a terrible thing to say," an anonymous White House official told The Atlantic in a story published Wednesday. "But that might be the only thing that could force him out at this point, while there’s still time to rewrite the ending."

Biden's performance at the NATO summit this week has come under increased scrutiny amid concerns about the president's cognitive health and ability to serve.

"This week is pivotal for President Biden, not only because of the intense interest in what he will be saying at his press events but also because this summit provides a clear example of restored American global leadership in support of our nation’s defense," Joel Rubin, a former State Department official during the Obama administration, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

Atlantic columnist Mark Leibovich said that Biden was a danger to the country.

"Never underestimate the destructive power of a stubborn old narcissist with something to prove," Leibovich wrote.

"President Joe Biden, 81, is acting like one of history’s most negligent and pigheaded leaders at a crucial moment, and right now, we are all pedestrians," he added.

Former President Obama knew of George Clooney's New York Times guest essay calling for President Biden to drop out of the race but didn't object to it, according to a new report.

Clooney, a major Democratic donor who hosted a lavish fundraiser for Biden just weeks ago, published a devastating essay in the New York Times on Wednesday, demanding Biden step aside because of growing concerns over his mental acuity that were heightened after his disastrous presidential debate.

Politico reports that Clooney reached out to Obama beforehand to make him aware of the story to come, but Obama didn't try to stop him.

"While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn’t object to it, we’re told from people familiar with their exchange. The lack of pushback is an eye-popping revelation given that the former president was one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance (while many of his former aides have been some of the incumbent’s biggest critics)," the outlet reported.
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