The American president does not reassure during the debate against his predecessor

UNITED STATES – He tripped over himself, and twice rather than once. While expectations were immense, Democrat Joe Biden disappointed in his first televised debate against Republican Donald Trump on Thursday, June 27, a little over four months before the American presidential election. However, the stakes were high, with criticism of his age and cognitive abilities becoming increasingly numerous.

The boat sank in the first seconds of the debate on CNN. After arriving on stage with a very stiff gait, the 81-year-old president spoke with a broken voice and far from energetic. Later in the evening, the candidate’s campaign team would explain that he had caught a cold.

Fast delivery, slight stutters… Joe Biden, who nevertheless prepared for a week at the presidential residence of Camp David, was not the same one who delivered a powerful and firm State of the Union address last March. He nevertheless defended his economic record and immediately criticized that of Donald Trump, his predecessor.

Big bug on Covid

The screen, cut in two so that both candidates were visible to the viewer, was not to his advantage either. Because when his rival answered the questions, the democrat seemed to stare into space, his mouth half open. Only a few slight movements of the head showed his disapproval upon hearing Donald Trump’s words.

Then the first blunder. A glitch, a moment of absence. As you can see in the video below, Joe Biden starts talking about Covid, then goes off the rails and rattles off astronomical figures about the “millionaires, sorry, billionaires”, before completely losing the thread. After long seconds of blankness, he concludes: “We finally beat Medicare [programme d’assurance santé pour les plus âgés]. » A slip of the tongue that speaks volumes.

Among Democratic activists and the president’s team contacted by the American media, these first minutes provoked panic. Instead of reassuring and showing that he was in full possession of his faculties, Joe Biden worried even more. The hypothesis of a replacement to be found for the election – because Joe Biden has still not been formally designated as the party’s candidate – took off again. Once the CNN cameras were turned off, Vice President Kamala Harris even declared: “It was a difficult start, that’s obvious to everyone, I don’t dispute that.”

Trump the ” good-for-nothing “

The confrontation continues on abortion, a subject on which the president has the advantage over Donald Trump. It was in fact the Republican who allowed the revocation of the federal right to abortion, deeply dividing the country and causing numerous electoral defeats for his party. Moreover, at this point in the debate, the octogenarian seems to be regaining vigor… until he mentions, out of nowhere, the case of a young pregnant woman killed by a migrant.

During the 90 minutes, it was only when the president mentioned his son Beau, who went to the war in Iraq and died of cancer in 2015, that he was most vigorous. “My son was not a good-for-nothing or a loser. You are good for nothing. You are the loser”he spat, in reference to comments Donald Trump allegedly made in 2018 about soldiers who died in war. “These words were invented”the latter denied.

“I have never slept with a porn actress”

Joe Biden’s (very) mixed performance does not mean that Donald Trump is coming out on top. Multiplying violent assertions about migrants, as is his habit, the former president has also multiplied false information, particularly about his record. And he carefully avoided answering questions directly when asked to react to the storming of the Capitol in 2021 or to his recent criminal conviction.

This is where Joe Biden was most offensive, tackling: “The only person who is a repeat offender here is the man I’m looking at.” He also denounced the billionaire’s remarks, who described “patriots” the Capitol insurrectionists. And added: “ Instead of [les arrêter], he encouraged them. And he wants to pardon those who have been condemned. […]. And now he says if he loses again there could be “a bloodbath”. »

Regarding Trump’s conviction in the Stormy Daniels case, Joe Biden did not hesitate to point out that Donald Trump had “slept with a porn actress”. To which the real estate mogul responded: “I have never slept with a porn actress. »

One notable change, however, compared to 2020 for Donald Trump: to the great delight of his advisers, he never lost his temper and did not interrupt his opponent. A relief, since Joe Biden had to tell him “to shut up” four years earlier. It must be said that the rules of the debate had been modified to avoid chaos, and a button that could mute the candidates’ microphone was available to the two moderators.

A second Trump-Biden debate is scheduled for September 10. To see if Joe Biden will have found his voice. At the end of this Thursday’s debate, he in any case felt that he had “well done”.

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