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Obama Embarks On First Trip To Kenya As President

Gregory Warner

President Obama arrives in Kenya on Friday for his first visit to his father's homeland since becoming president. He will address an African entrepreneur conference.

The Two-Way

Obama greeted warmly on first presidential trip to kenya.

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Barack Obama's Trips to Kenya: Then vs. Now

Obama's trip to Kenya is a first for history, but a fourth for him, personally.

— -- Barack Obama will make history this weekend as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Kenya , but it’s actually the fourth trip to his father's home country.

The latest visit, more than 25 years after his first, will bring a very different Obama face-to-face with a very different Kenya.

From Lost Luggage to Air Force One

In 1988, at just 27 years old, “Barry,” as he was known, arrived in Nairobi for the first time. He was on a journey of self-discovery to learn more about his heritage and his father, who was Kenyan.

But when his commercial flight landed in an empty airport, he felt “tired” and “abandoned," Obama wrote in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father." A gate agent informed him that the airline had misplaced his bags. And his half-sister, Auma, and Aunt Zeituni picked him up in a beat-up, baby-blue Volkswagen Beetle with a missing muffler.

Fast forward 27 years, and Obama will be arriving on Air Force One and riding around in a heavily armored limousine. This time, he is packed with plenty of staffers, surrounded by security and awaited by Kenya’s president and the rest of the country.

From Family Pilgrimage to Official Business

On his second trip in 1992, Obama traveled with his new fiance, Michelle Obama , as a young lawyer. They were married that October, and, he would later joke, he had to make sure he had his paternal grandmother’s approval, according to one biography.

In “Dreams From My Father,” Obama described drifting through the streets of Nairobi, visiting slums, and going out dancing and drinking. It was a picture of a young man at a pivotal moment in his life, freely wandering through his father’s homeland. He has prolonged, deeply personal conversations with family members and travels extensively around the country.

Even on his 2006 visit to Kenya, when he was greeted with much fanfare and celebrity, then-Sen. Obama was able to move around relatively freely, from cities to villages and through large crowds. He visited his father’s grave and his grandmother’s tin-roof house.

This weekend, it’s strictly business. The first family is not coming with the president, and his schedule is packed with meetings, conferences and state dinners.

From Wandering Tourist to Security Lockdown

Obama will be on a tight schedule during the visit. There will be no village visit. He doesn’t even plan to leave the capital during his whole stay. There's talk that family members will come to him, meeting him before his major speech Sunday or at the hotel, at some point. But there’s also a good chance he won’t see any of them.

He’ll be on even tighter security, too. With the threat of the al-Shabaab militant group in neighboring Somalia and a leak of some of his itinerary, there are raised concerns for his safety. The Secret Service will keep the president in a tight bubble to prevent anything from happening -- something Obama has lamented.

“Visiting Kenya as a private citizen is probably more meaningful to me than visiting as president because I can actually go outside of the hotel room or a conference center,” he said in a July 15 news conference at the White House. “And just the logistics of visiting a place are always tough as president, but it’s obviously symbolically important.”

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/obama-returns-kenya-reunites-fathers-family

Obama returns to Kenya, reunites with father’s family

NAIROBI, Kenya — Fulfilling the hopes of millions of Kenyans, Barack Obama returned to his father’s homeland Friday for the first time as U.S. president, a long sought visit by a country that considers him a local son.

The president spent the evening reuniting with his Kenyan family, including his elderly step-grandmother who made the trip to the capital of Nairobi from her rural village. U.S. and Kenyan flags lined the main road from Nairobi’s airport, and billboards heralding Obama’s trip dotted the city.

“I don’t think that Kenyans think of Obama as African-American. They think of him as Kenyan-American,” said EJ Hogendoorn, deputy program director for Africa at the International Crisis Group.

Obama’s link to Kenya is a father he barely knew, but whose influence can nonetheless be seen in his son’s presidency.

Obama has spoken candidly about growing up without his Kenyan-born father and feeling “the weight of that absence.” A White House initiative to support young men of color who face similar circumstances has become a project dear to Obama, one he plans to continue after leaving the White House.

