Local political experts weigh in on President Biden's speech

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- At his first unscripted press conference after a poor debate performance in June, President Joe Biden reiterated on Thursday that he is still the most qualified person to beat former President Donald Trump.

"I'm just going to keep moving," said President Joe Biden. "Keep moving and because look, I've got more work to do."

But while addressing the crowd, the President made several errors.

During his press conference, the president referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.

That flub, followed another big error before the news conference when he introduced Ukraine's president at the end of this week's NATO summit.

"President Putin? He's going to beat President Putin," said the President.

Despite the mistakes, ABC30 Democratic Political Consultant Henry Perea said the president gave a strong performance.

"This president has a firm knowledge of the world stage and what's at risk," said Perea.

There have been mounting calls for Biden to step down.

"What he needed to do was to show that he could endure a press conference," said Professor Thomas Holyoke, a Political Science Professor at Fresno State University.

"He could give focused answers and that he could not forget things. Basically sound, strong and energized."

Holyoke said Democrats need a strong candidate who can go toe-to-toe with Trump.

He adds that Biden needs to convince voters that he still has another four years left.

"I'm not quite sure it got Biden where he really wanted to be," said Holyoke. "It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, either, and he needed to do great."

Fresno GOP Chairwoman Elizabeth Kolstad also spoke on the President's performance today.

"It was another very poor showing for the president," said Kolstad. "He didn't sound confident. He didn't sound informed on the issues. He sounded like he was struggling to even cover an hour.'

With the November election four months away, Holyoke said voters respond to strong candidates.

"Even voters who are a little unsure that they really like Donald Trump, or they may be even a little afraid of him," said Holyoke. "They still may respond to the to his appearance of strength."

"In this case you have a president who has a three and a half year track record," said Pera. "I won't go through all the things he's accomplished but he's accomplished a lot in his term. I think people need to look at that."

"It's not just going to be Biden's lack of ability to hold a press conference or do well in a debate," said Kolstad, "He is still not hammering on the issues that are important to the American people."

For news updates, follow Ana Torrea on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.