(Reuters) -Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 race. Below are reactions from lawmakers, political analysts, strategists and advocacy group leaders:
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT
“What we saw tonight was the president drawing a very clear contrast to Donald Trump on every issue that is important to the American people. Yes, it was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” Harris told CNN when asked about concerns that Biden should step aside.
“People can debate questions of style, but ultimately this election… has to be a question of substance,” she said.
“I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I watched the last three and a half years of performances.”
BIDEN’S MAIN DONOR, WHO DOES NOT WISH TO BE NAMED
“There’s no way to spin it. His performance was disqualifying. There will be a call for a brokered convention. Whitmer, Pritzker, Newsom, Beshear. All of those could be the options. It’s inevitable.”
The donor added that it would probably be up to Jill Biden to convince him. “He (Biden) is a stubborn guy… You can’t describe how bad this performance was.”
The donor said he believed Andy Beshear, the popular Democratic governor of Kentucky, a deeply Republican state at the federal level, would be the likely winner.
“He won red Kentucky. He’ll be a great candidate who can still take it home. I don’t think Newsom (California’s Democratic governor) will win.”
Fundraising will “dry up,” the donor predicted. “Money follows enthusiasm. How can someone with a straight face say donate to elect Joe? … I will continue to raise funds for him. What else can we all do? There is no option.”
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT
“I think we did well,” Biden told reporters as he greeted customers at a fast-food restaurant after the debate.
When Biden was asked if he had any concerns about his performance and appealed to some supporters for him to drop out, he said: “No. It’s hard to debate a liar. The New York Times pointed out that he lied 26 times.”
When asked if he was sick, Biden said, “I have a sore throat.”
Earlier, at a debate-watching party, Biden told supporters: “Look, we’re going to beat this guy, and I need you to beat him,” he said, adding: “You’re the reason why America is so great. as much as we do. they are.”
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR RAPHAEL WARNOCK
“I would be concerned if the president didn’t have the track record to run, but the truth is this is a man who has passed historic legislation,” Warnock said after the debate.
JULIAN CASTRO, FORMER HUD SECRETARY TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
“Tonight was completely predictable. Biden had a very low barrier going into the debate and he couldn’t overcome even that barrier,” Castro said on social media network X. “He seemed unprepared, lost and not strong enough to oppose effectively Trump, who constantly lies.”
AMY WALTER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT AND A PROMINENT POLITICAL ANALYST
The debate “only served to remind voters of Biden’s weaknesses, especially his health and stamina,” Walters said. “Admittedly, Trump didn’t ‘win’ this debate any more than Biden lost it. Trump hurled multiple falsehoods and lies. He failed to present a positive case for his second term, spending more time litigating Biden’s failures. But, Trump is leading the polls and doesn’t need a ‘rest’ like Biden.”
“I don’t think this debate will sway undecided voters, especially those who say they don’t like both candidates. If you went into this debate thinking both men were poor choices, their performance in the debate has not disabused you of that opinion.”
MITCH LANDRIEU, CO-CHAIRMAN OF THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN
“Well, I thought it was a really violent fight. I think they’re right, the president started slowly, but then he came back,” Landrieu told NBC News.
Landrieu acknowledged that the physical performance aspect of the debate will be at the top of people’s minds. “But when you get into the substance of what was said, I think the bottom line is that Joe Biden was right about the substance. He told the truth.”
MATT GROSSMANN, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
“Obviously the biggest factor is that Biden still seemed old and hoarse and less coherent than he did when he ran last time, and that will be the big story, I think, outside of the debate. help himself beyond his existing supporters, but I think it’s overshadowed by people’s impressions of Biden about his greater vulnerability.”
Grossmann said that from the start of the debate Biden had difficulty getting his points across “and seemed much softer.” He said Biden didn’t really start providing effective answers until 20 minutes into the debate. “It’s hard to recover from that.”
Grossmann said debates typically have a small impact on presidential races and that impact dissipates over time. “Debates typically don’t have a big influence on election results. But since we’re in these 50-50 elections, where the country is divided, any small change can make a difference.”
Grossmann said a problem for Biden is that some of his supporters are voicing their concerns about his performance rather than defending him. “So there is no message in favor of it. And to the extent that it has influence, the influence will be to make people’s concerns about Biden’s age even more salient.”
TEVI TROY, BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER STAFF AND PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN:
Overall, the debate “will be a problem for Biden,” Troy said. Biden had a lot of answers where he seemed weak. “There were other responses where he was more solid, but that doesn’t matter because the problematic responses will continue on Twitter and social media.”
Trump, on the other hand, was “more restrained” than in previous debates, Troy said. The debate rules of turning off microphones “really helped him (Trump), so he didn’t interrupt and didn’t seem so rude.”
“There’s this phenomenon of double haters, where people don’t like either candidate… One guy is crazy, the other is too old. They were definitely validated in thinking that one guy is too old, and in terms of crazy, I think Trump did it.” decrease.”
ADRIANNE SHROPSHIRE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BLACKPAC, AN ORGANIZATION WORKING TO MOBILIZE BLACK VOTERS
Shropshire said he wrote down two things in his notebook while watching the debate. “One is that Trump lies,” she said. The other was that Biden “wasn’t as forceful as I thought he needed to be.”
Shropshire criticized the moderators for allowing Trump to make several false claims without any pushback. “Trump was essentially allowed to do what he does at his rallies, which is say whatever he wants, regardless of how it relates to the truth. And that was really unfortunate.”
Shropshire said Biden could have rejected Trump’s false claims more forcefully. “I think he tried to take the high road by talking about politics. And I think that has its place. But when we think about where our politics are right now, there’s really a need to just state the facts and state them very clearly. And I think that got a little confusing in their political responses.”
Shropshire said she was not as concerned as others who said Biden had a shaky performance that could increase with age. “He has some great performances that people have been talking about over the last few months,” she said. “I also think it just doesn’t change the dynamic of the race, because they also saw Trump alongside Joe Biden, and I don’t think they saw someone who was necessarily stronger. Trump that they see at every rally and in clips when they’re on social media.”
Shropshire said a powerful moment for Biden was when he pointed out that Trump was a convicted felon and criticized his morality. She also said that Trump’s reference to migrants taking black jobs has become “a hilarious meme all over black Twitter right now.” She said it showed how Trump was failing to connect with black voters. “That there are specific black jobs for black people that immigrants are coming for.
WALEED SHAHID, SENIOR DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND SPOKESMAN FOR THE UNCOMMITTED NATIONAL MOVEMENT AGAINST BIDEN
“You can be mad at Biden, but honestly, the party establishment has been misleading people about Biden’s electability. And that is negligence – political and moral negligence,” Shahid said. “He completely lost the debate and if the strategy is to use the same tactics, where they want to recycle the 2016 manual and make this an election about fact-checking, that won’t win.”
Shahid called the debate “a turning point”, adding that “voters are not stupid”.
“I guess we’ll see what happens in a few weeks. But if they end up replacing the candidate, that candidate needs time. .”
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Moira Warburton, Trevor Hunnicut, Kanishka Singh, Nathan Layne and Steve Holland; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
