Cross-attacks and personal accusations between Joe Biden and Donald Trump
Although he started hesitantly, and with a clear sense of discomfort in his voice (the White House explained that he had a cold), Biden He picked up pace halfway through the debate, and launched strong accusations about the weakest points of the campaign. Trump. He referred to Trump’s conviction for covering up payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, calling him a “convicted felon.” However, the Republican responded to the accusation by pointing out that the President’s son, Hunter Bidenwas also convicted by the American Justice: he was found guilty of three crimes for illegal possession of a firearm.
When asked about the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol by a mob of his supporters, another of his most controversial points, the former president refused to accept any responsibility and stated that many of the arrested were innocent.
“This guy has no sense of American democracy.“Biden mocked.
In that sense, he noted: “There is a reason why 40 of his 44 senior cabinet officials refused to back him this time. His vice president did not back him this time. Because? They know him well, they trained with him. Why don’t they support it?”
In turn, Trump also lashed out at the Democrat and said that had failed to secure the southern border of the United Stateswhich gave way to many criminals. “I call it Biden’s immigrant crime“said the Republican, who placed great emphasis throughout his campaign on the problem immigration, a major concern for Americans.
In response, Biden said: “Once again, he is exaggerating, he is lying“.
On the other hand, he accused him of siding with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza for allegedly refusing to help Israel “finish the job” against the Islamist group Hamas.
“He doesn’t want to do it. He became like a Palestinianbut they don’t want it because He is a very bad Palestinian, he is weak“Trump noted.
Economy: Donald Trump assured that inflation “is killing” the country
Inflation is “killing the country”the Republican said Thursday Trump, attacking the Democrat’s economic management.
“He hasn’t done a good job. He’s done a bad job. And inflation is killing our country. “It’s absolutely killing us,” the businessman emphasized.
For its part, Biden He acknowledged that inflation had caused a substantial increase in prices in the initial part of his mandate, but stressed that the situation had improved and that it deserved a “recognition” for having “put things back together” after the coronavirus pandemic.
Since 2021, prices of food, housing, cars and fuel have skyrocketed, driven by the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and widespread government recovery plans.
Inflation reached 9.1% in the United States in June 2022its highest level since the early 1980s. Since then, it has slowed and stood at the 3.3% in May, according to the CPI index, on which pensions are indexed.
Polls warn that Americans are dissatisfied with the performance of Biden in economic matters, despite wage growth and low unemployment.
Abortion: one of the axes of conflict in the campaign between Biden and Trump
In another passage of the debate, Biden blamed Trump for allowing the elimination of abortion rights nationwide by appointing conservatives to the Supreme Court USAan issue that has plagued Republicans since 2022. The Democrat made abortion one of the axes of his presidential campaign.
In response, Trump argued that Biden he would not support any limits on abortions and said returning the issue to the states was the right course of action.
What was the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump like?
The debate was moderated by two figures from the broadcasting network, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. CNN had reported that both “will use all the tools at their disposal to enforce speaking times and guarantee a civilized debate“.
Biden Trump
Donald Turmp and Joe Biden will stand behind a lectern for the entire 90 minutes.
Reuters
Thanks to a coin tossed in the air, Joe Biden was able to choose the place he wanted to occupy on the podium and the order of final statements. He chose the right and will start the debate.
Likewise, the candidates They did not have teleprompters or cards preparedalthough they were allowed to take notes. They were also not allowed to meet with their teams during the two commercial breaks.
Analysis of the Trump-Biden debate
The CNN did not provide advance notice of his questions or conduct real-time fact-checking. Prior to the debate, Kathleen Hall Jamieson communication teacher at University of Pennsylvaniawarned that the latter is one of the “problems” of having a debate with Donald Trump.
According to the teacher, the former president is from repeat without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from him. However, “the moderators They cannot verify the facts in real time“In any case, for Jamieson it is better this way, since if he could check them “it would be very risky and would disturb the debate.” And he added: “The risk is that rather than informing, The debate can multiply inaccurate information“.
The debate is expected to be watched and reach record audiences, as happened between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, with 84 million viewers, or the 73 million of the first debate between Biden and Trump in 2020. However, it is the first time that it has been organized so early, considering that There are still more than four months until the election.
“The risk is that the American public will not pay much attention to current events over the summer,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson said on the subject. “In general, presidential debates do not affect a sufficient number of votes to decide the outcome of an election. But when it is close, as this one can be, they play an important role.“he added.
