Joe Biden and Donald Trump go at it: Takeaways from the first presidential debate
WASHINGTON — Concerns about President Joe Biden’s age and ability to complete a second term in office if reelected appeared to intensify after his performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday night in a first of its kind 90-minute summertime debate.
Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, faced off for the first time this election season in a debate moderated by CNN as they addressed questions about the economy, overseas conflicts and abortion policy.
Both also faced questions about their ability to serve another four years in office.
“This guy is three years younger and a lot less competent,” Biden, a Democrat, said when asked about concerns about his age.
Asked about his age, Trump, a Republican, asserted: “I took two cognitive exams … I aced them.”
Biden, speaking in a hoarse voice, often struggled with his responses to questions. His campaign later told reporters Biden was dealing with a cold. Trump seized on Biden’s flubs, often with quick retorts.
After the debate, Biden allies on cable television and social media described the president’s performance as disappointing, while Trump’s allies cheered his performance on the debate stage in CNN’s Atlanta headquarters.
Saladin Ambar, a political science professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, told Newsday that for Biden, “from an optics point of view, it was an historically bad performance.”
Ambar continued: “Lots can change over the next four months, but any reasonable person watching in real time would have to conclude it was an abysmal night for Democrats. From the very first moments of the debate, Joe Biden failed to project the kind of stamina, coherence and energy Democratic leaders — never mind the voting public — were looking for him to demonstrate.”
Ambar said while “Trump spoke hyperbolically, deceitfully and disingenuously on a number of issues throughout, he nevertheless conveyed strength, energy and striking attentiveness, in contrast to Biden.”
Following are other takeaways from the debate. Another debate is scheduled for Sept. 10.
Stumbles on Democratic issues
Throughout the night, Biden often stumbled in his responses, giving Trump opportunities to use the slip-ups to his advantage.
Responding to a question about abortion policy — typically a strong issue for Biden and Democrats — Biden began to talk about the lack of exceptions in some states for rape victims, but noted the recent murder of a “young woman” by “an immigrant coming in.” The response gave Trump an opening to attack Biden’s handling of the flow of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border.
On health care, Biden started to talk about expansion of Medicaid access for uninsured Americans during the pandemic, but stumbled through his response, saying “we finally beat Medicare,” instead of saying the nation beat COVID-19. The slip prompted Trump to quickly respond: “He's right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.”
Attacks on character
Biden took aim at Trump’s character throughout the night, at one point telling him: “You have the morals of an alley cat.”
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I'm looking at tonight,” Biden said.
Biden used the debate to remind viewers of Trump’s legal troubles, including his conviction in Manhattan on criminal charges of falsifying business documents to conceal hush money payments to an alleged paramour, and an $83 million civil judgment against him for defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll after she had accused Trump of assaulting her in a Manhattan store dressing room.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the hush money charges and is awaiting sentencing, and his lawyers have appealed the defamation lawsuit order. He accused Biden of weaponizing the U.S. Department of Justice against him, an assertion Biden repeatedly has pushed back against, noting the separation between the White House and the department.
Trump repeatedly raised the recent conviction of Biden’s son, Hunter, on federal felony gun charges stemming from a gun purchase made when he was allegedly battling drug addiction, but Biden avoided discussing his son.
Floating falsehoods
Throughout the debate, Trump often made false statements that went unchecked by moderators.
Responding to a question about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump crowd, Trump argued that former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had said she was responsible for the attack for failing to call in the National Guard.
Pelosi in video footage from that day is heard talking on the phone saying, “I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more” — but she was referring to U.S. Capitol Police, not the National Guard, which members of Congress cannot activate.
A review by the fact-checking website PolitiFact noted that Pelosi approved a request on Jan. 6, 2021, to seek support from the National Guard. She and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pressed Pentagon officials to deploy National Guard troops, but their arrival was delayed for hours as officials awaited Trump's approval.
Trump also said he directed National Guard troops to Minneapolis to quell riots that erupted after the May 2020 death of George Floyd in police custody. “If I didn’t bring in the National Guard, that city would have been destroyed,” Trump said during the debate.
The state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, activated 500 Minnesota National Guardsmen, according to news media reports at the time.
Trump dodges policy questions
Asked about his plans to address climate change, Trump raised an entirely different issue: his support from law enforcement groups and his administration’s work with historically Black colleges and universities.
Pressed by moderators to respond about his climate change plans, Trump replied: “So, I want absolutely immaculate clean water and I want absolutely clean air, and we had it. We had H2O. We had the best numbers ever.”
Asked what he would do to make child care more affordable, Trump ignored the question and instead used his two minutes to defend his firing of FBI Director James Comey and to attack Biden’s handling of border security and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Trading blame over economic woes
Biden and Trump tried to portray each other as a threat to the nation’s economic future.
Biden said he inherited “an economy that was in free fall” because of Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Biden argued his administration was able to dramatically reduce unemployment.
“The pandemic was so badly handled,” Biden said. “Many people were dying. All he said was, ‘It’s not that serious. Just inject a little bleach in your arm.’ The economy collapsed. There were no jobs.”
Before the pandemic hit, Trump said, “Everything was rocking good.”
Trump said of Biden: “He has done a poor job. And inflation's killing our country. It is absolutely killing us.”
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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