On Thursday, a hesitant Joe Biden faced challenges in dispelling worries about his age and fitness for a second term during a heated debate with Donald Trump, filled with personal attacks.
A combative Trump criticized Biden on his economic and foreign policy records. Biden attempted to counter, but his speech was uneven, marked by a raspy voice, stumbles, and moments of staring blankly. Despite a week of preparation, Biden’s performance raised fresh concerns among Democrats, with polls indicating a tight race with Trump for the upcoming November election. This unprecedented debate between a sitting president and a former president saw both men accuse each other of being the worst in history. They even exchanged barbs about their golf swings, calling each other childish.
Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, did not shake hands at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. There was no live audience, and their microphones were muted when the other was speaking.
Despite reportedly having a cold, Biden delivered rehearsed lines aimed at reminding viewers that Trump could be the first convicted felon in the White House.
“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said.
Trump, a veteran of rallies and reality television, spoke loudly as he ran through a long list of complaints about Biden’s record.
“I’m friends with a lot of people. They cannot believe what happened to the United States of America. We’re no longer respected,” Trump said.
Trump sought to seize on Biden’s delivery, saying at one point, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
‘Slow start’
Vice President Kamala Harris went into damage-control mode.
In a live interview on CNN, Harris said Biden’s record was “extraordinarily strong” but acknowledged concerns about his debate.
“Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” Harris said.
Kate Bedingfield, a former Biden communications director, said on CNN that “it was a really disappointing” evening for the president.
“I don’t think there is any other way to slice it,” she said.
A CNN poll revealed that 67 percent of debate viewers believed Trump won the event.
In August, Democrats are scheduled to officially nominate Biden as their candidate at the convention in Chicago, with limited options to alter this decision unless Biden withdraws himself.
Biden has tried to fend off Trump’s criticisms, which claim he lacks the vigor needed for the presidency.
But Julian Zelizer, a historian at Princeton University, said Biden’s supporters would be “extremely concerned.”
“Biden fueled the basic perception that has continued to overshadow him,” he said.
At a watch party in San Francisco, Hazel Reitz said she would still vote for Biden but added: “I can’t understand a word that he says. Isn’t it sad?”
Personal attacks
Neither candidate laid out new policies, with most of the exchanges consisting of attacks on the other’s record.
In one of the most personal moments, Biden cited accounts that Trump had described soldiers who died in the Normandy landing as “suckers” and noted his own son Beau, who served in Iraq and later died of cancer.
“My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser,” Biden said.
Trump denied the remarks and repeatedly accused Biden of not being coherent.
On foreign policy, Trump accused Biden — who faces a backlash from parts of his Democratic base over his support for Israel — of not helping Israel “finish the job” against Hamas.
“He doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian — but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, he’s a weak one,” Trump said.
Trump called Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan the “most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,” claiming it emboldened Russia to invade Ukraine.
Biden countered, highlighting that he was the first recent president not to have soldiers at risk overseas.
The two also clashed over abortion and immigration, critical issues for their supporters.
Biden criticized Trump for appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe vs. Wade, which had ensured nationwide abortion rights, saying, “It’s been a terrible thing, what you’ve done.”
Absent from the stage was anti-establishment activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who did not meet CNN’s requirement of 15 percent in four national polls. Instead, Kennedy spent the 90 minutes answering questions on a livestream.
AFP
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