US President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump fought to gain control of the political narrative in a tense debate that highlighted the war in Ukraine and Trump’s criminal convictions.
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The two candidates laid out their competing visions of the presidency in a high-level debate in which both They tried to convince voters in view of the November elections.
The debate -held in Atlanta- got off to a cold startsince the two candidates did not shake hands before taking the stage.
Both contenders are well known to voters, widely unpopular – according to polls – and offer radically different points of view on practically all the central topics.
Trump blames Biden for war in Ukraine
Asked if he agreed to Putin’s terms for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, Trump claimed that Putin decided to invade after seeing how the Biden administration managed his way out of the war in Afghanistan.
Although he confirmed that he would not accept Putin’s conditions to end the war, He claimed that he (Trump) would have the war “resolved”although he did not go into detail about how.
Trump reiterated his earlier argument during the campaign that the United States was providing Ukraine with too much financial aid, and called Zelensky a “salesman” who always took money from the United States.
Biden responded by stating that Vladimir Putin was a “war criminal” who would not stop with Ukraine. He also noted that NATO produces “as much for Ukraine” as the US and that the US’s strength “lies in its alliances.”
Trump repeated his mantra that European allies do not spend as much on NATO as the United Statesclaiming that he successfully lobbied NATO allies to increase spending.
In the presidential elections in November There is a lot at stake for Ukrainewhich is currently the largest recipient of American foreign aid and relies on military aid to defend itself from Russian troops.
Biden pushes for Gaza ceasefire deal
During a tense exchange over the war between Israel and Hamas, Trump dodged a question about whether he would support an independent Palestinian state. Instead, he said Israel should “finish the job” and accused Biden of acting like a “Palestinian”.
Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel but he focused on Hamas, saying it should be eliminated. He promoted a plan that included the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a “ceasefire with additional conditions.”
Previously, in May, Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal that included a pause in fighting, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of remaining hostages taken from Israel.
Just as he did with Ukraine, Trump claimed that the war would not have happened if he had been in officesaying that Iran was “ruined” when he was president and “had no money for Hamas.”
Clashes over immigration, abortion and golf
On the other hand, the two candidates clashed over their opposing policies on Immigration, economy and abortion.
Trump redoubled his anti-immigration rhetoricclaiming that Biden’s “open borders” policies have created a rise in crime, saying “we have to get a lot of these people out.”
The two candidates also discussed overturning Roe v. Wade, with Biden calling the repeal of the law -which gave citizens the constitutional right to abortion- as a “terrible thing.”
trump He responded by saying that would not block abortifacient drugs and argued that states should have the right to decide whether abortion should be legal or not, concluding that “now the states are figuring it out.”
The debate was somewhat more subdued than the previous time the candidates faced off in 2020, largely because the microphones were turned off when the other spoke to avoid interruptions.
ADVERTISINGDespite this, the debate became personal when the criminal convictions of Trump and Biden launched a series of criticisms against the former president, calling him a “convicted felon” with the morals of a “street cat”.
Trump was found guilty last month on 34 counts of falsifying business records over a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The candidates briefly discussed age with Trump, before turning the conversation to golf – saying Biden “couldn’t hit a ball 50 yards.”
Several Democratic supporters commented after the debate that Biden’s initial performance was weak on ‘CNN’. The President spoke in a hoarse voice and seemed to lose his thread while trying to answer a question about fiscal policy, ending his sentence with a reference to Medicare.
