The first debate between Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, as part of the 2024 US presidential election campaign, ended on Thursday, after an hour and a half of discussions that covered a variety of issues related to US domestic and foreign policies.
This was the first time in history that an American president still in office faced a former president in a presidential debate.
Before the debate, opinion polls showed a close race between Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, with a large segment of voters still undecided just five months before the November 5 election.
American media shed light on what was stated in the historic debate, by analyzing its repercussions on the candidates of the two parties and their chances in the presidential race.
The newspaper consideredWall Street Journal“Biden was ‘shattered’ in his first direct confrontation with Trump, noting that ‘the Democratic president gave an unstable performance during the debate, suffering from a hoarse voice and stuttering at times.'”
A Biden campaign official confirmed to Alhurra that the US president’s hoarseness was due to a cold he had while at Camp David.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “Biden lacked the energy and ability he appeared in his State of the Union address earlier this year, an appearance that gave Democrats some optimism about the strength of his campaign.”
The newspaper reported that “Trump appeared to be a strong contrast to the current president throughout, and he also sought to highlight Biden’s stuttering, including after a twisted answer to a question about immigration.”
Biden and Trump…the most prominent statements in the “historic” debate
The first debate between US President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, began on CNN from a studio in Atlanta without an audience.
In contrast, the newspaper pointed out thatWashington Post“To the strengths of the Democratic president during the debate, when Biden spoke about the attack on the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021, and the legal problems facing Trump.
The newspaper reported that Biden was keen to highlight Trump’s convictions for committing crimes, and cited the former president’s other problems, including cases of “having sex with a porn star” and “harassing a woman in public places.”
According to the Washington Post, “Trump had no strong responses, except to cite his claims that the cases were brought by a politicized judicial system.”
“Trump’s performance included his usual stream of false and misleading claims,” the newspaper reported, citing the former president’s comments during the debate, describing them as “false claims” about “putting a cap on insulin costs before Biden did, not having had any terrorist attacks on his watch, and Biden wanting to quadruple people’s taxes.”
In turn, the newspaper considered “The New York Times“Biden’s debate stumble puts Trump ahead.”
The newspaper said: “Mr. Biden’s faltering performance and Mr. Trump’s relatively steady and balanced performance have left Democrats very concerned about the Democratic president’s future.”
“Personal attacks overshadowed policy discussions during the debate, as candidates competed over who had the ability to play golf better, their cognitive abilities, and their legal issues,” she added.
During the debate, the two candidates exchanged talk about their golf skills in response to questions about their ages, with Trump referring to his golf performance, saying he felt in good shape.
The former president added: “I recently won two tournaments. To achieve this, you must be very smart, and you must be able to hit the ball a long distance.”
While Biden commented, saying that he would be happy to “challenge Trump to a skills-showing match.”
On the issue of age, Biden said, “I have been criticizing for long days when I was the youngest in the Senate, now I am the oldest, and Trump is only three years younger than me, but he has not achieved what I have achieved in my administration.”
However, the New York Times indicated that Trump used the debate to directly attack Biden, describing him as “weak” and not highly respected by global leaders who were “mocking” him.
Who talked more in the debate: Biden or Trump?
Democratic President Joe Biden faced his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, in the first “historic” debate within the 2024 US presidential election campaign, on Thursday, which lasted an hour and a half.
In turn, the network reported,CNN“Biden faced a tense debate while Trump repeated lies.”
The network reported that “Trump sometimes repeated his denial of the results of the 2020 elections, and said that he would accept the results of the 2024 elections if they were (fair and legal).”
The network indicated that “Biden was in a clear defensive position throughout most of the debate. But this was expected, because he is the current president.”
The website said:AxiosBiden’s “blunders” dominated the debate, as his answers were “stumbled at times.”
According to the site, Biden’s allies expressed serious concerns about the impact on his ability to compete with Trump.
However, the site pointed to “Trump’s repeated lies, and his unwillingness to say whether he will accept the results of the 2024 election.”
“Trump has repeatedly evaded questions about accepting the election results, raising concerns of political violence after the November election,” he added.
In turn, the magazine reported,POLITICO“Democrats consider what happened in the debate to be unbelievable, and that it is time for Biden to go.”
According to the magazine, Democrats are deeply alarmed by Biden’s “faltering” performance, and some are seriously discussing “replacing him in the election.”
The magazine quoted three advisers close to three potential Democratic presidential candidates as saying that they “received a flood of text messages throughout the debate.”
One advisor said they had received appeals for their candidate to come forward as an alternative to Biden.
Another advisor stated that “at least 6 major donors sent text messages containing the word ‘disaster,’ and the party must do something,” but acknowledged that “there is nothing that can be done unless Biden steps aside.”
However, Kamala Harris, the US Vice President, indicated that Biden was “slow at the beginning of the debate,” but she considered that he “ended it strongly.”
“It was a slow start, that’s clear to everyone. I’m not going to argue that point,” Harris added.
For its part, the newspaper reported:The Hill“The debate was one of the most dramatic presidential debates in decades, leaving Democrats on edge.”
“Trump and his allies will be thrilled with how the debate went,” she added. “He’s closer to returning to the White House than he was before the debate.”
In contrast, the network consideredPBS“Biden tried during the debate to confront Trump, who responded with lies.”
The network said, “The Republican candidate responded to Biden’s criticism by using lies about the economy, illegal immigration, and his role in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
However, the network said, “Trump’s speech reminded the public of the verbal attacks he used daily during his turbulent four-year presidency.”
“Trump entered the debate looking for an opportunity to overcome his criminal conviction and convince voters that he has the character to return to the Oval Office,” she added.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.alhurra.com