US Elections 2024: An indecisive and confused Biden was unable to respond to Trump’s lies during the first presidential debate

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, and former President Donald Trump faced off this Thursday in a tense face-to-face during the first televised debate of the 2024 elections. Candidate for his own succession, Democrat Joe Biden failed to refute the half-truths and lies launched by his Republican opponent.

The mutual animosity between the two politicians was evident from the start of the debate, when they did not shake hands as they entered the stage of CNN’s Atlanta studio where the debate was being held.

Mr. Biden at times appeared to lose his train of thought and repeatedly stumbled, causing what some analysts called a “panic” within the Democratic Party.

Mr. Trump has repeated claims that have proven false or avoided directly answering questions posed to him, while repeatedly attacking Joe Biden over his handling of the economy and his foreign policy record, as well as record immigrant arrivals.

Biden, for his part, highlighted Trump’s recent criminal conviction and reiterated that his rival was “a threat to democracy.”

This is the second time Biden and Trump will vie for the White House following the Republican’s defeat in the 2020 election, although both have yet to be officially nominated by their respective parties.

After Biden’s poor showing, there have been calls from the Democratic side to suggest that the party should consider running another candidate in the November election, which at this point seems highly unlikely.

Unlike previous debates, this face-off took place without an audience and the candidates had muted microphones while their opponent was speaking, which helped avoid the chaos that characterized the first duel four years ago.

According to the editor-in-chief of the BBC in North America, Anthony Zurcher, Biden experienced difficulties in many exchanges, in which subjects such as the economy, immigration or the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Zurcher explains that this was due to his mistakes and indecisions.

For this senior BBC journalist, some of the president’s responses were confusing and unclear, which “will undoubtedly increase the concern of many Americans that he may be too old to be president.”

Biden was also not helped by his hoarseness, which made some of his answers difficult to understand.

“But like a boxer on the ropes, Biden began throwing big blows at his opponent in an attempt to turn the tide of the debate,” noted Mr. Zurcher.

Biden, after recalling Trump’s conviction for an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, said the former president had “the morals of an alley cat.”

“I did not have sex with a porn star,” Trump responded.

Donald Trump also appeared defensive when discussing his response to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in Washington and avoided answering certain questions. He also chose to make false statements on issues such as the economy and immigration, two of citizens’ top concerns, according to polls.

“He wants the borders open” is one of Donald Trump’s unfounded claims.

To be sure, Joe Biden has reversed some of his predecessor’s immigration policies, such as the decision to force immigrants to stay in Mexico while their asylum applications are reviewed. However, he himself has recently adopted strict measures, such as forcing asylum seekers to submit their applications in their country of origin.

Another lie is the claim that under the current administration the United States has run the largest budget deficit in history.

Treasury Department figures reveal that this record was instead reached during the Trump administration, when the accounts were closed with a gap of $3.13 trillion. By 2023, the deficit had been reduced to $1.7 trillion, according to official data.

On the contentious issue of abortion, the former president has repeatedly deflected attention to what he called Democratic “extremism” and gone so far as to claim that Democrats support abortions after babies are born.

“It can take the life of a baby in the ninth month and even after birth. In some states governed by Democrats, they end the life of a child after birth,” he said.

Infanticide is illegal nationwide, and in most states, terminating a pregnancy after 21 weeks is difficult to practice.

Despite the gravity of the statement, Biden did not immediately respond, barely mumbling something as he shook his head and closed his eyes.

It was only after Trump said he supported a baby being “ripped from its mother’s womb in the ninth month” that the Democrat responded.

“You’re lying. It’s not true! (…) We are not in favor of late-term abortion, period,” he declared.

In recent months, many Americans have expressed concern in polls about the age and fitness of 81-year-old Joe Biden to run for office, and Zurcher said that debate has not assuaged those concerns. concerns.

“The president came to the debate with a low bar to clear and stumbled. He was flat. He rambled. He was unclear,” Zurcher noted.

Biden’s campaign team assured reporters that the president had a cold, trying to explain his hoarse voice.

When Biden was asked about the age issue during the debate, he briefly mentioned that for the first half of his career, he had been one of the youngest politicians elected to the Senate. He then focused on his financial statement.

As BBC journalist Courtney Subramanian points out from Atlanta, it’s common for a politician to answer the question he wants rather than the one asked, “but Biden is obsessed with worrying about knowing if he can stay in power for another four years.” He would be 86 years old at the end of a second term, if he gets it.

“The debate was an opportunity to provide a clear and forceful answer on why his age is an advantage and not a vulnerability and, unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity,” Subramanian noted.