Biden wasted no time in criticizing Trump’s economic legacy during the latter’s term.
New Delhi:
US President Joe Biden and his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, clashed in their first debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle. Without the presence of a live audience, the two candidates did not greet each other with the usual handshake and stood a few meters away at their respective podiums, setting the stage for a night of exchanges.
In the economy
President Biden wasted no time in criticizing Trump’s economic legacy during the latter’s tenure in the Oval Office. “Donald Trump left me with an economy in freefall,” said Biden. He then criticized Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. “He said things were fine during the pandemic – just inject some bleach into his arm. I changed our country,” said Biden.
In another scathing rebuke, Biden highlighted the job losses under the Trump administration, stating: “Donald Trump is the only president other than Herbert Hoover who left office with fewer jobs than when he started. Donald Trump had the most debt national status of any U.S. president in a four-year period.”
About Foreign Policy
The debate took a heated turn when the topic turned to foreign policy, specifically the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Trump took the opportunity to criticize Biden’s execution of the withdrawal, calling it “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.”
“I was leaving Afghanistan, but we were leaving with dignity, with strength, with power,” he added.
Biden responded by saying, “When he was president, they were still killing people in Afghanistan. He didn’t do anything about it.”
Referring to allegations that Trump labeled these soldiers as “suckers,” Biden invoked the memory of his late son Beau, who served in Iraq and later succumbed to cancer.
“My son was not a loser, he was not a loser. You are the sucker. You are the loser,” Biden declared.
At Immigration
Immigration was another controversial issue during the debate. Biden accused Trump of exaggerating and spreading falsehoods about the state of the country’s immigration crisis. “The idea that illegal immigrants are welcome in the United States is simply not true,” Biden said. “There is no data to support what he said. Once again, he is exaggerating. He is lying.”
Trump responded by claiming that Biden had failed to secure the US southern border, which he claimed had allowed many criminals into the country. “I call this Biden’s immigration crime,” declared Trump.
About the right to abortion
The debate took a heated turn when Biden attacked Trump for being a supporter of abortion bans. He called Trump’s actions “a terrible thing” after the Republican boasted about appointing Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. “It was a terrible thing what you did,” Biden said, in one of his strongest criticisms of his presidential predecessor.
Trump defended his position by arguing that returning the issue to the states was the correct course of action and accused Biden of not supporting any limits on abortion.
Addressing the plight of women who have been raped and who now face greater obstacles in accessing abortion services, Biden added: “It’s just ridiculous and they can’t do anything about it.
This story originally appeared on Ndtv.com read the full story
