Trump spread lies as Biden lost in heated debate

Biden’s rebuttal, delivered in a weak, slurred voice and with noticeable stuttering at times, immediately raised concerns among Democrats, who worry about his age and what many voters see as his fragility.

Trump tried to appear less inarticulate and provocative than in past debates, and many of his answers were based on lies that the debate moderators did not address.

In the night’s most heated exchange, Biden accused Trump of being “morally bankrupt as a stray cat” for allegedly having “sex with porn stars,” charges Trump continues to deny, which were made during his recent criminal trial in New York.

Biden called Trump a “convicted felon” and a “whiner” and condemned Trump’s refusal to condemn those who committed violence in the deadly shootings. January 6In 2021, the U.S. Capitol was attacked.

“The idea that there is a right to retaliate against any American is wrong. No president has ever said anything like that before,” he said, predicting that Trump is unlikely to accept the results of the upcoming election if he loses.

Trump called Biden’s actions “absolutely criminal” and falsely accused Biden of “taking money from China” and being a “Manchurian candidate,” claims that were not supported by any evidence. Trump also took the initiative to mention the recent conviction of Biden’s son Hunter.

“He’s unfit to be president. You know that, and I know that. It’s ridiculous,” Trump said at one point. “We had a debate. We tried to defend his presidency. His presidency was, without a doubt, the worst presidency in the history of our country. We shouldn’t have a debate about it. There’s nothing to debate about.””

Trump told Biden he should be ashamed of the Justice Department’s prosecutions related to the Jan. 6 attack. He later said of Biden: “Everything he did was lies. It was misinformation and disinformation.”

Biden, 81, entered the debate aiming to portray Trump as a more unhinged and extreme version of the politician voters elected in 2016, while Trump, 78, hoped to capitalize on voters’ perception that Biden, a less successful president, now faces diminished competence due to his advancing age.

Rather than allaying voters’ perception that his age is a major issue in this election, Biden has largely sidestepped voters’ concerns that he will be 86 by the end of his second term.

After the debate, Democrats expressed concern that Biden had done little to address concerns about his ability to win a second term as president, and even some campaign officials acknowledged that Biden may have hurt his candidacy. “Joe Biden’s debate performance was really disappointing. I don’t think there’s any other way to explain it,” Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s former communications adviser, told CNN after the debate.

Twelve minutes later, Biden appeared to be confused in answering a question about the deficit, confusing “trillionaires” with “billionaires” and “millions” with “billions” before explaining that taxing the super-rich would make “everyone eligible for the work I’m doing to respond to the coronavirus.”

He paused to correct himself. “Sorry, because, because of all the things with-“

He lowered his head, his voice trailing off, and finally said, “Look, if — we finally beat Medicare.”

As Biden ran out of time, CNN host Jake Tapper stepped in to hand the floor to Trump, who seized Biden’s opportunity to speak.

“Well, he was right, he did defeat Medicare,” Trump said.

Ten minutes later, after Biden again evaded the issue, Trump suddenly retorted: “I really don’t know what he said in that last sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

Trump then challenged Biden to take a cognitive test and argued that he did not think Biden was capable of hitting a golf ball 50 yards.

Biden responded by saying his recent handicap was six and that he would be willing to play golf with Trump if Trump agreed to carry his own golf bag. “Just look at what he says and look at what he is,” Biden said.

“I saw your swing. I know your swing,” Trump responded, calling Biden’s claim of a six-point handicap fake.

Biden’s performance improved as the debate progressed. His voice became clearer and he seemed more comfortable on stage. Trump, in turn, was careful to follow the strict rules set by Biden’s campaign, quickly yielding the floor and remaining calm when Biden spoke. To reduce distractions, each candidate’s microphone was muted when they were not speaking.

The argument over age and health was one of the only moments the two men interrupted each other during the 90-minute debate.

“Let’s not be like little kids,” Trump told Biden.

“You’re a kid,” Biden responded.

The candidates were not allowed to bring notes or speak with advisers during the roughly 90-minute session at a CNN television studio, which was punctuated by two commercial breaks. Moderators Tapper and Dana Bash did not fact-check the candidates during the debate, which moved quickly from one topic to another with candidates given only one or two minutes to speak.

Talking about abortion In terms of restrictions, Biden mentioned rape and incest victims who were forced to become pregnant under some Republican state legislation and proposals. Trump then accused Biden of letting criminals into the United States, one of his stock tactics around immigration throughout the debate.

