President Joe Biden emerged extremely weakened from the first televised debate with his rival Donald Trump yesterday, Thursday (June 27, 2024). One only has to read the implacable editorial by Thomas Friedman, who describes himself as a “friend” of the American president, in the New York Times.
“Joe Biden, a good man, a good president, is not in a position to seek re-election,” wrote the columnist, who said he “cried” seeing the 81-year-old Democrat with a broken voice, stammering, stumbling over words for 90 minutes in front of CNN cameras.
A debacle for Joe Biden
“Biden’s Debate Debacle”headlines the conservative newspaper National Review. According to the news site Politicosome Democrats are ” in panic “ and are desperately looking for an alternative to Joe Biden. Our correspondent in New York Loubna Anaki, who followed the debate, explains that many of the president’s allies, including “Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke out to defend his weak performance, saying he had caught a cold before, hence his weakened voice, that he may have been slow to start , but that he then assured, and even Joe Biden declared afterwards: I think we came out well, but it’s difficult to debate in front of a liar”.
According to the National Review, “Joe Biden’s selfishness, stubbornness, ambition and hubris made Donald Trump’s election to the presidency of the United States very likely.” But, the magazine continues, “Biden’s senescence was not the only dismaying element of the debate. Neither candidate explained what they intended to do with power over the next four years.” According to an editorialist from USA Today, “As soon as Joe Biden took the stage,…and began mumbling in a raspy voice, it became clear that he was not up to the most important job in the country.” And the editorialist drives home the point: “ Joe Biden has no business being president. The debate proved it.”
A debate also marked by personal attacks
The New York Times emphasizes that the two rivals, when they entered the stage, “refused to shake hands. Their mutual dislike accompanied an exchange filled with invectives and insults.” And the New York Times quoted Joe Biden’s line “You have the morality of an alley cat.” The president’s team wanted Joe Biden to present to the public a vision of the United States radically opposed to that of Donald Trump, writes the New York Times. The president had to warn that a second term for Donald Trump would be increasingly radical. But instead of revolving around these substantive issues, “the debate got out of hand to the point where the two men had a prolonged discussion about golf handicaps.”
The lies of Donald Trump…and Joe Biden
There was no live fact-checking and the two journalists from CNN never interrupted the candidates to correct or amend their statements. But the network checked their statements and published a fact-check on the website. In short, Joe Biden and Donald Trump both lied, but the Republican candidate much more than his Democratic opponent. CNN counted more than 30 statements by Donald Trump that were false. Among them, the assertion that some states led by Democrats allow babies to be killed after birth, that all lawyers and everyone in general wanted to repeal the right to abortion enshrined in the Constitution, or the lie that Joe Biden had called African-Americans “super predators” for years, not to mention the famous “fake news” about the 2020 election being tainted by fraud, according to Donald Trump. But Joe Biden also took some liberties with the truth, explains CNN, stating for example that the unemployment rate for African-Americans “has never been this low for a very long time.” Which is simply not true, it was actually lower under Donald Trump’s presidency.
Microphones cut, a format that favored Donald Trump?
“I think he had a very good evening”explains historian and United States specialist Simon Grivet, who highlights a “rare violence” in Donald Trump’s remarks. “It looked like he was in one of his meetings, he could say whatever he wanted.” According to Simon Grivet, “It is technically possible to change candidates among the Democrats but politically delicate.” Joe Biden himself would have to renounce his candidacy and the Democrats would have to quickly agree on another consensus candidate who would be able to lead a good campaign to counter Donald Trump. But it is complicated, explains the historian, and the most likely is that Joe Biden remains the official candidate for the time being.
Journal of the 1time
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