With calls for Joe Biden to step down growing louder, many believe the U.S. president's press conference on Thursday was a "make-or-break" moment.

Biden's June 27 debate performance drew criticism from some, including , leading to concerns about his ability to win the presidential race and serve another four years in the White House.

Thursday's hour-long press conference didn't really move the needle, said Carolyn Kissane, associate dean in global affairs and global security at New York University, in an interview with CTV's Your Morning.

But she stopped short of calling it a failure, despite the candidate facing demands from some for his resignation.

"If you went in full support, wanting Biden to stay as Democratic nominee, I think there is going to be continued support because he did not fail last night," Kissane said. "He had some strong messaging."

Biden did "much better" overall, Kissane said, improving in her mind from an F grade for the debate to a B for the press conference.

"I think he redeemed himself with the conference," she said. "I think he did very well last night on foreign policy."

Even with the improvement, she says Biden made two major gaffes. He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "President Putin," and referred to Vice-President Kamala Harris as "Vice-President Trump."

Beyond the "cringe moments" Thursday night, she said it would be impossible to ignore his age. In his presidential run for a second term, Biden is 81.

麻豆影视' U.S. political analyst Eric Ham, meanwhile, thinks the conference is going to exacerbate the growing tension within Biden's party, as well as congressional lawmakers 鈥� especially as donors say they're withholding about US$90 million if he remains on the ballot, .

"We do know that right now the president has lost the trust of many of those in his party, and when you lose trust 鈥� like he did with that horrible debate performance 鈥� it's very, very difficult to get it back," Ham said.

Since the upcoming presidential election is focused on the country's future, Ham says the Democrat leader has "a lot of work to do to try to calm these fears, and assuage these elites and donors inside the party that he can actually lead this party."

The president has been asked about his mental fitness, but batted away questions Thursday on his ability to serve another four years. 

Still, he faces growing calls from voters, celebrities and even politicians within his party to step aside from the 2024 race.

For the full interview, watch the video above.