In Africa, Obama has used his late father’s struggle to overcome government corruption as a way to push leaders to strengthen democracies. He’s expected to make good governance and democracy-building a centerpiece of his two days of meetings and speeches in Nairobi, as well as a stop next week in Ethiopia.

“In my father’s life, it was partly tribalism and patronage and nepotism in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career,” Obama said during a 2009 trip to Ghana, his first visit to Africa as president. “We know that this kind of corruption is still a daily fact of life for far too many.”

The president’s father, Barack Obama, Sr., left Kenya as a young man to study at the University of Hawaii. There, he met Stanley Ann Dunham, a white woman from Kansas. They would soon marry and have a son, who was named after his father.

The elder Obama left Hawaii when he son was just two years old, first to continue his studies at Harvard, then to return to Kenya. The future president and his father would see each other just once more, when the son was 10 years old. Obama’s father died in a car crash in 1982, at age 46.

“I didn’t have a dad in the house,” Obama said last year during a White House event for My Brother’s Keeper, his initiative for young men. “I was angry about it, even though I didn’t necessarily realize it at the time.”

Obama’s first trip to Kenya nearly 30 years ago was a quest to fill in the gaps in the story of his father’s life. In his memoir “Dreams From My Father,” Obama wrote that at the time of his death, “my father remained a mystery to me, both more and less than a man.”

What Obama uncovered was a portrait of a talented, but troubled man. An economist for the Kenyan government, the senior Obama clashed with then-President Jomo Kenyatta over tribal divisions and allegations of corruption. He was ultimately fired by the president, sending him into a tailspin of financial problems and heavy drinking.

The Kenyan leader Obama will meet with this weekend, Uhuru Kenyatta, is the son of the president his father confronted decades ago.

Obama met most of his Kenyan family for the first time on that initial trip to his father’s home country. As he stepped off Air Force One Friday, he was greeted by half-sister Auma Obama, pulling her into a warm embrace. The siblings then joined about three dozen family members at a restaurant at the president’s hotel for a private dinner.

Logistical constraints and security precautions prevented Obama from visiting Kogelo, the village where his father lived and is buried, on this trip. Sarah Obama, the step-grandmother he calls “Granny,” still lives in the village.

Despite the intense focus on the American leader’s local roots, the White House has cast the trip as one focused on the relationship between the U.S. and Kenya, not the president and his family. Officials say Obama’s agenda is heavily focused on trade and economic issues, as well as security and counterterrorism cooperation.

The president is traveling with nearly two dozen U.S. lawmakers, along with 200 U.S. investors attending the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha did not accompany the president.

Auma Obama said she believed her late father would be proud to see his son return to Kenya as American president.

“He’d be extremely proud and say, ‘Well done,'” she said in an interview with CNN. “But then he’d add, ‘But obviously, you’re an Obama.'”

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

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10 things to know about US President Barack Obama's ties to Kenya

Mr Barack Obama's visit to Kenya and Ethiopia this week is the first time a US President is visiting the two African nations.

But the spotlight is on Kenya where Mr Obama's father was born and buried, and where his visit has been billed as a homecoming by a native son. Mr Obama had visited Kenya three times in the past but never as US President.

Here are 10 things to know about Mr Obama's ties to Kenya:

1. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kogelo, a rural village in western Kenya. He left for studies on a scholarship in the United States where he met a white woman, Ann Dunham, at the University of Hawaii. The couple got married but divorced when the younger Obama was two years old. His father returned to Kenya where he died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982. Mr Obama never really knew his father, whom he met only once when he was 10, but he felt a connection that eventually took him to Kenya in 1987 in search of his roots.

2. During his first visit to Kenya, he spent several weeks sleeping on the sofa in the living room of his half sister Auma, who taught at the University of Nairobi, and meeting the many relatives of the extended family. He travelled to his father's home village and met his grandfather's last wife Sarah, whom he called "Granny" even though there was no blood ties.

