Four years later, Joe Biden and Donald Trump left the shelter of their parishes last night and set foot on the same ground again for 90 minutes, a small set in CNN’s central studios in Atlanta, to confront two models of a country before millions of Americans. who are separated by an unbridgeable abyss. As in their last meeting, they did not shake hands before the debate, this time without coronavirus protocols. And the Republican overwhelmed the president, whose poor performance caused panic in the Democratic ranks.
With a frazzled voice and halting speech, Biden coughed and blanked out several times during the debate. He did not sound as convincing as Trump, who remained calm and mocked the president’s hesitations (“I don’t know what he said at the end of his sentence and I don’t think he understands it either”) while Biden, dejected, went so far as to insult his opponent, calling him “an idiot and a loser.” Democrats are already calling the debate a “disaster” on talk shows and social media, which will make his path to re-election an uphill battle.
Joe Biden
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is this man.”
Trump portrayed, based on simplifications and falsehoods, an America “destroyed” by inflation, crime and immigration. The rise of the latter, the main concern of Americans, “is killing our citizens at levels never seen before,” he said, in contrast to his mandate, when the country “had the most secure border in our history.” . Biden criticized his effort to destroy the agreement reached this year in Congress, which would have been the most restrictive in decades, but was frustrated by the magnate’s pressure on Republican congressmen. And he recalled that he “does not separate families” at the border or “puts children in boxes,” as his predecessor did.
After a first half hour to forget, the Democrat’s voice rose when he attacked Trump for his recent criminal conviction in New York, the first of a former president, for document falsification in the payment to actress Stormy Daniels. “The only person in this scenario who is a convicted felon is this man here,” he said, recalling his other three criminal charges, to which the Republican responded that “his son is a criminal convicted of serious crimes,” alluding to the conviction this month of Hunter Biden for illegal purchase and possession of weapons.
The exchange heated up when moderators brought up the assault on the Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters tried to stop Biden from being certified as president two months after the 2020 election. The president defended the sentences handed down to hundreds of Trump supporters convicted of those events: “Those who are in jail for January 6 deserve to be there,” he said, and the Republican responded that it was a “peaceful protest” and repeated his promise to “free them” if he becomes president.
They also collided with the right to abortion, decimated after the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, which eliminated federal protections with the favorable vote of the three judges appointed by Trump. Biden faltered with an inconclusive argument and seemed to go blank when talking about this issue, central to his campaign, in which he has the majority support of Americans. Trump reiterated his view: that it should be up to the states to decide and that it should be allowed in cases of “rape or incest.”
donald trump
“If we had a real president, respected by Putin, he would never have invaded Ukraine”
Foreign policy was another of the main dishes of a debate marked by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. “If we had a real president, respected by Putin, he would never have invaded Ukraine,” said Trump, boasting of his good relationship with the Russian president and marking distances with the European country (“an ocean separates us”), which he wants to withdraw. military aid if he becomes president. Biden challenged the audience, recalling that the magnate, a “friend of dictators,” said that he would “encourage” Putin to “do whatever the hell he wants” with NATO allies that do not spend enough on defense. The president defended the measures taken during his term, which “have returned the US to international leadership.”
Regarding Israel’s military operation in Gaza, Biden defended the need to “eliminate Hamas,” which is the “only one that wants to continue this war,” although he warned that Israel must prevent itself from attacking “civilian population centers.” Trump pointed out Biden’s contradictions, that he is suffering to preserve the vote of the young and Arab population, and called him a “weak Palestinian”, while he called on Tel Aviv to “finish the job” in Gaza.
The debate rules favored dialogue, but did not benefit Biden as expected
The face-to-face format accepted by both candidates, who agreed to debate outside the Electoral Debates Commission, sought to avoid the harsh exchange that characterized the first duel of 2020. Apparently, rules such as the absence of an audience or the muted microphone to whom he did not have the floor were going to benefit Biden, who would not have to endure his opponent’s constant interruptions. But even then he failed to project the energy of other occasions, like last March’s State of the Union address.
Biden comes out of this duel shaken, and the fateful fragments with his lapses, which are already going viral on social networks, will make his aspirations to repeat his term difficult. Trump started from a comfortable situation, with a three-point lead in national polls and leading in the six key states by margins of one to five points, and he will emerge stronger with this outcome. It was enough for the magnate to appear moderate to try to attract the undecided, around 20% of likely voters, and leave Biden the unforced error. The next face-to-face, and Biden’s last chance to come back, will be September 10 on ABC.