“He’s killed people, hundreds of thousands of people, with his terrible border policy, and he’s killed our citizens coming in,” Trump said. “We’re in a rat’s nest right now… We’re actually an uncivilized country right now. He doesn’t want that. He just doesn’t know it.”

Trump, as usual in his campaign speeches, claimed that foreign countries were emptying their prisons and mental hospitals in order to send people to the United States — but he offered no evidence to back up the claim. No studies have confirmed a link between immigration and crime.

“It’s simply not true that we’re emptying our prisons and welcoming these people. There’s no data to support your claim,” Biden said. “He’s exaggerating again. He’s lying.”

Biden then accused Trump of blocking a bipartisan compromise on strengthening border security during his presidency and leading to the separation of families at the border.

“He’s the worst president in the history of our country. He’s ruined our country,” Trump said at another point. “He wants open borders. He either wants to be destroyed or he wants the votes of those people.”

Biden is ready for the final attack.

“We are the most respected nation in the world. We are the United States of America,” Biden said. “Nothing is beyond our capabilities. We are the finest military in the history of the world, the best military in the history of the world. Nobody thinks we are weak. Nobody wants to go against us.”

On foreign policy, the two men have diametrically opposed views on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, two conflicts in which American weapons have played a large and increasingly controversial role.

Trump highlighted the proliferation of conflict in recent years and, looking at Biden, said: “The whole world has collapsed under his rule.”

In response, Biden quipped, “I’ve never heard so much crap in my life.” He hinted that Trump would withdraw from NATO and let Russian President Vladimir Putin deal with Ukraine as he pleases.

Trump has criticized Biden over the war in Ukraine, saying the billions of dollars taxpayers poured into the conflict were unnecessary.

“That’s a lot of money,” Trump said. “The money that we’re spending on this war — we shouldn’t be spending it. This shouldn’t be happening at all.”

The Biden administration has secured more than $100 billion in taxpayer funds to support Ukraine in response to a 2022 Russian invasion, but the war has lost support among some Americans as costs have mounted and the war has dragged on.

On Israel, Biden stood by his administration’s handling of the war, saying “we saved Israel” and claiming the militant group Hamas “It should be eliminated.”

Trump responded by attacking Biden over the conflict and suggesting that Biden should be more supportive of Israel.

“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian,” Trump said of Biden. “He’s a weak guy.”

Asked whether he encouraged his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol, Trump shifted the subject to the state of the economy that day.

Tapper kept repeating his questions to press Trump, who falsely placed the blame for the attack on then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, then attacked the bipartisan House committee investigating the attack.

Biden countered: “He sat there and watched for three hours, three hours, and his vice president, some of his colleagues and Republicans also pleaded with him to take action and call for this to stop and end.” He then criticized Trump’s promise to pardon convicted rioters. He said: “He wants to let them all out, and now he says if he loses his mind again, he’s so whiny, it could be a bloodbath.”

Biden concluded by pointedly asking Trump to condemn the violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys that attacked the Capitol, as he did in the first debate in 2020. Trump did not respond, and Tapper moved on to the next question.

Trump also dodged repeated questions about whether he would accept the results of the election. 2024 Election He would vote once all legal challenges were exhausted. Asked the question a third time, he responded: “If it’s a fair, legal and good election, absolutely.”

Trump is in a better position going into this debate than he was in the 2020 showdown. Poll results show Polls have normal margins of error in all battleground states except Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where the election was roughly even. Gallup Poll From December to June, the poll dropped 4 points, to 37%, while Trump’s approval rating rose 4 points, to 46%, despite his felony conviction in a New York court.

Much of the support Biden has lost since 2020 stems from the fracturing of his own coalition, with a historically large portion of Democrats continuing to resent him becoming their nominee. Biden expressed confidence that the data will swing in his favor in the coming months.

“Let’s see how your numbers look after this election,” Biden told Trump.

Biden broke with the tradition of three presidential debates and said he would participate in only one event with Trump, a Sept. 10 ABC News event with similar rules and format to Trump’s. Trump called for more meetings to be scheduled.

The Biden campaign has also proposed adding a vice presidential debate after the Republican nominating convention in July.

Scheller reported from Washington. Tyler Paige contributed to this report.