3. Mr Said Obama, the president's 49-year-old uncle who is the son of Mr Obama's late grandfather and his step-grandmother - remembers his nephew's visit in 1987. "Barack used to come here, sneak into the village without people noticing. We were in Nairobi driving in the matatus (mini-buses), going to places like Mathare (a slum), jumping over sewers, and nobody noticed," he said. "He calls me uncle; I call him Barry... That's not to say I don't see him as a president, only that our relationship started much earlier than his presidency."

4. While his visit to Kenya as president is aimed at strengthening security and economic ties, Mr Obama will spend some private time with family members. "Just as anybody is curious about their heritage, visiting Kenya provides him an opportunity to make that personal connection," said Ms Valerie Jarrett, a senior aide and family friend of Mr Obama.

5. During his last trip in 2006 as a US senator, he visited Kogelo. This time, however, he will not visit the village due to "time and logistical reasons".

6. Mr Obama's step-grandmother said she would not feel bad if he does not visit her. The 94-year-old said he is visiting Kenya "to discharge his duty". "He is a son here... I cannot be angered by him not coming to see me."

7. Through more than six years in office for Mr Obama, Kenya has been a complicated part of his political persona. Known for a youthful memoir exploring his Kenyan roots, Mr Obama has been celebrated as a son of Africa who reached the pinnacle of power. But he also found himself besieged by a conspiracy theory that he had actually been born in Kenya and was therefore ineligible to be president - a theory he felt compelled to dispel by marching into the White House briefing room in 2011 with his birth certificate from Hawaii.

8. He had stayed away from Kenya until now, unwilling to provoke the obvious political circus that would have ensued. During his first term, he spent about 24 hours in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the other side of the continent from his father's home. Some critics said that the first president with African roots was doing less for the continent than the white president he succeeded.

9. With re-election behind him, Mr Obama has shown renewed interest in Africa in his second term. He hosted a summit meeting in Washington for African leaders last year and just pushed a renewal of an African trade preference programme through Congress.

10. Ahead of his visit, preparations were in full swing in Kenya to welcome the return of a native son. Stalls displayed T-shirts bearing images of the US President. His image could be seen on billboards and buses, and also on this month's edition of a Kenya Airways magazine. Some Kenyans even downloaded a rousing segment from his speech as their cellphone ringtone.

SOURCE: REUTERS, AFP, NEW YORK TIMES, XINHUA

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Kenya receives first batch of military choppers from US

• The remaining consignment of six Hueys will be shipped in beginning next month.
• Apart from the Hueys, Kenya will also get a supply of eight MD-500s from US for enhancing Kenya's participation in peacekeeping missions.

Kenya has started receiving the military choppers donated by the US as part of the goodies advanced to the country during the recent state visit by President William Ruto.

Two of the eight UH-1 ‘Hueys’ choppers that the country is set to receive arrived two weeks ago.

They are currently being assembled at the Embakasi Garrison hangar in Nairobi by a specialised team of technicians from the US Air Force along with experts from the manufacturing company and Kenya Air Force.

Sources familiar with the operations said the choppers are set to undergo comprehensive tests ahead of its official handover later this year.

The remaining consignment of six Hueys will be shipped in next month.

Huey is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter.

White House said the helicopters will help the country bolster regional peace and security.

Apart from the Hueys, Kenya will also get a supply of eight MD-500s from US to enhance Kenya's participation in peacekeeping missions.

The MD 500 helicopter series is an American family of light utility civilian and military helicopters. It was developed from the Hughes 500, a civilian version of the US Army's OH-6A Cayuse/Loach.

The series currently includes the MD 500E, MD 520N, and MD 530F and it was initially produced by Hughes helicopters as the Hughes 500 .

The choppers will also be used in evacuation and or deployment of troops, delivery of supplies and air assaults.

Ruto’s visit to the US coincided with the 60th anniversary of bilateral partnership between the two countries.

The meeting between Ruto and Biden covered a wide range of topics including democracy, human rights, healthcare, climate solutions, trade and investment as well as peace and security.

The acquisition of these helicopters represents a significant milestone in Kenya's defense capabilities and underscores the commitment of both nations to enhancing security and stability in the region.

