Blunder pressure

Calls grow for Biden to quit presidential race as gaffes pile up and party fears he can't beat Trump

- DAVE BURKE and JOHN STEVENS

US President Joe Biden is facing a mounting tide of calls to step down after more high-profile foul-ups, including introducing Volodymyr Zelensky as "President Putin".

Later on in the same press conference, Biden referred to his second in command, Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump".

The Democratic Party is in a growing crisis over Biden's future.

Former president Barack Obama is among those who are thought to be worried about whether Biden, 81, should carry on.

Biden has insisted he will not drop out of November's election unless there is proof he cannot win.

But campaign insiders fear that unless he is replaced as the party's candidate they will be powerless to stop Republican nominee Donald Trump being voted back in as president.

It is claimed Democrat grandee Nancy Pelosi has been working furiously behind the scenes to get Biden to consider standing down. By last night 17 high-profile Democrats had publicly voiced their concerns. Jim Himes, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called for Biden to step aside, saying: "His legacy as a great president is secure.

"He must not risk that legacy, those accomplishments and American democracy to soldier on in the face of the horrors promised by Donald Trump."

Another Democrat congressman Scott Peters, said: "The stakes are high and we are on a losing course."

A poll by the Washington Post and ABC News found two-thirds of Americans think Biden should step down. And that was before his disastrous performance at Thursday's press conference, where he faced questions about the Nato summit he hosted.