A catastrophic presidential debate for Joe Biden

(New York) The bet was risky. By offering his rival an early debate, Joe Biden wanted to change the trajectory of the race for the White House and convince voters that he was not too old to seek a second term.

However, in a 90-minute debate which degenerated into personal attacks, the Democratic president lost this bet Thursday in Atlanta. Speaking in a hoarse, muted and sometimes hesitant voice, he made a blunder on a key theme of his campaign from the first minutes of the confrontation and largely failed to place voters at the heart of his interventions the rest time.

Even before the debate ended, many Democrats and Biden supporters were wondering whether the president could continue his campaign. Some even called on him to drop out of the race.

“I would like Biden to reflect on his debate performance and announce his decision to withdraw, leaving the choice of the Democratic nominee to the convention [démocrate] ” wrote the columnist on X New York Times Nicholas Kristof: “Someone like Gretchen Whitmer, Sherrod Brown or Gina Raimondo could still come out and beat Trump,” he added, referring to the Michigan governor, Ohio senator and commerce secretary.

In the middle of the debate hosted by CNN and broadcast by all the major American networks, the Biden camp let it be known that the president was suffering from a cold. At the end of the confrontation, CNN reported an “aggressive panic” within the Democratic camp.

“It’s hard to argue that Biden should be our nominee,” a Democratic source said on condition of anonymity.

The president’s first blunder came at the 13^e minute as he outlined his plans to continue protecting and strengthening the social safety net. After listing a number of measures, he froze, unable to regain his train of thought.

Then he added, referring to the health insurance program for the elderly, admired by Democrats and threatened by Republicans: “We finally defeated Medicare. »

Donald Trump’s response rang out: “He beat Medicare. He beat him to death and is destroying him. »

Joe Biden also blundered in defending his economic record. He congratulated himself on having contributed to the creation of “15,000 jobs” rather than “15 million jobs.”

The screen division didn’t help Joe Biden either. When Donald Trump spoke, the president’s mouth was half open and his gaze was sometimes haggard.

As he answered or dodged questions from moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, the former president repeated lies and exaggerations throughout the debate. Nevertheless, he delivered a more forceful performance and relentlessly attacked his rival on his biggest vulnerabilities: the economy and immigration.

After falsely boasting of having created “the best economy in the history of the country”, he notably accused Joe Biden of having contributed to the deaths of Americans due to his management of the southern border.

At another point, he said, addressing his rival: “Have you fired anyone who is at the border? Has anyone been fired for letting 18 million people out of prison, many of them from mental institutions? Did you fire someone who allowed the destruction of our country? Joe, our country is being destroyed. »

“What I did, since I changed the law, what happened? “, replied the president in a confused manner. “I changed it so that today there are 40% fewer people crossing the border illegally. The situation is better than when he left office. »

The moderators made no effort to set the record straight during the debate, a situation that ultimately favored Donald Trump. In particular, he falsely stated that all legal experts in the United States and around the world were in favor of repealing the annulment of the ruling. Roe v. Wade on abortion.

Joe Biden tried to recall that the nomination of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court by Donald Trump had led to the repeal of the constitutional right to abortion.

“What you did is terrible,” he said.

The moderators did not insist that Donald Trump answer their questions about his responsibility in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

“I offered 10,000 National Guard troops and they refused,” the former president said, blaming former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Washington mayor for the refusal.

Letting his frustration show, Joe Biden attacked Donald Trump over the statements that his former chief of staff John Kelly attributed to him concerning soldiers who died in combat. “Losers” and “dummies”, according to what the former president confided to his entourage.

“My son was not a loser or a loser. You’re the loser. You are the loser,” the president declared in an angry tone.

Donald Trump has denied denigrating fallen soldiers.

Continuing his personal attacks, Joe Biden also called Donald Trump a “convicted felon,” an allusion to his conviction by a New York jury, and recalled that he had been found responsible for sexual assault and that he had slept with a “porn star.”

“I did not sleep with a porn star,” Donald Trump replied, uttering words never heard before in a presidential debate.

The environment, the war in Ukraine and the war in the Gaza Strip were also discussed during the debate.

Never before has a debate between the presidential candidates of the two major American parties been held so early in the electoral calendar. Donald Trump, who had challenged his successor to face him “anywhere, anytime,” quickly accepted this early appointment proposed by Joe Biden – as well as the rules that his camp later complained about.

It was the first presidential debate without an audience since the first round between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy in 1960. Another rule that affected the tone of the confrontation: the candidates’ microphones were muted when their rival was speaking.

This rule may have ended up favoring Donald Trump, who appeared more disciplined and calm than during the first presidential debate of 2020.