Ahead of Biden's visit, look back at past US presidents that have visited Austin

President Joe Biden will visit Austin on Monday to deliver a speech on civil rights and democracy at the LBJ Presidential Library. He'll also be interviewed by NBC News host Lester Holt for a prime-time special that will air at 8 p.m. CT that night.

Portions of the interview will first air on Holt's show, NBC Nightly News, at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The unedited interview will air in its entirety in a primetime special at 8 p.m. on NBC and via streaming on NBC News Now at the same time, the network announced Wednesday afternoon.

It's not the first time Austin or the library has welcomed a president. Take a look back at presidents who have visited Austin:

President Trump's visit to Austin in 2019

Then-President Donald Trump joined Apple's CEO Tim Cook in Austin and visited the Apple facility in northwest Austin after the tech giant announced its expansion in the city.

Obama and former Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter at the LBJ Library in 2014.

Accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, then-President Obama and former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter visited the LBJ Library and attended a three-day summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

Vice President Biden visits Austin in 2013

Then-Vice President Biden visited the National Domestic Violence Hotline in Austin to announce a $500,000 grant from the Office of Violence Against Women to continue support of the National Dating Abuse Helpline, according to the official website of the United States Government.

President Obama on UT campus in 2010

Then-President Obama gave a speech at UT Austin's Gregory Gym on August 9, 2010. In his speech, he addressed higher education and the need to become more globally competitive, according to a UT News report.

See more photos of U.S. presidents visting Austin

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All About Kenya Moore's Daughter Brooklyn

Kenya Moore welcomed her first and only child in 2018

Kenya Moore Instagram

Kenya Moore is a proud mom to her daughter Brooklyn, who she often refers to as her “miracle baby.”

The Real Housewives of Atlanta reality star and her ex-husband, Marc Daly , welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Brooklyn Doris Daly on Nov. 4, 2018. The former Miss USA conceived through in vitro fertilization and gave birth via cesarean section after testing positive for preeclampsia .

Prior to Brooklyn’s arrival, Moore spoke about her excitement shortly after revealing her pregnancy during the season 10 reunion of RHOA .

“ I’ve waited 47 years for this moment ,” Moore told PEOPLE in April 2018. “I didn’t really want to announce it too soon because I feel it’s very early on in our pregnancy. But I have suffered so much in my life when it comes to wanting a family around me. So this is the day I’ve been waiting for my entire life. It’s a dream come true.”

Over the years, Moore has shared stories and updates about Brooklyn, who turned 5 in 2023. They celebrated the big day with a pink-themed birthday party , which included a castle bounce house and a visit from Snow White.

"Happy Birthday Princess Brooklyn! It’s just you and me and I love you more than anything in the world! Everything I do is for you," Moore wrote on Instagram .

Here’s everything to know about Kenya Moore's daughter, Brooklyn.

She was born in 2018

Moore and Daly welcomed their first and only child together, Brooklyn Doris Daly, on Nov. 4, 2018.

After testing positive for preeclampsia, Moore delivered Brooklyn via cesarean section when she was nearly six weeks premature.

“ We’re so in love ,” Moore told PEOPLE in December 2018. “Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. But she’s such a tough baby; so determined."

She continued, "Every step of the way, she kept surviving and getting stronger. She’s my miracle baby. There’s no other way to describe it, she’s my miracle baby.”

Her name holds a special meaning

Frazer Harrison/WireImage

Brooklyn’s first and middle name have connections to Moore and Daly’s relationship and Moore’s grandmother.

“Brooklyn because that’s where we met and fell in love, and Doris after my grandmother who passed away last year and who raised me,” Moore told PEOPLE in 2018.

In a 2017 tribute to her grandmother Doris, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Moore talked about their close bond.

“Today I lost the only woman in the world who has ever loved me unconditionally,” she wrote , in part, in a caption for a series of photos with her grandmother on Instagram. “My grandma who raised me from 3 days old passed away.”

As a nickname, Moore sometimes refers to Brooklyn as “BK” and “Brookie.”  

Her first word was “neighborhood” 

When Brooklyn was only 9 months old, Moore revealed that she had started talking — and that her first word was “neighborhood.”

