MOSCOW, July 13 Press conference of US President Joe Biden , held on Thursday after the NATO summit in Washington, was watched by more than 23 million people, more than the audience for the 2024 Oscars, the New York Times reported, citing data from the American research company Nielsen. More than 23 million people — more than the audience for this year's Oscars — tuned in Thursday night to watch Biden hold his first live news conference since his dismal debate performance with former President Donald Trump last month,» the report said.
As the newspaper notes, with the exception of sports broadcasts, Biden's speech at the NATO summit in Washington became one of the most watched television programs of the year.
Earlier, White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby assured that Biden was actively preparing for the press conference following the NATO summit. For the president, this is an important opportunity to rehabilitate himself after the failure of the election debates, which shocked the democratic public with symptoms of senile decline of the 81-year-old American leader and provoked a wave of calls for his urgent replacement as the party candidate. In the following days, Biden developed an unusual activity in an attempt to convince his associates and the electorate that he has no alternative and is professionally fit for another four years in the White House.
Biden's press conference took place amid growing concerns about the president's health and cognitive abilities. At the very beginning of the event, Biden made a resonant slip of the tongue and called Vice President Kamala Harris «Vice President Trump.»
In March 2024, American media reported that the Academy Awards ceremony attracted significantly fewer viewers than Biden's State of the Union speech a few days earlier.
The Academy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 10-11, 2024, Moscow time. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer won best film.