Biden calls Trump his vice president in awkward gaffe at high-stakes news conference at NATO summit

President Joe Biden defended his record and tried to reassure voters that he could continue the presidential campaign at a stand-alone news conference on Thursday at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.

The moment most people will remember is when he accidentally referred to his vice president as former President Donald Trump rather than Kamala Harris.

'I love my staff, but they add things. ... I’m catching hell from my wife for that.'

The speech started almost two hours later than it was scheduled to at 6:30 p.m.

Some pundits were anticipating that Biden might step down from the presidential campaign during the speech, but instead, Biden defended NATO, defended his economic plan, and touted his plan to ease unrest in the Middle East between the Palestinians and Israel.

After his address, Biden went to answer questions but admitted that he had a list of reporters to pick from.

When asked about his performance in the office, he said that he had built a better U.S. economy by defeating trickle-down economics.

He also defended Vice President Kamala Harris by saying that she had done a good job defending women's issues and said she had been a great prosecutor.

"I wouldn't have picked her if I didn't think she was qualified to be president," he said. "She is qualified to be president. That's why I picked her."

At another point, he appeared to toss members of his staff under the bus by saying they added things to his statements that he didn't approve.

“I love my staff, but they add things. They add things at the end. I’m catching hell from my wife for that," he joked.

Prior to the address, Biden also mistakenly referred to the president of Ukraine as "Putin," but he quickly corrected himself.

By Thursday, 14 Democratic politicians had called for the president to step down from the campaign. Some celebrities had also joined the chorus against Biden, including actor George Clooney, author Stephen King, and Rob Reiner, the actor and director.

Biden had not had a stand-alone news conference since the end of 2013.

CNN reported for the first time Thursday that the president's full Cabinet had not met since 2013.

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