In August 2019, Moore shared a series of photos on Brooklyn’s Instagram account , with a caption about her daughter’s latest milestones.

“I can crawl, I have 2 more teeth coming up top and I’m pulling myself up!” she wrote from Brooklyn’s perspective. “My first word is ‘neighborhood’ no one believes my mommy but I did say it!”

She’s a world traveler 

Moore has traveled all over the world with her “mini-me,” sharing photos on Instagram of herself and Brooklyn jet-setting to places like Paris, the Bahamas and Dubai.

"She needs to just be prepared. I want her to have a global mindset ,” Moore told PEOPLE in May 2023, when discussing that she wants Brooklyn to be able to speak Spanish, French and Mandarin eventually. “It's something I didn't have growing up. I just knew about Detroit and my family and my surroundings."

The reality TV star continued, "But then when I got older and I was introduced to international travel and people from around the world, it was eye-opening and enlightening. I saw the world differently, and I want that for my daughter too."

She’s bilingual 

Paras Griffin/Getty

Brooklyn can feel right at home when she travels to Spanish-speaking countries, because she’s fluent in the language.

In a May 2023 interview with PEOPLE, Moore said her daughter speaks Spanish and English and has two au pairs who speak Spanish and French, because she wants Brooklyn to learn the languages. The reality star also shared that she hopes for Brooklyn to learn Mandarin as well.

The mother-daughter duo appeared on camera for an interview with BravoTV.com in 2023, and Brooklyn spoke Spanish while talking about her age and what she loves most about school.

“Wow, if only I knew what you said,” Moore said after listening to Brooklyn’s response in Spanish.

Brooklyn had an early introduction to foreign languages: Back in August 2020, Moore posted a video of Brooklyn counting to 10 in French. 

She’s BFFs with another RHOA alum’s child

Brooklyn has spent time with several other RHOA kids, including Porsha Williams ’ daughter Pilar “PJ” McKinley and Kandi Burruss ’ daughter Blaze Tucker.

She’s also particularly close with Eva Marcille ’s son Michael Todd Sterling Jr. a.k.a. Mikey. Moore regularly shares photos of the two little friends on her and Brooklyn’s Instagram accounts.

“That forever kind of 💕,” Moore captioned a photo of the kids holding hands in September 2020. “Friends for life ... @thebrooklyndaly and @evamarcille baby boy #Mikey.”

Fast forward to May 2024, and they’re still scheduling playdates. In an Instagram post shared on Brooklyn’s account, Moore wrote, “These two ❤️ #mikeyandBrookie.”

She’s mentioned wanting a sibling

In an August 2023 episode of RHOA , Moore shared with Burruss and Shamea Morton that she was considering having a second baby using embryos she has with Daly. That same month, another episode of the reality show included a scene featuring Brooklyn bonding with her infant cousin .

“I love her being a total big sister caretaker to a young baby,” Moore shared in a confessional. Later on, Brooklyn joined her mom in the confessional and was asked if she would prefer a baby brother or sister. Her response? “Both.”

“A baby brother for me — [who is] like me, like 4? And I want a bunkbed!” the then-4-year-old continued in the interview.

"I don't think that I really took it seriously when I thought initially about having another child and carrying another child," Moore said in a separate solo confessional. "But I think the only thing that matters to Brooklyn is that she has a sibling. And the most important thing to me is being around for Brooklyn should I have another child — and for the other child."

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Parkinson’s Expert Visited the White House Eight Times in Eight Months

The White House said President Biden had met with a neurologist only three times in more than three years in office, and implied that the doctor’s visits were related to treating other people.

• Share full article

By Emily Baumgaertner and Peter Baker

Emily Baumgaertner is the national health care correspondent. Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent.

• July 8, 2024

An expert on Parkinson’s disease from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring, including at least once for a meeting with President Biden’s physician, according to official visitor logs.

The expert, Dr. Kevin Cannard, is a neurologist who specializes in movement disorders and recently published a paper on Parkinson’s. The logs, released by the White House, document visits from July 2023 through March of this year. More recent visits, if there have been any, would not be released until later under the White House’s voluntary disclosure policy.

