ATLANTA — One of the most dramatic presidential debates in decades played out here Thursday for more than 90 minutes, leaving Democrats reeling.
A hesitant, halting and raspy-spoken President Biden struggled badly in a showdown in which he sought to change the trajectory of a campaign he was narrowly losing.
The Biden campaign had hoped that a strong performance would at least balance the president’s approval ratings, but the opposite happened, sparking renewed speculation about whether Biden would drop out of the Democratic nomination.
Incumbent presidents have struggled in the first debates of reelection campaigns before, such as in 2012 when Republican candidate Mitt Romney was widely expected to beat then-President Barack Obama.
But Obama was 51 at the time, not 81, and recovered for the second debate, which took place shortly afterward. The second Biden-Trump debate isn’t until September.
Biden’s struggles have put the race largely in Trump’s favor, despite the former president’s usual tendencies toward hyperbole and belligerence.
Here, for once, no one except the most ardent supporters could agree on who the main winners and losers were.
winner
Former President Trump
Biden lost, so Trump won.
Such is the stark calculus of a presidential debate, which is essentially a combative battle.
In terms of performance, Trump was far more astute and energetic than Biden.
He also used potential attacks to his advantage, arguing that the trend to fire former members of the administration is a good thing.
“this man [Biden] “I didn’t fire anybody,” Trump said. “I should have fired every single one of the military that was in Afghanistan.” [withdrawal] “It’s a horror show.”
He also managed to answer some of the tougher questions with little pushback from Biden or debate moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper of CNN.
On the issue of abortion, Trump has tried to position himself as someone who simply wants to leave the issue up to the states. When asked about the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, he spoke about the state of border security and tax policy at the time.
Asked whether he would accept the election results, Trump was notably equivocal, insisting he “did nothing wrong” despite being recently convicted of 34 felony counts and facing three more indictments.
Still, Trump and his allies will be ecstatic with how the debate went: He will leave Atlanta with a better chance of reclaiming the White House than when he took the stage.
Democratic Alternative Candidate
It’s hard to overstate the level of Democratic panic that spread across social media and text messages with reporters within 30 minutes of the debate starting.
That talk of him replacing the president as the Democratic nominee quickly became mainstream speaks to the magnitude of Biden’s blunder.
None of the other candidates seem pleased with the president’s performance.
But in the cutthroat world of politics, Thursday was a good night for Democrats such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (who had a big presence in the press office here) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Vice President Harris, who endured a tough interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper immediately after the debate, is another possibility, although she has her own vulnerabilities.
Former first lady Michelle Obama is the dream candidate for many Democrats, but given her staunch opposition to running for public office, that dream is unlikely to become a reality.
CNN
CNN was successful in hosting the debate in the first place.
Many questions remain about the moderators’ behavior, particularly their reluctance to fact-check.
There was also a media uproar over television networks refusing to allow White House reporters into the room where the debate was taking place.
But the networks hosting the debate still hope it will be an attention-grabber.
Thursday night’s game easily achieved that goal.
This will be debated for years to come, but CNN’s name is all over the place.
mixture
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash
Presidential debates put an unforgiving spotlight on the moderators.
Tapper and Bash avoided any negative moments and ensured the discussion never escalated into chaos.
But Tapper and Bash’s reluctance to take a strong stance against questionable or false allegations has led to a lot of criticism, including on social media.
“I hope CNN hosts will do a better job of fact-checking and let viewers know when they say things that are demonstrably false. I don’t see how a platform can help by spreading lies disguised as fact,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote on social media.
loser
President Biden
It all went wrong very quickly for the president.
He was rambling and unclear from the start.
He claimed to have capped insulin costs for seniors at $15 a dose, when in fact the cap is $35 a month.
The worst moment came afterward, when he began by saying Biden was confusing millionaires with billionaires, after which the president went quiet and descended into complete incoherence.
“I’m going to make sure that every single person gets the same thing that I’ve been doing with COVID, excuse me, with everything that needs to be done. Look, if that’s what it takes. We can finally beat Medicare,” Biden said.
It was tough to watch, especially for Biden supporters, and the footage will no doubt be aired repeatedly on conservative television, radio and social media for days to come.
At other times, Biden missed clear opportunities.
His comments on abortion, perhaps his party’s strongest political issue, faded into a muddled attack on the third trimester of pregnancy, and his attempt to attack Trump for insulting military veterans by calling them “idiots” and “losers” fell flat because of a lack of energy in his remarks.
Biden has certainly improved a bit over time, but the damage was already done.
The debate the president wanted turned into a disaster.
fact
It wasn’t a good night for Truth.
Spin is commonplace in debates, but the amount of falsehoods that were actually told was astonishing.
President Trump said a “relatively small number” of people visited the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
As an Associated Press fact check noted, more than 1,400 people have been charged with crimes related to January 6, and more than 1,000 have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.
Trump said Biden has used the racist term “super predator” in the past, though there is no evidence the president has ever used the phrase.
Of course, there was some exaggeration.
Even before taking office, Trump claimed he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine, and that a 10% tariff on all imports would not raise prices for American consumers, a claim that economic experts overwhelmingly disagree.
But the misstatements and exaggerations were not all Trump’s.
The president said the Border Patrol union “supported me and supported my position.” The union also supported a border security deal that Biden pushed for earlier this year. But the union pointed out on social media that it has never supported Biden. And, as mentioned above, Biden mischaracterized the insulin price cap.
