Joe Biden Holds Close to Two Hour Press Conference a Day Ahead of One Year Anniversary of the Start of his Presidency

 President Joe Biden made a lot of news in the close to two hour press conference a day ahead of the first anniversary of his Administration.

Some of it was good. Some of it was well...not so much.

Pointing out the progress his Administration has made since coming into office in COVID vaccines, the American Rescue Plan, the Economic Recovery (over six million jobs created and unemployment under four percent,) child poverty falling forty percent (for now) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan, the President, again, acknowledged that challenges remained (getting inflation under control, securing voting rights, and passing components of Build Back Better) and mistakes (like not producing COVID tests fast enough last fall) needed to be corrected.

Among the news Mr. Biden made at his conference was:

• COVID 19 is the new normal and society needs to adapt to the new reality where the virus becomes more of a seasonal illness as opposed to a full blown pandemic.
• Acknowledging that provisions of the Build Back Better legislation would be broken up and the parts everyone has agreed on (the climate provisions, child care, Universal Pre K) would be voted on.
• Inflation could be brought under control by getting the supply lines in order and passing Build Back Better.
• Challenging Republicans to say what they are for. Given their opposition to democracy, voting rights, tax cuts for the poor, lifting people up, Build Back Better, and mandating COVID 19 safety precautions, it is fairly easy to tell what they are against. The President should have made a better presentation articulating that.
• Claiming that he was surprised at the level of Republican opposition to his policies. Really. He was a Senator during the Bill Clinton Presidency. He was Barack Obama's Vice President. The real surprise is the President did not see this coming from the former Party of Lincoln.
• Saying that the response to Russian aggression against Ukraine would be determined on the severity of the action. He also predicted that Putin would invade Ukraine. Mr. Biden tried to clean up his comments later but immediate post conference commentary from international sources on CNN showed people in Ukraine were in shock of the Biden comments.
• Questioning the integrity of elections if Trumpist officials get the power to influence vote counting and election certifications.
• Kamala Harris will be his running mate in 2024.
• Pledging to go out and meet the public more, seeking more advice from outside the White House, and campaigning hard for Democratic candidates in the 2022 elections.

Honestly, it was not Mr. Biden's best performance in front of the press. The Presidents presentation (and responses) could have been better and more focused. Since the end of the press conference, White House staffers have been cleaning up his Ukraine comments.

It may be advisable to schedule another press conference in the near future for President Biden to clean up what he said today and get back in the right direction.