Aviva Fried (US correspondent)// Photo credit: Stefani Reynolds / AFP
8:05 a.m., June 27, 2024
This Thursday evening will take place the first televised debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The two candidates will have 90 minutes to convince voters to vote for them next November. But on the streets of Los Angeles, voters are hardly interested in the campaign.
The debate will be scrutinized in the United States, but also in the rest of the world. This Thursday evening, President Joe Biden will face former President Donald Trump for the first time in the 2024 presidential election. Officially, the two men have not yet been nominated by their respective parties. But, less than five months before the election, the vote will clearly be between the two men, aged 81 and 78 respectively.
Sitting on the terrace of a café, Tom explains to anyone who will listen that the United States is the most beautiful country in the world. And this Vietnam veteran is looking forward to the presidential debate. “There will be as many people watching the debate as there were for the Super Bowl,” he laughs at the microphone of Europe 1.
A “media circus” for Americans?
Two tables away, Rosa, a 72-year-old Latin American, is much more skeptical. “I don’t think discussing what has a serious impact on people’s lives is something that is entertainment, like it’s a horse race,” she regrets.
Some voters strongly criticize this “media circus”, like Abby and Nicola, who came from Arizona to celebrate their teenage son’s birthday. She will not vote next November, while her husband is rather Trumpist by default.
The age of the candidates complicates the election
“Biden looks like a body that had just been placed there, like a puppet with a hand behind his back to make him speak. At least Trump has a little vigor,” he said.
And the age of the two candidates turned off more than one voter, particularly among the youngest among them. This is the case of Marco, 24, who confides that he will not watch the debate this Thursday evening. “This country was founded on new ideas. We should have an age limit,” the young man annoys.
