The first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump since 2020 set a new tone in the rematch between the two candidates.
Biden proved unable to dispel concerns that his mental acuity has sagged, which has prompted another round of consternation over his ability to govern or even win the election. Trump managed to avoid be overly aggressive, which led to backlash four years earlier, while still attacking Biden.
The CNN-sponsored debate in Atlanta featured zero audience members and 90 minutes of Biden and Trump trading barbs over the economy, abortion, immigration, and foreign policy. CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash kept control over the debate as they muted the microphones of the two men whenever they went over the time allotted to respond to questions.
This was the earliest-ever debate between presidential candidates, with the second debate not scheduled until Sept. 10 on ABC News. Both Biden and Trump decided to sideline the Commission on Presidential Debates and are skipping a traditional third debate.
TRUMP AND BIDEN DUKE IT OUT WITH VIRAL ADS AHEAD OF DEBATE
Before the September debates, here are the Washington Examiner’s top takeaways.
Biden wasn’t as energetic as he needed to be
Biden’s voice at the beginning of the debate came off as hoarse and weak at a time when the president desperately needed to show the American public that at 81, he still has the energy to serve in office for another four years.
Within the first 30 minutes of the debate, Biden’s struggles were immediately clear to those watching the debate. When discussing healthcare, Biden inexplicably claimed, “We finally beat Medicare,” prompting Trump to respond, “He’s right. He did beat Medicare.”
Later on, Trump claimed, “I really don’t know what he said on this, and I don’t think he knows what he said either,” in response to Biden’s previous immigration comments. The Trump retort helped to make Biden appear fragile and incompetent, which commentators online concurred. “The bar was low for Biden and he’s still underperforming,” national Republican strategist Brian Seitchik told the Washington Examiner.
The split-screen between the two candidates did not favor Biden who struggled to complete full thoughts and barely smiled, while Trump appeared sharper in his appearance and his remarks. A source familiar with knowledge told the Washington Examiner that Biden was struggling with a cold.
Biden did get in a few sharp attacks at Trump in the debate, telling his rival he was a “child,” a “sucker” and a “loser.”
Biden and Trump go at it on abortion
Trump reiterated his support for legal abortion in the case of rape, incest, and in the case of the mother’s health, championed individual states deciding when to limit access to the procedure, and said he wouldn’t prohibit abortion medication access. But he did concede: “Some people don’t [support exceptions to abortion bans], follow your heart, but you have to get elected also,” Trump warned.
Trump sought to put Biden on the defense over abortion, which has cost the GOP key elections during the 2022 midterm elections and the 2023 off-year elections. “So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth. Because some states, Democrat-run, take it after birth,” Trump said.
Biden pushed back against Trump’s accusations that Democrats were “radical” over their alleged support for late-term abortion. “We are not for late-term abortion. Period,” Biden retorted. The president also claimed he would “restore Roe v. Wade” after it was struck down in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization two years ago.
The Biden campaign seeks to make the 2024 election a referendum on abortion given the party’s past success but Biden’s debate performance could overshadow his attacks against Trump’s abortion stance.
Trump and Biden clash over who is better for military
The former president slammed Biden over military members who allegedly dislike the incumbent when asked about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “First of all, our veterans and our soldiers can’t stand this guy. They can’t stand him. They think he’s the worst commander in chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had,” Trump told Biden bluntly.
Trump blamed Biden for Russian President Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine, leading to massive deaths, along with the embarrassing American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“The whole world is blowing up under him,” Trump criticized Biden. The president resorted to one of his oft-used phrases to hit back. “I’ve never heard so much malarky in my whole life,” Biden said.
The president would also reference a 2018 report that Trump referred to military veterans as “suckers” and “losers.”
“My son was not a loser, was not a sucker,” Biden said in reference to his late son Beau, who served in the military. “You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”
Trump brushes off legal problems
Despite being convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up an extramarital affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump is still maintaining his innocence. “I didn’t have sex with a porn star,” Trump claimed onstage. This came after Biden accused Trump of having “the morals of an alley cat” for cheating on Melania Trump, who was not at the debate.
Biden eventually called Trump a “convicted felon” roughly 45 minutes into the debate. Trump sought to flip questioning about his felony conviction from the hush money trial on Biden and his son Hunter who was convicted on three federal charges related to a 2018 purchase of a revolver. Hunter Biden, according to Trump, “is a convicted felon at a very high level.”
“He could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office,” Trump said of Joe Biden. “This man is a criminal.”
Will Trump accept the results of the election?
During the 2020 cycle, Trump famously refused to say he would unequivocally accept the results of the election. That refusal was among the chief criticisms against Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot following Trump’s loss.
This cycle, Trump again did not clearly state he would accept the results of the election when pressed by the moderators at least three times. “Well I shouldn’t have to say that but of course I believe that,” Trump said when asked.
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Later on, Trump said, “If it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely.”
“I would have much rather accepted these but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous,” Trump added. He then pivoted to condemning Biden over the four criminal indictments he is facing. “The only reason I’m here is he’s so bad as a president that I’m going to make America great again,” Trump said.
Naomi Lim contributed to this report.
