President Biden and former President Trump criticized each other during Thursday night’s debate, raising new concerns among Democrats about Biden’s mental health.
Both candidates sought to appeal to voters amid a swirl of concerns, but Biden’s halting answers in the first 30 minutes of the debate nearly overshadowed everything else.
The debate came as Trump held a slim lead in most (but not all) national polls, with the Hill/Decision Desk national polling average putting Trump at about 45% approval and Biden at about 44%.
Here are five memorable moments from the debate.
Biden struggles to answer questions early on
In what perhaps did more than any other moment in defining how the debate unfolded, Biden conflated the terms Medicare and COVID and appeared to lose his train of thought.
Trump then criticized the president for being unclear in his remarks.
“I have no idea what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump said as the two men discussed immigration. “I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Biden why voters should “trust” him on border security, noting that the number of migrants entering the US is at an all-time high. Biden touted his support for bipartisan border security agreements and recent border crackdowns, but appeared to stumble before finishing his answer.
“I’m going to continue to take action until we get to a total ban, with a full, comprehensive effort that includes more Border Patrol agents and asylum judges,” Biden said, to which Trump fired back.
A source close to the Biden campaign told The Hill that the president had a cold during the debate, which contributed to his slow start and raspy voice.
Biden slams Trump on veterans’ issues: ‘My son was not a loser’
Biden was infuriated by former President Trump’s attacks on his record on veterans issues, blasting him about 30 minutes into the debate.
“My son served in Iraq,” Biden said of his eldest son, Beau. “He lived near an incinerator. He came home with glioma. [Trump] “They called veterans stupid and losers. My son was not a loser. He was not stupid. You’re the loser. You’re the stupid one.”
Beau Biden died in 2015 from brain cancer believed to have been caused by exposure to incinerators while serving with the Army National Guard in Iraq.
Trump has denied ever calling fallen veterans “idiots and losers” and said the comments were fabricated.
“It’s a myth. Idiots and losers. They made it up. It was in a failing third-rate magazine. And a lot of other magazines. He [Biden] “I made that up. He used it in a commercial. I had 19 people say I never said that.”
However, contrary to Trump’s claims, his former chief of staff, John Kelly, previously acknowledged that Trump had called dead veterans “idiots” in 2018. Trump reportedly made the remark after saying he did not want to visit a cemetery in France for American soldiers killed in World War I.
Biden and Trump called each other criminals
Trump quickly fired back after President Biden called him a “convicted felon.”
The only person on this stage [who] “A convicted felon is who I’m looking at right now,” Biden said, to which Trump responded.
Trump then slammed the president’s son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted earlier this month of federal firearms violations.
“When you talk about him being a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon, a very high level felon,” he responded, adding that Hunter will continue to face convictions. Hunter is set to stand trial in September on a felony tax evasion charge.
Trump then called Biden a criminal.
“Joe could be convicted, based on everything he’s done. He’s done terrible things,” Trump said. “This guy is a criminal. This guy, you’re lucky, I’ve done nothing wrong. Our system is rigged and it’s terrible.”
Biden: Trump has ‘the moral compass of a stray cat’
He has argued that his numerous lawsuits are politically motivated and criticized the president over his legal troubles and past allegations of infidelity in a debate that became personally contentious.
“Look at the crimes that you’re still being charged with and all the civil penalties that you owe,” Biden said. “You owe billions of dollars in civil penalties for sexually abusing women in public? For all sorts of things.”
“You had sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant?” he continued. “What are you talking about? Your morals are like a stray cat.”
Trump hit back, denying the affair that was at the center of a criminal trial in New York in which the former president was convicted of illegally concealing payments made to cover up an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
“We had a terrible judge. A Democrat, a terrible judge,” Trump said. “All the prosecutors were senior Democrat appointees, civil and criminal. He was [Biden] Basically, he attacked his political opponents because he thought it would hurt me.”
Trump faces three remaining criminal trials on charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election or conceal classified documents, none of which are expected to be decided before the election. In a civil lawsuit earlier this year, the former president was convicted of sexual assault, business fraud and defamation.
Trump clashes with Biden on abortion issue
The two candidates traded blows over their stance on abortion, one of the most hotly debated issues before the election.
Trump touted his role in overturning the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that guaranteed the right to abortion, stressing his belief that the issue should be left to the states, while remaining in support of exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life.
He also said he supported the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, which is used in most abortion procedures across the United States.
“I support their decision and I’m not going to block it,” Trump said.
Biden, meanwhile, reiterated his support for Roe and said overturning the landmark decision would be “a terrible thing.”
“The nation [ban abortion] “This is like saying we’re giving civil rights back to the states,” he said.
