President Joe Biden stumbled through exchanges in Thursday\u2019s presidential debate, a performance that risks exacerbating concerns about his age and intensifying Democratic worries about their candidate\u2019s ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s performance was punctuated by stumbles, repeated lines, coughs, misstatements and an extended freeze that will stoke fitness and acuity concerns. He stumbled over key numbers, like the amount of new jobs created under his administration, caps for out-of-pocket drug costs and insulin that are key pillars of his reelection bid.<\/p>\n
The shaky performance threatens to wound Biden\u2019s already sputtering campaign, fueling Republican attacks that, at 81, the oldest president in U.S. history is not fit to serve another four-year term. Trump capitalized on Biden\u2019s missteps, swiping at his opponent during an exchange on immigration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really don\u2019t know what he said on this, and I don\u2019t think he knows what he said either,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Biden is fighting a cold, according to people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s performance was not without missteps of his own. Asked about Americans struggling with opioid addiction, the former president talked about immigration and Russia\u2019s detention of a Wall Street Journal reporter. He falsely claimed credit for a cap on Medicare insulin prices, claimed Jan. 6 rioters were invited into the Capitol by police, and was forced to claim he never had sex with a porn star \u2013 a central element of his hush money trial. He also repeatedly and awkwardly sidestepped questions about if he would respect the results of the election.<\/p>\n
Later in the debate when asked about age concerns, Biden retorted, \u201cThis guy\u2019s three years younger and a lot less competent.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cLook at the record. Look at what I\u2019ve done,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
But Biden meandered through a scripted swipe on Trump\u2019s previous exaggerated claims about his height and weight, and fell into an extended and muddled discussion of his golf handicap. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not act like children,\u201d Trump retorted.<\/p>\n
The candidates opened their first presidential debate sparring over the economy, with each blaming the other for the rising cost of groceries and housing.<\/p>\n
Voters have rated the economy as one of the defining issues of the campaign. Polls show voters skeptical of Biden\u2019s record despite solid job growth and investments in manufacturing and infrastructure as historically high inflation has wreaked havoc on U.S. households.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had an economy that was in freefall. The pandemic was so badly handled,\u201d Biden said, pointing the finger at the former president\u2019s record. \u201cWhat we had to do was try to put things back together again, and that\u2019s exactly what we began to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump defended his tax cuts, set to expire next year, saying they paved the way for a stock market boom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave you the largest tax cut in history. I also gave you the largest regulation cut in history,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
The dollar pushed higher against major peers as the candidates traded barbs, with the Mexican peso and Japanese yen among global currencies weakening. Bloomberg\u2019s gauge of the greenback climbed to fresh highs for the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrencies are reacting to the U.S. presidential debate,\u201d said Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist Carol Kong. \u201cJudging by the reactions so far, markets think President Trump is \u2018winning\u2019 the debate. But its still early to make the conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the exchange on the economy, Biden said 15,000 jobs were created during his presidency, instead of 15 million, that some seniors now have a $200 annual cap on out-of-pocket drug prices, instead of $2,000, and incorrectly said some wealthy Americans were trillionaires.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not equipped to be president. You know it and I know it,\u201d Trump said during the debate.<\/p>\n
Trump sought to sidestep the insurrection at the Capitol, instead pivoting to tout the strength of the country at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had virtually nothing to do, they asked me to go make a speech,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Biden noted that Trump did nothing to intervene as his supporters were swarming the building. \u201cThe idea that those people are patriots? Come on,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Trump made a series of grandiose pledges, saying he\u2019d have the war in Ukraine \u201csettled\u201d before he takes office, after a pledge made in previous days that a Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russia would be freed if he wins the election.<\/p>\n
Midway through the debate, Biden began to hit Trump over his legal troubles, an unprecedented situation in a U.S. election. Trump is the first former president convicted of a felony and faces three more criminal indictments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I\u2019m looking at right now,\u201d Biden said. <\/p>\n
Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury for falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to an adult film star and awaits sentencing.<\/p>\n
Biden directly cited Trump\u2019s hush-money payment to the actress, Stormy Daniels, accusing the former president of \u201chaving sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have sex with a porn star,\u201d Trump replied.<\/p>\n
Trump also hit back at Biden for bringing up his conviction by noting that the president\u2019s son, Hunter Biden, is also guilty of a felony, in his case for illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs. Trump went on to say without providing any evidence that Biden himself would face prosecution.<\/p>\n
Later in the debate, the two sparred over abortion, another defining issue in the campaign, with Biden calling Trump\u2019s role in the wave of restrictions over the procedure a \u201cterrible thing.\u201d Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade\u2019s federal abortion protections. <\/p>\n
Trump said the court\u2019s ruling had just left the issue of abortion up to voters in the states.<\/p>\n
Biden found his footing later when discussing veterans\u2019 care, attacking Trump for reported remarks calling fallen U.S. soldiers \u201csuckers\u201d and \u201closers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was standing with his four-star general, and he told me you said, I don\u2019t want to go in there because they\u2019re a bunch of losers and suckers. My son was not a loser. Was not a sucker. You\u2019re the sucker. You\u2019re the loser,\u201d Biden said, referencing his late son Beau Biden who died of cancer and served in the military.<\/p>\n
Trump fired back, denying the quote and saying Biden should apologize to him. <\/p>\n
Biden scoffed at that, saying he\u2019s \u201cdone more for veterans than any president has in American history.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a discussion of Israel\u2019s war against Hamas, Biden walked a tightrope. The president sought to both stress his support for Israel in the wake of the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and European Union, and his push for more restraint in Israeli military operations in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s campaign there to root out Hamas has sparked a humanitarian crisis and divided Democrats, unleashing criticism over Biden\u2019s handling of the war from young voters and progressives, key parts of the party\u2019s electoral coalition.<\/p>\n
Hamas cannot be allowed to continue, Biden said.<\/p>\n
Trump said Israel should be allowed to \u201cfinish the job.\u201d He also struck a more isolationist note on foreign policy, urging Biden to demand that NATO allies in Europe contribute more for defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s become like a Palestinian, but they don\u2019t like him because he\u2019s a very bad Palestinian, he\u2019s a weak one,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Biden responded, \u201cI\u2019ve never heard so much foolishness.\u201d<\/p>\n
_____<\/p>\n