Inside President Biden's make-or-break press conference

ITV News discusses President Joe Biden's name mix-ups at a crucial press conference

Even before he had started his make-or-break press conference, Joe Biden had dropped a diplomatic clanger for the ages.

He introduced President Zelenskyy as President Putin, before a few seconds later realising his excruciating mistake and correcting himself.

I was in the NATO press centre at the time and there was an audible gasp as the gaff was beamed to hundreds of journalists.

It only added to the pressure on the 46th President for the main event.

But within a few minutes of the press conference starting, there was another agonising name mix-up when he referred to his Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice President Trump.

Watch some of Joe Biden's most eye-catching slip-ups in front of a microphone

By then the damage was done. President Biden was able to handle most of the subsequent questions and spoke without the aid of an autocue for more than an hour.

But it was hardly the tour de force that his allies inside the Democratic Party hoped for.

At times, he rambled and was painfully longwinded, often appearing to get side-tracked before stopping himself with an “Anyway”.

Some pundits afterwards suggested he displayed an impressive command of detail on foreign affairs, which was true.

But his delivery was staid and lacklustre. Only once did he speak with real zeal, when mentioning gun violence.

The rest of the press conference was unlikely to silence those who felt this was his last chance to rehabilitate a campaign, which has faltered since his awful debate performance in Atlanta.

In the immediate aftermath of his appearance, another congressional Democrat, Jim Himes, who is the most senior party member on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, added his name to the growing list of people calling for him to stand aside.

Biden’s response to the repeated questions about his campaign and his performance was simple: he’s determined to finish the job.

But after his slip-ups tonight, many of his Democratic critics are wondering if his characteristic stubbornness will only serve to hand Donald Trump a second term.

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