It was unclear whether Dr. Cannard was at the White House to consult specifically about the president or was there for unrelated meetings. Dr. Cannard’s LinkedIn page describes him as “supporting the White House Medical Unit” for more than 12 years. His biography on Doximity , a website for health professionals, lists him as a “neurology consultant to the White House Medical Unit and the physician to the president” from 2012 to 2022, which would include the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump.

Records from the Obama administration, when Mr. Biden was vice president, show that Dr. Cannard made at least 10 visits in 2012 plus a family tour; four in 2013; one in 2014; four in 2015; and eight in 2016. Mr. Trump rescinded Mr. Obama’s voluntary White House visitors disclosure policy, so records are not available for his four years in office.

Dr. Cannard did not respond to repeated requests for comment. In a statement released at 9:40 p.m. on Monday, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, confirmed that Dr. Cannard had seen Mr. Biden three times during the three and a half years of his presidency, but did not directly say whether any of his other visits were related to consulting on the president’s health.

Instead, Dr. O’Connor implied that most of Dr. Cannard’s visits were related to treating other people who work at the White House. “Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, he has held regular neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” Dr. O’Connor wrote.

Confirming what a White House spokesman said earlier in the day, Dr. O’Connor said that Mr. Biden had seen Dr. Cannard each year as part of his overall annual physical checkup and that the latest examination had found no sign of Parkinson’s. “President Biden has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical,” Dr. O’Connor wrote.

Dr. Cannard met on Jan. 17 with Dr. O’Connor as well as Dr. John Atwood, a cardiologist at Walter Reed, and another person in the early evening in the White House residence clinic, the logs showed. That meeting came a month before Mr. Biden underwent his most recent annual physical checkup at Walter Reed on Feb. 28.

In a six-page letter released after that checkup, Dr. O’Connor said the president’s medical team had conducted “an extremely detailed neurologic exam” that had yielded “no findings which would be consistent with” Parkinson’s, stroke or other central neurological disorders. Dr. O’Connor did not say whether the examination contained common tests for assessing cognitive decline or detecting signs of dementia that are often recommended for older adults.

The White House has said in recent days that there has been no reason to conduct further examination since February. Questions about Mr. Biden’s health, and specifically about Parkinson’s, have proliferated since his disastrous debate performance against Mr. Trump on June 27. In interviews with ABC News on Friday and MSNBC on Monday, Mr. Biden said he had the equivalent of a neurological exam every day because of the pressure of presidential duties.

The visitor logs, which have also been reported by other news organizations, including The New York Post and The Guardian , indicated that Dr. Cannard’s first recorded visit to the White House during the Biden administration was on Nov. 15, 2022. The records indicate that he was visiting Joshua Simmons, whose title is not listed.

Dr. Cannard’s eight more recent visits started on July 28, 2023, when he was listed as meeting with Megan Nasworthy, a White House liaison to Walter Reed. She was listed as the person visited for seven of those meetings, which consistently occurred early, between 7 and 9 a.m. on Fridays, with the exception of the last meeting, which occurred on Thursday, March 28, the day before Good Friday. The logs note a 10th visit that appeared to be for a family tour of the White House.

Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman, said that while the president always travels with regular doctors, “he has not seen specialists in Delaware,” where he has private residences.

Around the time of the first meetings, Dr. Cannard published a research paper in the journal Parkinsonism & Related Disorders on the early stages of Parkinson's.

An array of neurologists who have not personally examined Mr. Biden said they observed symptoms in his public appearances that were consistent with Parkinson’s or a related disease, such as hypophonic speech, forward flexed posture, a shuffling gait, masked face and irregular speech pattern. But they emphasized that a specific diagnosis could not be given without firsthand examination.

White House officials said that Mr. Biden had shown no signs of Parkinson’s and that Dr. O’Connor found no reason to re-evaluate Mr. Biden for the disease since his physical in February. Mr. Bates also said the president has never taken Levodopa or other drugs for that condition.

In his interview with ABC News on Friday, Mr. Biden declined to agree to an independent neurological and cognitive exam. “I get a cognitive test every day,” he said, meaning that the exceptional challenges of the presidency effectively tested him on a daily basis.

