A Trump on the attack takes advantage of Biden’s lapses and indecisions to win the first debate of the 2024 presidential elections

US 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 rival’s lapses to dominate the exchanges and prevail.

The mutual animosity between the two politicians was clear at the start of the debate, when they did not shake hands as they walked out onto the stage of the CNN studio in Atlanta where the meeting was held.

Biden at times, He seemed to lose his train of thought. and stumbled at several points, causing what some analysts described as “panic” within the Democratic Party.

Both candidates accused each other of lying on issues ranging from veterans and the border to the state of the U.S. economy and inflation.

Trump, while repeating claims that have been proven false or avoiding answering questions, repeatedly attacked Biden for his handling of the economy and his foreign policy record, as well as record numbers of immigrant arrivals.

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

This is the second time that Biden and Trump will compete for the White House after the Republican lost the 2020 election, although Both have yet to be officially nominated by their respective parties.

Following Biden’s poor performance, voices were heard from the Democratic side suggesting that The party should consider presenting another candidate in the November electionssomething that at this point seems highly unlikely.

Unlike previous debates, this debate was held without a live audience and also featured muted microphones for the candidates during the speaking time allotted to their opponent, preventing the chaos that characterized the first Trump-Debate. Biden in 2020.

According to BBC North America editor Anthony Zurcher, especially in the first part of the debate, due to his lapses and indecisions, Biden was on the ropes in many of the exchanges, in which Topics such as the economy, immigration or the wars in Ukraine and Gaza were discussed.

According to Zurcher, Some of Biden’s answers were confusing and unclear“which will undoubtedly increase the concern of many Americans that he may be too old to be president.”

Biden was not helped by his aphonia, which made some of his answers difficult to understand and which his campaign officials attributed to a cold.

“But like a boxer on the ropes, Biden began landing big blows against his opponent in an attempt to turn the tide of the debate,” Zurcher said.

Biden, after recalling Trump’s conviction on charges stemming from an alleged relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels, said the former president had “the morals of a stray cat.”

“I didn’t have sex with a porn star,” Trump responded.

Trump too He appeared defensive when talking about his response to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Washington Capitol and avoided answering some questions, repeating false statements in some segments.

But according to Zurcher, on the issue of economy and immigration –the issues that American voters say in polls are most important to them– Trump seemed confident and clear in their attacks on Biden’s record, while the president’s rebuttals were less effective.

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

According to Zurcher, Trump largely offered an agile and disciplined performance“He avoided the kind of interruptions and belligerence that undermined their first debate in 2020 and, whenever possible, steered the discussion back to attacks on Biden’s record.”

“He repeatedly made claims that were unsupported by facts or were outright falsehoods, but Biden was largely unable to back him into a corner with them.”

When the topic turned to abortion, for example, the former president repeatedly deflected attention to what he said was Democratic extremism. He claimed, incorrectly, that Democrats support abortions after babies are born.

But Biden’s attacks in an area where he could have scored points fell flat.

In recent months, many Americans have expressed concerns in polls about the age and fitness of Joe Biden, who is 81, for office, and, according to Anthony Zurcher, this debate did not allay those concerns.

“President He came to the debate with a low bar to clear and stumbled“It was flat. It was rambling. It wasn’t clear,” Zurcher said.

“About midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president had been battling a cold, in an attempt to explain his hoarse voice. That may be true, but it also It seemed like an excuse“.

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

According to BBC journalist Courtney Subramanian from Atlanta, It is typical for a politician to answer the question he wants rather than the one he is asked.“but Biden has been dogged by concerns about whether he can stay in office for another four years (he would be 86 at the end of a second term).

“The debate was an opportunity to provide a clear and forceful answer on why her age is an advantage and not a vulnerability and, unfortunately, It was a missed opportunity“said Subramanian.

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