President Biden and Donald Trump faced off in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election campaign.
The format, in which each took turns speaking with their opponent’s microphone muted, was designed to avoid a shouting match in which both candidates spoke over each other.
In truth, it served to highlight the differences in the two men’s performances.
Mr Trump He seemed confident, forward, and in command, even if his statements sometimes pushed the truth to the breaking point.
mr biden On the other hand, he hesitated, sometimes stumbled over his words and at one point seemed to freeze, less than 10 minutes into the debate.
The only time Biden seemed to land any blows was when he lost his temper and attacked Trump and his “alley cat morals.”
The mediators divided the debate into topics, starting with the economy.
Trump stated that under his presidency the US had the “largest economy in the history of our country,” and it only stagnated when COVID-19 struck.
Biden responded by saying he inherited “an economy that was in free fall.”
“The pandemic was so mismanaged… that the economy collapsed,” he said.
Biden and Trump: Debate highlights
“What we had to do is try to put things back together. That’s exactly what we started doing.”
For much of the debate, Trump was blunt, while President Biden, his voice hoarse, seemed hesitant.
On the abortion issue, Biden seemed to have a little more success, describing the decision to overturn Roe v Wade as horrendous.
Photo: AP
“What you’ve done is a terrible thing,” he told Trump.
For his part, the former president said it was right for each state to decide its policy on abortion.
Then came immigration, which was previously a kind of trump card for the former president.
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Biden was asked about his record.
“The Border Patrol backed me up, backed my position,” he said, before turning against Trump.
“He was separating babies from their mothers, putting them in cages, making sure families were separated. [when he was in office],” he said.
Trump responded: “We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now.”
Photo: Reuters
“That’s simply not true,” Biden said.
“There is no data to support what he said, once again, he is exaggerating. He is lying.”
When asked what he would do to address the crisis, Trump said “we have to get them out,” but did not specify any particular policy.
On Ukraine, Trump was the first to respond, pointing to Biden’s handling of the matter.
“As for Russia and Ukraine, if we have a real president, a president who is respected by Putinthen I would never have invaded Ukraine.”
Photo: AP
When asked what he thought of Trump’s comments, Biden responded: “I’ve never heard so much nonsense in my entire life.”
He warned that if Putin wins the war there is a risk that he will go after other countries such as Poland and Belarus. However, the force of his argument was undermined by appearing to confuse Trump and President Putin at one point.
The Middle East was next, with Biden saying the United States had “saved Israel,” referencing his government’s continued support and organized defense against a massive Iranian airstrike.
Photo: AP
Trump, however, harshly criticized his opponent’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East.
“He has become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he is a very bad Palestinian. He is weak,” he said.
Then came issues where Biden really had a chance to land some hard blows: the Capitol riot and the litany of criminal cases facing Trump.
The strange jab hit home, but, as throughout the debate, Trump seemed to be in charge, confident in his own version of the truth. He reiterated that he had done nothing wrong and stated that any action he encouraged should be carried out “in a peaceful and patriotic manner.”
Biden replied: “He encouraged his people at the Capitol.
Joe Biden hugs first lady Dr. Jill Biden after the conclusion of the presidential debate. Photo: Reuters
“Now he says that if he loses again, [he’s] such a crybaby, it’s basically [going to be] a bloodbath.”
The only time Trump seemed a little uncomfortable was when Biden pointed out his recent criminal charges and called him a convicted felon.
“The only person in this scenario who is a convicted felon is this man I’m looking at right now,” he said of the former president.
In one of his most powerful moments of the debate, Biden referred to Trump’s alleged sexual relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels, telling him: “You have the morals of a stray cat.”
The debate continued and covered racial inequality, climate change and the opioid crisis in the United States, but in reality the optics changed little.
People at a party to watch the first presidential debate at the Union Pub on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo: Reuters
Trump is a picture of arrogance and self-confidence, while Biden often seems to feel his age, only recovering when he loses his temper over what he clearly considers his opponent’s lies.
The debate revealed little of substance regarding politics, with podcaster and analyst Tim Miller tweeting that it was “the worst debate ever.”
Biden and Trump fight over the disadvantages of golf
The level of the debate was highlighted when the two candidates defended their mental abilities and argued about golf.
Trump, attacking Biden, said the president of the United States “can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”
Biden responded by saying, “I would love to have a driving contest with him.”
The hour and a half of back-and-forth is unlikely to have done any harm to Trump, but it may well have hurt President Biden.
As one observer noted, the problem for Joe Biden and the Democratic Party is “that Trump lies so well and Biden tells the truth so poorly.”
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