Calling into “Morning Joe” on MSNBC on Monday morning, Mr. Biden insisted again that his confusion and halting performance at the debate were an aberration due in part to an infection or other minor ailment, and were not a sign of a larger medical issue.

“If there was something that was wrong that night, it’s not like it comes and that’s one night and it goes away,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been out. I’ve been testing myself, testing everywhere I go. Going out and making the case. The night of that debate, I went out. I was out until 2 o’clock in the morning that very night. That very night. It drives me nuts, people talking about this.”

Emily Baumgaertner is a national health reporter for The Times, focusing on public health issues that primarily affect vulnerable communities. More about Emily Baumgaertner

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

Keep Up With the 2024 Election

The presidential election is 118 days away . Here’s our guide to the run-up to Election Day.

Tracking the Polls. The state of the race, according to polling data.

Campaign Tracker. How the candidates are spending their time on the campaign trail.

Can Democrats Replace Biden? While it is possible, it could lead to political upheaval.

Trump’s 2025 Plans. Trump is preparing to radically reshape the government.

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More Democrats call on Biden to step aside from 2024 race after his news conference

At least three more House Democrats called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race Thursday after his first solo news conference in months following the NATO summit.

Even though Biden’s team felt optimistic about his performance , it remained unclear whether he did enough to repair the damage with members of his party who worry he no longer has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and be effective for another four years.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., praised Biden as “a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service” but said it’s time to go.

“The 2024 election will define the future of American democracy, and we must put forth the strongest candidate possible to confront the threat posed by Trump’s promised MAGA authoritarianism,” Himes said in a statement. “I no longer believe that is Joe Biden, and I hope that, as he has throughout a lifetime of public service, he will continue to put our nation first and, as he promised, make way for a new generation of leaders.”

Biden was asked about that promise during Thursday’s news conference and said he needed to “finish” the job he was given, arguing that he hadn’t realized “the gravity of the situation I inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and domestic division" before he entered office.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said in his own post-news conference statement that Biden’s debate performance last month was “not a blip” and that swing state polls have “worsened alarmingly” since then.

“Today I ask President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign. The stakes are high, and we are on a losing course. My conscience requires me to speak up and put loyalty to the country and to democracy ahead of my great affection for, and loyalty to, the President and those around him,” Peters said in a statement. “We must find a candidate from our deep bench of talent who can defeat Donald Trump.”

Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., who is running for re-election in a competitive district in November, said he is “hopeful President Biden will step aside in his campaign for President” and be replaced with “a candidate for President who will communicate a positive vision for every person in this country.”

“In 2020, Joe Biden ran for President with the purpose of putting country over party. Today, I am asking him to do that again,” Sorensen said in a statement.

But despite the new opposition, Biden’s team felt good about his news conference and confident that it could stem the defections and reassure Democratic skeptics.

A source in Biden’s orbit said the news conference should comfort open-minded skeptics who had legitimate questions after the debate about Biden’s ability to battle Trump, offer a second-term vision and lay out his contrasts with Trump on Project 2025 , abortion rights, gun safety legislation and a fairer economic system.

Biden world believes he stuck the landing, the source said.

But a Democratic official, who was forbidden from speaking publicly about the political dynamics of Biden’s news conference, said he “did not do anything to reassure Democrats that he understands how dire his political situation is or that he has a realistic plan to win.”

“He seemed most comfortable talking about foreign policy issues like NATO, issues that swing voters in battleground states do not care about — at all,” the Democratic official said. “He also had no message for the future. The case he presented for re-election was all about achievements from two years ago.”

With the presidential nominating conventions approaching, a Democratic leadership aide said time is running out to sustain the intraparty fighting.

“The week after next when [lawmakers] are back is the final make-or-break moment,” the source said. “If Biden stays in at that point, we have to rally around him.”

Sahil Kapur is a senior national political reporter for NBC News.

Julie Tsirkin is a correspondent covering Capitol Hill.

Kyle Stewart is a field producer covering Congress for NBC News.