The first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump ends in despair among Democratic staff and voters: if the incumbent president had to reassure people about his physical and mental health, the 90 minutes live on CNN (but actually on unified networks) were a disaster. Biden had a hoarse and trembling voice – according to his supporters, he was recovering from a cold – he stammered, got lost in his thoughts and managed to land few blows on his rival’s many weak points. Especially in the initial part, his 81 years were evident, so much so that even Vice President Kamala Harris had to admit that it was a “slow start”. In the end, Biden brought home a few points, but perhaps it was too late: the feeling of the viewers (great ratings are expected) was already unanimous, and there are some among the donors and in his party, like Nadia Ahmad, a member of the Democratic National Committee, who are asking that the president take a step back to let the party choose another candidate.
Trump, for his part, offered a show we’ve already seen before: a mix of bravadosome lies (the moderators had decided that fact-checking was not their job), but also some memorable lineslike when Biden stumbled on the topic of health and closed a sentence by saying “We beat Medicare”, we defeated (or beat) federal health insurance, and Trump took the opportunity to say “Yes, you have beaten to death.”
Biden’s Best Moments
There are not many. He managed to land some good blows by talking about January 6, 2021, the day of the assault on Capitol Hill, and to underline Trump’s responsibility, “for three hours they asked him to intervene and for three hours he did nothing”. While Trump defended the attackers, who his more radical side considers patriots, Biden had an easy time calling them criminals.
On abortion, one of Biden’s strongest issues, he started off well but then got bogged down by talking about a case often cited by Trump, namely Laken Riley, a woman who was allegedly killed by an undocumented migrant. And immigration is one of the issues on which Trump wins overwhelmingly in the polls.
The personal attacks were low but inevitable blows: Biden recalled that “there is only one criminal on this stage”, that Trump had “sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant” (in reality Melania had already had her son Barron at the time of the Stormy Daniels case), and that his rival has “the morals of an alley cat”.
The worst moments of the US president
The hoarseness, the stammering voice, the half-finished concepts, the sometimes incomprehensible sentences. The entire performance was below expectations, as also confirmed by his collaborators. In one of the most embarrassing moments, he got stuck in a reasoning without getting to a point, his time ran out, his microphone was closed and Trump was able to say “Really, I don’t know what he said at the end of that phrase. But I don’t think he knows what he said either.” Another problem was the “split-screen”: while Trump spoke, Biden had a less than alert expression, with his mouth open, his eyes wandering. The smile he showed off four years ago while his opponent said the most unlikely things is missing.
Biden Doesn’t Shine, Trump Doesn’t Break Through: How the TV Confrontation Went
Trump’s best moments
The former president almost always managed to play the game his collaborators wanted. He didn’t overflow like in the first debate of 2020 (this time the moderators could close the microphones, in case), and even in the absence of an audience he managed to convey his message: the Biden presidency “is the worst ever”, the economy and the cost of living were better when he was in the White House, and he was able to point out the times Biden demonstrated his fragility. On immigration, his strong point (so much so that Biden recently had to approve a very restrictive law to try to recover points), he managed to impress on spectators the key concepts of his campaign: “the president’s policies are ridiculous, crazy and stupid,” and have led to a “crime wave” in the country.
The Tycoon’s Worst Moments
In addition to the talk of January 6, his conviction for the money given to porn star Stormy Daniels, and the civil case won by E. Jean Carroll for sexual harassment, he lost a few points on the issue of abortion and was forced to admit that he is in favor of the abortion pill (something that will not be appreciated by the more conservative part of his electorate). Obviously he fed off a series of exaggerated or downright false facts, calling Biden a “Manchurian candidate” manipulated by China, but if for a Democratic or independent voter these are mostly manipulated, false or denied facts, for his supporters it was like listening to a singer perform all their favorite hits at a concert.
What happens now
This was a record debate: never before has it been held so early in the presidential race. Usually, people wait for the conventions with the official investitures, but this time the result was so obvious that it was Biden’s camp that asked to do it right away. And at this point, some are wondering why they wanted to send the candidate to the slaughter: perhaps because he had given an excellent performance in the State of the Union address and they hoped he could repeat it, perhaps because doing it so early would give voters time to forget a weak performance. Unfortunately for them, this debate, and Biden’s stumble, will be talked about for weeks. The second and final debate should take place in September, but first there are the conventions: the Republican one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 15-18; the Democratic one in Chicago, Illinois on August 19-22. Between now and then, the chorus of those asking Biden to step back will be deafening.
