Washington DC - President Joe Biden, amid increasing calls to drop out of the presidential race, hosted a major televised and live-streamed press conference on Thursday night in an attempt to assuage campaign fears.

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After a disastrous debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump that brought the 81-year-old's mental and physical competency into question, Biden's insistence that he is fit and ready to run again in November has been met with skepticism from both ends of the political spectrum.

During his latest speech, the president covered a variety of hot topics such as the recent NATO summit and the ongoing Israel-Gaza peace talks.

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After assuring the gathered press representatives that "we're making progress" on the Gaza deal, Biden accused Trump of lacking commitment to the defense of NATO nations.

"My predecessor has made it clear he has no commitment to NATO," he said.

"He's made it clear that he would feel no obligation to honor Article 5," Biden told a news conference, referring to the "collective defense clause."

He later alleged that US allies had told him that another Trump presidency would be a "disaster."

According to Biden, who accidentally called Vice President Kamala Harris "Vice President Trump" after becoming apparently flustered when a Reuters reporter asked him if he was competent enough to continue in the running.

He then defiantly proclaimed, "I think I'm the most qualified person to run for president. I beat [Trump] once, and I will beat him again," adding that he is "not in this for my legacy" but rather to "complete the job I started."

Biden followed this by admitting that Vice President Harris was indeed "qualified to be president."

This comes after he got the names of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin mixed up at the NATO conference earlier on Thursday, a mistake he defended in a question from the American Foreign Press.

The press relentlessly skewered President Biden in the questions portion of the night, which may have actually been the main point of the press conference.

Biden expressed wanting to "allay fears" among Democrats as the press asked him question after question about his mental fitness to be commander-in-chief.

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The president looked irritated as he denied needing to be in bed by 8:00 PM, firmly stating that reports of his early bedtime were "not true," although he added: "Instead of my every day starting at 7:00 AM and going to bed at midnight, it would be smarter for me to pace myself a little more."

He later claimed to have "taken three significant and intense neurological exams by a neurologist," with the most recent in February. Biden notably struggled to pronounce "neurologist."

Donald Trump quickly mocked Biden over the "Vice President Trump" slip-up on his Truth Social site: "Crooked Joe begins his 'Big Boy' Press Conference with, 'I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president... Great job, Joe!"