ANDPresident Joe Biden He came to Thursday night’s debate in Atlanta with a central task: to convince those still skeptical that, despite his advanced age (he is 81 years old), He is in full physical and mental condition to command the United States for four more years.
According to the criteria of
But if something was clear after the 90 minutes of confrontation with donald trump In the first of the two televised meetings agreed upon by both campaigns, The president failed, and failed miserably, in his attempt.
Furthermore, his poor performance ended up fueling the caricature that the Republicans had been painting for months – that of a handicapped man with serious cognitive problems – and unleashing real panic in the Democratic armies. To the point that there were quite a few, including very close allies, who asked him to step aside and allow the party to nominate a new candidate for next November’s elections.
Trump and Biden on stage at the CNN studio in Atlanta where the debate was held.
Photo:Getty Images
Biden’s poor performance: lost gaze, incongruent answers and unfinished ideas
From the first minute of the meeting, organized by chain CNN, The president appeared to lack energy, speaking in a low tone and with a hoarse voice. His gaze, at times, seemed lost in the distance, with his mouth open as if in disbelief. But if his body language did not help, it was his incongruous and choppy responses that drew the most attention.
For at least two moments the president seemed paralyzed, forgetting the question he had just been asked and stumbling over his answer. In one of them, after being questioned about women’s reproductive rights – one of his supposed strengths – Biden ended up talking about immigration.
“I have no idea what he just answered and I think neither does he,” Trump responded, taking advantage of the moment.
In another, also in the migration front, He spoke of a “total ban” on border crossings when trying to explain a recent initiative that seeks to reduce asylum applications if daily crossings exceed a threshold of 2,500 people.
In general, his intervention was plagued by inconsistencies or unfinished ideas.
“(We’re) making sure that we can make every single person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with Covid, excuse me, with dealing with everything that has to do with – look – if – we finally beat Medicare…”the president said in response to a question about the expansion of health coverage in the country.
Although Biden It was improving as the minutes passed He never managed to recover from the debate’s disastrous start, just the moment when most people were tuning in.
Of course, in the midst of it all, he managed to score some points. Like when he rubbed his head in Trump’s recent conviction for hiding payments to a porn actress or when he said Trump’s morale was as low as that of an alley cat. But even that, Given the general tone of his performance, they ended up being mentions without much weight.
Trump’s lies and half-truths during the debate
Trump, it is worth clarifying, was not up to the task either. According to multiple information editors, the former president spouted at least 30 lies or half-truths in just 1 hour and a half. Some of them absurd, like that newborn babies were being executed in Democratic states or that Biden had quadrupled taxes on the majority.
He also refused to commit to the outcome of the election. if he loses in November. Something that would have weighed had it not been for the terrible night of the American president. But in some way, which perhaps speaks volumes about this moment in American politics, His avalanche of lies ended up causing little surprise because it is something that already goes with his personality and the Americans have even become accustomed to it..
In other words, Trump was Trump, and in that context he lived up to expectations. Biden, on the other hand, did not.
And that was felt, strongly, throughout the entire country. As was logical, Republicans claimed instant victory in a debate that, according to the first measurements of the cnn, Trump won with at least 67 percent of the votes vs. 33 percent for Biden.
‘Friendly fire’ against Joe Biden after the debate: What do his closest associates and other Democratic voices say?
But perhaps the most painful thing was the criticism he received from his own supporters. The “friendly fire.” Vice President Kamala Harris had to admit that Biden’s start had not been the best.
But those were the warmest words. Julian Castro, a former Democratic mayor of San Antonio, Texas, and an official in Barack Obama’s administration who once ran for the party’s nomination, was quick to criticize his leader. “The bar Biden had to clear going into this debate was very low and he didn’t even come close. He didn’t seem prepared, he looked lost and he lacked the strength to counter Trump’s lies,” Castro said.
I love Joe Biden. I know he is a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he is dedicated to our country and is surrounded by good people. But tonight was heartbreaking in many ways. This was a great political moment. There is panic in the Democratic Party.
Maria Shriver, former first lady of California and member of the Kennedy family, was more cautious but equally brutal.
“I love Joe Biden. I know he’s a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he’s dedicated to our country and he’s surrounded by good people. But tonight was heartbreaking in many ways. This was a great political moment. There is panic in the Democratic Party. “It’s going to be a long night,” Shriver wrote on her social media page.
Claire McCaskill, a former Democratic senator from Missouri, echoed Shriver’s sentiment and while she said that The debate had shown that Trump was “a liar, a mean-spirited moron,” but that did not hide the other reality.
“Biden had one goal and that was to assure America that he was up to the job at his age, and he failed at that tonight. “I’m not the only one whose heart is broken. There are a lot of people who saw this tonight who are hurting for Joe Biden today,” McCaskill said.
David Plouffe, one of Obama’s top advisers during his 8 years in the White House, put it in military terms to explain the gravity of the situation: “This is Defcon 1,” the former adviser said, comparing the moment to the military term used for the highest level of alert indicating imminent nuclear war.
How likely is it that Democrats will choose another candidate to face Donald Trump in November?
Although the idea of replace Biden as the party’s candidate It was something that was talked about at the beginning of the campaign, this Thursday’s debate resurrected the idea. And from the front.
“Democrats should nominate someone else now, before it’s too late,” wrote Andrew Yang, one of the party’s 2020 candidates.
Nicholas Kristof, one of the most renowned columnists in the world New York Timesasked Biden to reflect on his performance in the debate and then step aside. He suggested, as an alternative, Senator Sherrod Brown, Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo or Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Biden was not helped by his hoarseness, which made it difficult to understand some of his answers.
Photo:Getty Images
According to Kristof, “any of them could still intervene and beat Trump” in the elections. Also, through social networks, the name of Gavin Newsom, the governor of California and considered a prospect for the future of the Democratic Party.
In Congress, although in low voices and requesting anonymity, many asked to consider alternatives. For them, the biggest fear is that Biden’s poor performance could not only cost them the White House but sink the Democrats in Congress, which will also be at stake in the elections..
They also fear that doubts about their eligibility will scare off donors and dry up the resources they need to campaign.
The goal is to defeat Trump and in that we will be united and supporting the president.
For the moment, however, The bulk of the party continued to insist that Biden will be the candidate and none of his potential replacements wanted to even consider the possibility.
“The goal is to defeat Trump and we will be united in that and supporting the president,” Newsom said after the debate.
Although it is potentially viable, since the party has not nominated Biden – something that happens during the National Convention scheduled for August 19 -, Most agree that replacing him at this point would be suicide.
Donald Trump.
Photo:Getty Images
Partly because “Maturating” a candidate in just four months is an almost impossible task. Especially when the rival is someone as well-known as Trump. But also because A move of this nature would be synonymous with chaos and could fracture a party that does not appear to be on the same page..
Biden, of course, could still make a comeback in a race that still has more than four months left. And many, the most optimistic, still believe that the threat Trump poses could be enough to tip a majority.
And they point to the next debate, which is scheduled for the end of September, as a new opportunity for the president to allay the fears that arose this Thursday.
It may be. But if there is one thing that is certain, it is that the hopes of Biden and the Democrats regarding a possible re-election They woke up this Friday in intensive care.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
Correspondent for EL TIEMPO
Washington
