Joe Biden falters in first presidential debate

What will be most remembered from Thursday’s first presidential debate of 2024 will not be the issues and policies, or even several false claims made by former President Donald Trump, but the faltering performance of President Joe Biden.

This rematch between the two 2020 rivals was unprecedented: never before had a president crossed swords with one of his predecessors.

But the historical significance of this duel, which could be watched by tens of millions of people, was quickly swept aside.

From the first portion of this 90-minute debate organized by CNNthe 81-year-old president, with a hoarse and weak voice, stammered, sometimes mumbled, gave sometimes confused answers and struggled to finish his sentences, sometimes losing the thread of his ideas.

While defending tax hikes on billionaires to fund social programs that he listed, Joe Biden, for example, incongruously mentioned COVID-19, then, after a long hesitation, concluded by saying that his administration was finally got rid of Medicarea health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities.

His challenge for this first major event of the campaign was to reassure voters of his abilities, a vast majority of whom find him too old to assume the post of president.

During the debate, journalists from various American media outlets wrote that several Democrats expressed their concerns to them.

Many Democratic sources following the debate write to me that they are close to despair about the president’s performance tonight.even wrote a CNN journalist.

As the debate unfolded, his campaign team attempted to repair the damage by telling the media that he had a cold. An explanation which does not seem to have allayed the Democrats’ fears.

Other CNN reporters, following the verbal joust, pointed out a recurring word in text messages sent by Democrats: panicOn air, some analysts even raised the possibility of replacing Joe Biden at the head of the Democratic ticket.

NBC News cited a Democratic elected official who compared Joe Biden to a boxing champion who steps into the ring when he is no longer in his primebelieving that he should to give up.

It was a difficult start, that’s obvious to everyone, I don’t dispute it., commented Vice-President Kamala Harris in an interview with CNN. Joe Biden was slow to start, but finished strongshe argued.

This first confrontation, just over four months before the election, was nevertheless held exceptionally early, at the initiative of the Biden camp.

Neck and neck with Donald Trump in national polls, but trailing by a few points among voters in key states, Joe Biden was nevertheless looking to turn things around while he still had the chance.

Lies passed over in silence

Offering a contrast to his rival in his aplomb, Donald Trump appeared much more composed than during the initial debate in 2020, which several commentators had compared to a train derailment.

CNN had set rules that were clearly aimed at avoiding the excesses of this first duel, notably marked by dozens of interruptions from Donald Trump, who had been regularly called to order.

Thursday evening, the debaters’ microphone was closed after their turn to speak, and the debate took place without an audience. This format seems to have helped the former president, whose intemperate nature repels many voters, to project a more positive image.

In substance, however, Donald Trump remained largely true to himself, also offering answers that were often hard to follow.

He has repeatedly dodged questions, including about his role in storming the Capitol, which hundreds of supporters protesting his defeat invaded on January 6, 2021.

Asked for his response to those who felt he had violated his constitutional oath to defend the Constitution by his actions and inactionhe limited himself to replying: Well, I don’t think many people believe that.before changing the subject.

And let me tell you about January 6th. On January 6, we had a big border, no one was crossing, very few. On January 6, we were energy independent. On January 6, we had the lowest taxes ever. We had the lowest regulations ever. On January 6, we were respected around the world.

He also multiplied the false assertions, without being taken up by the moderators, CNN having considered that this was not their role.

The former president, among other things, accused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of being responsible for the storming of the Capitol, saying she had refused to send in members of the National Guard.

He also argued that a small number of people had entered the Capitol and had in several cases been conducted by police a claim that the Capitol Police chief had previously contradicted.

On the issue of abortion, Donald Trump accused Democrats of being radical disguising their position.

They will take the life of a child in the eighth month, in the ninth month, and even after birth – after birth.

Asked about climate change, he said he wanted pristine water and of the immaculate air, adding that he had had the best environmental figures ever recorded when he was president, a vague statement, but not confirmed by the facts.

I’ve never seen a man lie as much as he doeshe nevertheless declared about his rival.

Joe Biden has also spread falsehoods, for example getting the price of insulin wrong or underestimating the number of soldiers who died during his mandate. In comparison, however, Donald Trump’s claims seemed to go much further.

The moderators also had to press the former president, who still denies his 2020 defeat, three times to hear him say whether he would accept the results of the election.

If it is a fair, legal and good election, absolutely.he replied, taking advantage of the same breath of the question to reiterate his electoral grievances.

The fraud and everything else was ridiculoushe said. His own Justice Department had rejected the idea of ​​massive fraud that would have changed the outcome of the election.

Insults galore

Both candidates not only accused each other of being incompetent, but also launched personal attacks.

Joe could be convicted for all the things he did. He did horrible thingssupported Donald Trump, evoking all deaths at the border.This man is a criminal.

Joe Biden, for his part, alluded to the guilty verdict rendered against Donald Trump a few weeks ago by a New York jury.

The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at.

You have the morality of an alley catJoe Biden said, referring to Donald Trump’s civil conviction for sexual assault and his alleged sexual relationship with former pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels. while [sa] woman was pregnant.

Criminally prosecuted in New York, Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying financial documents to conceal a secret payment made to Stormy Daniels, in order to promote his electoral victory in 2016.

The Democrat’s tip prompted a surprising response during a presidential debate: I didn’t sleep with a porn star.

Joe Biden also described his opponent as losing (a reference to comments Donald Trump allegedly made about veterans) and complainer.

Donald Trump, resolutely in the Israeli camp, for his part accused Biden of behaving like a Palestinian.

Two divergent visions

Economy, inflation, war in Ukraine, I’LL TAKEimmigration, there was no shortage of contentious issues between two men with polar opposite visions.

They both claimed to have secured the US-Mexico border better than their adversary.

He decided to open our borders, to open our country to people who come from prisons, from psychiatric institutions, from insane asylums, from terroristsDonald Trump said.

Joe Biden, for his part, criticized his predecessor for having implemented radical measures during his presidency.

We found ourselves in a situation where, when he was president, [Donald Trump] separated babies from their mothers, put them in cages, made sure their families were separatedhe said.

Joe Biden did talk about the right to abortion, but did not emphasize the issue as much as one might have expected. This is one of the only issues where Americans question him more than Donald Trump.

The segment on their ages also ended with a surreal exchange: Donald Trump bragged about passing cognitive tests and winning golf tournaments, which sparked a feud between the two men that involved golf bags and handicaps.

Interestingly – though not surprisingly – the two men did not shake hands when they arrived on set.