(Atlanta) US President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump began their first debate of a very high-tension presidential election on Thursday. The duel between the two men began at 9 p.m. on CNN.
Posted at 3:08 p.m.
Updated at 9:37 p.m.
The two men went to sit down, standing, each behind a desk without exchanging a handshake.
Neck and neck in the polls, the two men clashed over “the cost of living” at the start of the debate.
PHOTO BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
“Inflation is killing this country,” said the 78-year-old Republican, who assured that under his mandate, America was “the largest economy in the world”.
The 81-year-old Democrat responded that, on the contrary, the economy “was in free fall” when he took over the country, and praised his record in terms of employment and social reforms.
Faced with a Donald Trump who was careful not to be openly aggressive, Joe Biden, whose great challenge is to reassure Americans of his mental acuity and vitality, initially seemed hesitant, stumbling several times over words.
PHOTO ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
United States President Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden later criticized Donald Trump for his “terrible” actions against abortion rights.
“It’s a terrible thing, what you did,” the Democratic leader told his Republican opponent during their face-off in Atlanta.
“You’re the poor guy, you’re the loser “, Joe Biden later said to Donald Trump. He was referring to comments attributed to the former Republican president about American soldiers who died in combat, whom Donald Trump allegedly called “poor guys” and “ losers “, which the billionaire defended himself against on Thursday, assuring that it was an “invented” quote.
This first face-to-face meeting is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the states most likely to weigh in the November election.
It is organized by CNN and hosted by two of its journalists, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
PHOTO ANDREW HARNIK, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Journalists Jake Tapper and Dana Bash
It is up to them to enforce the very strict rules of a show that is held without an audience, with timed exchanges and, above all, a microphone systematically cut off for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
Although their impact on the vote often remains limited, these meetings have been highlights of the electoral campaign, since the first televised face-to-face meeting organized more than 60 years ago in Chicago between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Usually, candidates for the White House wait until the fall to debate, but the Democrat challenged his rival to face him before the summer.
A second debate is planned on ABC on September 10, two months before this explosive election.
