Democratic president Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, almost tied in the polls, will face each other on Thursday in the first debate of the presidential elections on November 5 in the United States, after months of verbal attacks, this Wednesday (06.26. 2024) preparations for the meeting were being refined.
Millions of Americans will follow this face to face that is announced to be tense starting at 9:00 p.m. local (01:00 GMT on Friday) in Georgia (east), one of the most disputed states in the elections.
The 81-year-old Democrat and the 78-year-old Republican are neck and neck in the polls.
According to a survey published on Wednesday by Quinnipiac University, Trump leads Biden for the first time with 49% of voting intentions compared to 45% nationally. Another broadcast on Sunday by the Fox network, on the contrary, benefited the Democrat (50% against 48%).
Both parties hope that the hour-and-a-half-long showdown will allow them to win votes among the undecided, which could be key in November.
Although not very charismatic, the current president presents himself as a guarantor of democracy against a temperamental rival prone to false digressions who never acknowledged his defeat in 2020.
The debate will be moderated by two CNN journalists, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, following strict rules.
In an attempt to avoid the cacophony of the first debate of 2020, during which Biden and Trump spent an hour and a half shouting and interrupting each other, the network will turn off each candidate’s microphone when the stipulated response time ends.
In addition, the program will take place without an audience or teleprompter, the device that allows texts to be shown to speakers so that they can read them without taking their eyes off the camera.
Biden, the oldest president in the country’s history, has been locked up with advisors for days to prepare for the debate. He will have to reassure the country, more concerned about his obvious physical deterioration than that of his opponent, despite the fact that he is only three years younger.
Purchasing power and migration
“In the media, many are already willing to give Joe Biden a trophy if he can stay standing for 90 minutes,” said Jason Miller, a Republican campaign adviser.
The former president suggests that his rival will be “doped” before appearing before the cameras.
Trump wants to explain in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, his plans to control inflation, ensure security on the border with Mexico and end wars around the world, Miller said.
These elections confront two radically opposing visions of the United States that revolve primarily around purchasing power and migration.
In this sense, Biden is trying to distance himself from the rhetoric of his rival, who accuses migrants, many of them Latin Americans, of “poisoning the blood” of the country.
Never before have Americans had to decide between such old candidates or weigh whether to entrust the keys to the White House to a former president convicted in a case of hidden payments to a porn actress and who faces a prison sentence.
They have another option: the independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr, who denounces his exclusion from the debate.
This nephew of the assassinated former president John Fitzgerald Kennedy, with very little chance of winning, will hold an event on Thursday in Los Angeles (California), which will be broadcast live on the X platform.
A second debate is scheduled for September 10, 2024, two months before the elections.
mg (afp, cnn)
Trump against Biden: tough times for the rest of the world?
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