PRESIDENT Joe Biden addressed the huge backlash to his tragic debate with Donald Trump.
The stuttering commander-in-chief faced calls to step aside entirely following Thursday night’s televised gaffe.
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Biden, 81, said today that he doesn’t “speak as smoothly,” “debate as well” or “walk as easily” as he used to when addressing voters in North Carolina.
It was the first time Biden faced former President Trump, 78, in a live debate in the 2024 presidential election.
Members of his own Democratic party even dubbed him an “absolute disaster,” “a meltdown” and “a slow-motion car crash.”
The White House came to Biden’s defense today and said he had a cold and a sore throat during the debate.
Speaking to a crowd in North Carolina on Friday, Biden said: “I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious.
“Guys, I don’t walk as calmly as I used to, I don’t speak as well as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to.
“But I know what I know. I know how to tell the truth, I know right from wrong.”
The president then coughed twice during the speech, amid applause from the crowd.
He insisted he knows how to “do this job” and how to “get things done.”
Biden also appeared to insist that the embarrassing performance would not convince him to abandon the race.
He told the audience, “I know, as millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
The debate saw the two men address issues including immigrationabortion, medical care, jobthe Covid pandemic and even an argument about who was better at golf.
It followed months of concern about the awkward president’s fitness for office, following a series of gaffes, mistakes and episodes in which critics said he appeared frail.
Biden began the debate by speaking very quietly and lost his train of thought while searching for the word “Medicare.”
He said: “Ensuring that we are able to make every single person eligible for what I was able to do, eh, COVID.
“Excuse me from dealing with everything we have to do with…Look…Medicare.”
At one point, Trump took a dig at the president, quipping: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Biden seemed to hit his stride at the end of the debate, when he gained momentum and pace.
When asked about his own party’s concerns that he should drop out of the race after the debate, Biden said, “It’s hard to debate a liar.”
David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official, called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment.”
A spokesperson for his campaign said there are no conversations about Biden withdrawing.
They said there are still plans for him to participate in the next presidential debate, scheduled for September 10th.
Trump, speaking at a rally in Virginia today, said voters are deciding between “a president who puts America first” or a “train wreck that puts America last.”
He made an unsubstantiated claim that he “beat ISIS” during his time as president and said he was the only president “in many decades” who did not start a war.
Former President Obama today defended his friend and former Vice President Biden, saying, “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know.”
What are Trump and Biden’s platforms?
A look at the issues that matter most to candidates.
Biden Talking Points:
- The importance of democracy after the January 6th attack on the Capitol
- Defender of abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade at 6-3 in 2022
- His Build Back Better plan, the $2.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill introduced in 2021
- Support for Ukraine and Israel while they are at war
- Highlight the strong US economy and low unemployment rates during his presidency
Trump Talking Points:
- Slam issues on the US-Mexico border, which was a critical talking point for his 2016 victory
- Criticize the series of criminal and civil cases filed against him
- Applaud the Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Discuss a plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, although he did not say which country wants to win
- Defends parents’ rights to regulate and restrict discussion of gender, sexuality and race in schools
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