President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Vice-President Kamala Harris was qualified to be President, but pitched himself as the best person to defeat former President Donald Trump in November.

During a news conference, Biden defended Harris’s readiness to take charge amid reports that he feared she could not beat Trump even as he made clear that he would not step aside. But in his answer to a question about Harris’s chances of beating Trump, he confused the two leaders’ names, committing just the sort of verbal misfire that has unnerved Democrats and prompted them to wonder if she should instead be the nominee.

“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice-President Trump to be vice president, did I not think she’s not qualified to be President,” Biden said. “So let’s start there, No. 1. The fact is that the consideration is that I think I’m the most qualified person to run for President. I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”

Polls in recent weeks have generally suggested that Harris would be just as likely, or possibly more likely, to defeat Trump, and the former President’s campaign has ramped up attacks on her recently.

Following Biden’s disastrous debate performance two weeks ago, panicked donors, political groups and even allies began to rally around Harris as a potential placement for him. Harris has stood behind Biden’s decision to stay in the race.

New York Times News Service