The Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trumptraded barbs over his handling of the economy in the opening minutes of their Thursday night debate, offering voters a rare face-off between the two older candidates who have sought the presidency of the united states.
Biden acknowledged that inflation had caused a substantial increase in prices compared to the beginning of his term, but said he deserved credit for having “put things back together” after the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump claimed he had overseen “the best economy in the history of our country” before the pandemic and said he took steps to prevent the economic free fall from deepening further.
Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, were under pressure to show their command of the issues and avoid verbal missteps as they sought a defining moment in a race that polls show has been deadlocked for months.
The 90-minute televised clash on CNN took place long before any other modern presidential debate, more than four months before Election Day on November 5.
The two candidates appeared without a live audience, and their microphones were automatically cut off when it was not their turn to speak, both atypical rules imposed to avoid the chaos that derailed their first debate in 2020, when Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden.
At the start of the debate, the two men – who have made no secret of their mutual dislike – did not shake hands or greet each other.
The debate comes at a time of deep polarization and anxiety among voters over the state of American politics. Two-thirds of voters said in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May that they were worried violence could follow the election, nearly four years after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Trump took the stage as someone still facing a trio of criminal cases, including his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The former president, who persists in falsely claiming his defeat was the result of fraud, has suggested he will punish to his political enemies if he returns to power, but he will have to convince undecided voters that he does not pose a mortal threat to democracy, as Biden claims.
Biden’s challenge was to deliver a forceful performance after months of Republican claims that his faculties have been dulled by age. During his opening remarks, he sounded hoarse and cleared his throat several times.
Biden advisers said he would emphasize Trump’s role in threatening abortion access, portray him as a danger to democratic norms and remind voters of Trump’s often chaotic tenure from 2017 to 2021.
Trump planned to focus on high levels of inflation and the record number of migrants who have entered the country illegally under Biden’s watch and question his global leadership at a time of war in Gaza and Ukraine, Trump advisers said.
MM with information from the NA agency.
