A CNN focus group of battleground state Democratic voters offered positive reviews of President Biden following his solo press conference Thursday.
CNN’s Gary Tuchman spoke with a group of seven women at a senior leisure center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, describing them as “liking” Biden and non-Trump voters. When asked, five of them thought the press conference went “better than expected” while two thought it was what they expected. None thought he did worse than expected.
One woman who was “undecided” about whether Biden should stay in the race told Tuchman she was “relieved” by Biden’s performance.
“I think he should stay in,” she said, shifting her position.
“I think he’s the logical choice,” said a second woman, who was also “undecided” about Biden staying in the race, but threw her support behind Biden.
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A third voter, who before the press conference thought Biden should “pass the torch,” still felt that way after, telling Tuchman, “I think he conveyed more defensiveness versus confidence. And I think we are craving to be able to be confident about the candidate that we carry into the November election.”
A fourth voter said “all [her] confidence” in Biden has held steady, saying “everybody has a bad day and I could see that he was sick,” admitting following through with the debate might have been a “bad choice.”
“At the heart of it, he’s a strong guy,” the voter told Tuchman.
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A fifth voter agreed with that sentiment, adding, “Joe Biden is very caring about people. He’s very knowledgeable and experienced. And he’s not just out for himself, that he really cares about the country.”
“There’s no chance that you would be more confident with Kamala Harris or your governor here Whitmer in the state of Michigan?” Tuchman asked.
“Right. Yeah,” the voter responded. “I think Joe Biden did an excellent job… I’ve always been confident.”
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There were several moments in the presser when Biden raised eyebrows, including when he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” and said, “I’m following the advice of my commander-in-chief,” when he meant to say the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Shortly before the press conference, he mistakenly called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “President Putin.”
The press conference came as turmoil continues within the Democratic Party over whether Biden should keep running or step aside following his disastrous debate performance last month.
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this story.
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