A pause In a heated discussion with Donald Trump that featured accusations to his personal life, Joe Biden found it difficult to fight fears that he is too old to serve a second term as president on Thursday. A blustery Trump unleashed a tirade at his successor, calling him an economic and global failure.
In a bid to respond, Biden spoke but his delivery was stuttering he talked quickly in a scratchy, trailing voice, stammered while staring blankly.
After spending the previous week in isolation preparing, his performance aroused fresh worries inside his Democratic Party, since polls show that Trump is either tied or leading in the November election.
In what was termed the first-ever presidential debate, the two men accused one another of being the worst presidents in history.
They even battled over their golf strokes, Trump and Biden, who were both the oldest presidents when they were first elected, even called each other child-like.
In an attempt to remind millions of television watchers that Trump would be the first convicted felon in the White House, Biden went at Trump with well rehearsed comments.
“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said to Trump.
Speaking loudly, Trump, who is a seasoned rally and reality TV veteran ran through a lengthy litany of complaints with 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 stated.
At a point, Trump attempted to capitalize on Biden’s speech by saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
After the debate, Biden stopped at a Waffle House restaurant to grab some refreshments, He told reporters he had a sore throat, but “I think we did well.”
Clearly, the White House was trying to save the damage. In a live CNN interview, Vice President Kamala Harris praised Joe Biden’s record as “extraordinarily strong” but expressed her worry about his debate performance.
Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” She stated.
Former Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield claimed on CNN that the president’s evening was “really disappointing.”
“I don’t believe there’s another way to cut it,” she said.
According to a CNN survey, 67% of those who saw the debate said Trump had won.
There won’t be much opportunity for Democrats to veer from their plan unless the president himself withdraws when they formally announce Biden as their nominee in Chicago in August.
However, Princeton University historian Julian Zelizer said that Biden’s fans would be “extremely concerned.”
“Biden fueled the basic perception that has continued to overshadow him,” zelizer stated.
Hazel Reitz declared that she would still go on to support Joe Biden at a watch party in San Francisco, but she couldn’t understand a word he said. Isn’t that depressing?
In the majority of the exchanges, which focused mostly on criticizing the other’s record, neither candidate proposed any new policies.
In one of the most personal conversations, Biden spoke about his own son Beau, who served in Iraq before passing away from cancer, and mentioned reports that Trump had called soldiers who perished during the Normandy landing “suckers.”
“My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser” Biden told Trump.
Trump vehemently denied the statements and charged Biden with being illogical.
Concerning foreign policy, Trump charged Biden with failing to assist Israel in “finishing the job” against Hamas, citing the latter’s backing for Israel as a reason for anger from some members of the Democratic base.
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 mentioned.
Trump called Biden’s exit from Afghanistan the “most embarrassing moment in our nation’s history” and claimed it made a way for Russia’s attack to Ukraine.
But Biden claimed he is the only president in recent history to have not had any soldiers at danger abroad.
Important topics for both party’s base, immigration and abortion, also caused friction between Trump and Biden.
Biden condemned Trump, saying, “It’s been a terrible thing, what you’ve done,” for nominating judges to the Supreme Court who overturned the landmark ruling Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-establishment activist who fell short of CNN’s cutoff point of 15% in four national polls, was one contender who did not make it onto the platform.
Instead,Kennedy answered questions on a livestream for ninety minutes.
