The first duel between the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor, the debate organized by CNN this Thursday, June 27, turned to the advantage of Donald Trump. Few programmatic points were addressed, the two men insulting each other for more than an hour and a half.
A debate of rare violence. Four years after the last duel between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, CNN organized a debate this Thursday, June 27, opposing the two candidates for the 2024 American presidential election. The channel promised an exchange without excesses, cutting the microphones to avoid a fight and allow Americans to choose their future.
Although the two men did not shake hands, it only took a few minutes for the first insults to fly.
• Abortion, economy, immigration…
“Inflation is killing our country,” the 78-year-old former Republican president immediately declared, sounding extremely at ease, repeating an argument that he knows resonates with Americans, and assuring that his rival was doing a “bad job,” despite robust growth and employment.
The 81-year-old Democrat, often with a hoarse voice in front of CNN cameras, attacked a subject that he knows is delicate for the billionaire, accusing him of his “terrible” action against the right to abortion. He also accused Donald Trump of “lying” by asserting that illegal immigration was causing crime to soar, before going on to more personal ground.
The Democrat recalled that his opponent was a “convict”, after being found guilty in a case of hidden payments to a former porn actress, and judged that he had the “moral sense of a depraved person” , repeatedly calling him a “whiny”. “I did not sleep with a porn actress,” replied Donald Trump.
• Insults, challenges and difficulties with the form
The programs were therefore not at the center of the debate, each theme leaving room for innuendos and remarks going against Donald Trump or Joe Biden. When he was questioned on the international, the billionaire accused the outgoing president of being “paid by China” or of “behaving like a Palestinian”.
“You’re the poor guy, you’re the loser,” Joe Biden said to his rival. He was referring to comments attributed to the former Republican president about American soldiers who died in combat, whom Donald Trump would have described as “poor guys” and “losers”, which the billionaire defended himself, ensuring that this was an “invented” quote.
Apart from this outing, Joe Biden seemed to be struggling in form. The three-year gap between the two men seemed much greater at times, as the contrast was so striking. The sometimes haggard look, difficulties in aligning several arguments while Donald Trump chained together sometimes false assertions with aplomb.
The Republican also gained the upper hand over his opponent several times during the evening. “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either,” he said after a narrow intervention from Joe Biden.
• Biden was ill, Democrats worried
Did the debate turn to Donald Trump’s advantage? In terms of form, undoubtedly. As a sign that the presidential camp was feeling the wind turn, sources within the White House indicated to several American media outlets that Joe Biden had been suffering from a cold for several days. Our colleagues at CNN even indicated during the night that several members of the Democratic Party are worried about Joe Biden’s performance to the point of considering his withdrawal from the race for the White House.
Such a scenario would be historic, but not impossible: Joe Biden will be officially invested by his political party during the Democratic Party Convention next August.
One thing is certain, the presidential election will take place next Tuesday, November 5. And uncertainty remains: will Donald Trump respect the results? “If the elections are fair and just, absolutely,” he said.
The billionaire again spoke of “fraud” regarding the 2020 election. He refused to acknowledge any responsibility for the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and reiterated that many of those arrested were innocent. “This guy has no sense of (what) American democracy is,” Joe Biden mocked.
