Trump exploits President Biden’s missteps and indecision to win first 2024 presidential debate

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in a tense face-to-face on Thursday in the first televised debate of the 2024 election, with the Republican taking advantage of his opponent’s missteps, exchanges and impositions to dominate.

The two politicians’ alleged mutual animosity was evident at the start of the debate, when they did not shake hands as they took the stage at the CNN studios in Atlanta, where the meeting took place.

Biden sometimes, He seemed to have lost his train of thought. and made mistakes at several points, leading to what some analysts call There is “panic” within the Democratic Party.

Both candidates accused the other of lying about veterans, the border, the state of the U.S. economy and inflation.

trump card He has repeatedly attacked Biden’s record on handling the economy and foreign policy. and record numbers of migrant arrivals.

Biden, for his part, pointed to Trump’s recent criminal conviction and reiterated that his opponent is a “threat to democracy.”

This is the second time Biden and Trump have competed for the White House after the Republicans lost the 2020 election. The two have not yet been formally nominated by their respective parties.

After Biden’s poor performance, some voices from the Democratic Party hinted: The party should consider another candidate in the November electionat present, this possibility seems extremely small.

Unlike previous debates, this one had no live audience and the candidates’ microphones were muted during their allotted speaking time, avoiding the chaos of the first Trump-Biden debate in 2020.

As BBC North America editor Anthony Zuccher highlighted, particularly in the first part of the debate, Biden struggled in many exchanges due to his missteps and indecision. Topics of discussion include the economy, immigration or the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

According to Zucher, Some of Biden’s answers were confusing and unclear“It will undoubtedly add to the concerns of many Americans that he may be too old to serve as president.”

his aphonia, This made some of his responses difficult to understand, and those running his campaign blamed it on a cold.

“But like a boxer on the brink of collapse, Biden began to unleash blows on his opponent in an attempt to turn the tide of the debate,” Zuccher said.

Recalling Trump’s conviction for his alleged relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels, Biden said the former president said He has the “morals of a stray cat.”

“I don’t have sex with porn stars,” Trump responded.

Trump also sounded defensive when discussing his response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol in Washington.

But according to Zucher, On economic and immigration issues – Issues American voters say are most important to them in polls – Trump looks confident and clear They attacked Biden’s record, while the president’s rebuttal was less effective.

At one point, Trump joked, “I don’t really know what (Biden) said at the end of that sentence, and I don’t think he did it.”

Zucher said Trump has largely proposed Agile and disciplined performance. “He avoided the kind of distractions and bellicosity that marred his first 2020 debate and, whenever possible, brought the discussion back to attacks on Biden’s record.”

“He repeatedly made claims that were either unsupported by facts or were outright lies, but Biden was largely unable to corner him.”

When the issue turned to abortion, for example, the former president repeatedly shifted attention to what he called Democratic extremism, falsely claiming that the party supports abortion after birth.

But Biden’s attacks failed in areas where he could have scored points.

In recent months, many Americans have expressed concerns in polls about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for public office, and according to Anthony Zuccher, the debate did little to allay those concerns.

“president He entered the debate with a low bar and stumbled. It’s flat. I’m talking gibberish. “It’s not clear yet,” Zucher said.

About halfway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president had been battling a cold in an attempt to explain his hoarseness. That may be true, but it’s also This seems like an excuse“.

When Biden was asked about his age during the debate, he briefly mentioned that in the first half of his career he was one of the youngest politicians elected to the U.S. Senate. He then focused on his financial record.

According to BBC reporter Courtney Subramanian in Atlanta, A politician will usually answer the question he wants rather than the question he is asked.”, “But Biden has been concerned about whether he can stay in office for another four years (he will be 86 years old at the end of his second term).

“This debate is an opportunity to provide a clear and powerful answer as to why his age is a strength rather than a weakness, which is unfortunately This is a missed opportunity.”, Subramanian pointed out.

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