US citizens living in Mexico gather at a restaurant to watch the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump
par Helen Coster, Joseph Ax et Steve Holland
Joe Biden and Donald Trump clashed Thursday over issues ranging from the economy to abortion in the first debate ahead of the November presidential election.
The Democratic president, his voice hoarse, stumbled over his words several times at the start of the debate. Two White House officials said Joe Biden had contracted a cold.
Joe Biden’s team and his allies tried to put on a good show during the debate, but the uneven performance of the tenant of the White House worried some Democrats and could fuel voters’ fears about the age of the outgoing president, aged 81 years old.
One of the US president’s top donors described a “poor” performance and said he expected to see calls for Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy to increase before the Democratic National Convention in August.
Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged on CNN after the debate that Joe Biden had been “slow to start” but said voters should judge both candidates on their mandates.
Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, 78, needed to demonstrate that they have a grasp of the issues that matter to Americans and avoid any awkwardness, as polls show the two rivals neck and neck in voting intentions.
“The biggest factor is obviously that (Joe) Biden seemed old, hoarse and less coherent than in the previous campaign,” said Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at the University of Michigan.
Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge any responsibility for the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol and has claimed that many of those arrested were innocent.
“This guy has no sense of American democracy,” Biden mocked.
The American president also blamed his Republican predecessor for having appointed a majority of judges in favor of overturning the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling which had paved the way for the legalization of abortion in the United States.
Donald Trump responded that Joe Biden would not support any limits on abortion rights and that allowing states to decide whether or not they wanted to allow abortion was the right decision.
The former White House occupant said that his successor had failed to secure the southern border of the United States, allowing criminals to enter American territory.
“Once again, he is exaggerating, he is lying,” exclaimed Joe Biden.
INVECTIVES
The first debate, which airs in prime time on CNN, comes more than four months before the November 5 election, unusually early in the campaign. A second and final debate will take place in September.
The candidates’ microphones were cut off when they were not given the floor and there were no spectators in the studio. Candidates were also not allowed to bring notes or other assistance – even if they had paper and pen to take notes during the debate.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who hardly like each other and make no secret of it, did not shake hands either at the beginning or at the end of the debate.
They each referred to the other as the worst president in American history. Joe Biden called his predecessor a “loser” and a “whiny.” Donald Trump, for his part, considered that the tenant of the White House was a “disaster”.
The debate opened on the issue of the economy, one of the main concerns of Americans.
Joe Biden acknowledged that prices have increased since he took office due to inflation, but said he had “put things back in order” after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donald Trump, for his part, claimed that he had been in charge of “the best economy in the history of our country” before the start of the pandemic and declared that he had then taken measures to prevent the economic situation from does not get any worse.
The debate comes amid a tense political climate in the deeply divided United States, where two-thirds of voters say they are concerned about a possible outbreak of violence after the election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in May.
Donald Trump was found guilty in May on all counts in the Stormy Daniels case, becoming the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a criminal crime.
The Republican candidate, who is the subject of three criminal proceedings, has suggested in the past that he would punish his political enemies if he returned to power.
Although neither candidate has a clear lead in opinion polls, Joe Biden is trailing Donald Trump in polls conducted in most of the so-called “swing states.”
Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump are particularly popular with many Americans, and many remain ambivalent about their vote. About one in five voters say they have not yet decided on a candidate and are considering voting for an alternative candidate or abstaining, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
(with contributions from Nandita Bose, Rami Ayyub, James Oliphant, Eric Beech, Stephanie Kelly, Nathan Layne, Kanishka Singh, Moira Warburton, written by Joseph Ax and Andy Sullivan; French version Camille Raynaud)
