America’s opponents argue not only that President Biden suffered a major defeat in Thursday’s debate, but that America is the real loser.
After Biden’s lackluster performance stunned viewers, Russia, China, Iran and others spoke out. Their media, many of them government-controlled, seized on the debate debacle to criticize the US.
“News outlets of all sizes have published stories about what happened,” Rebecca Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst and author of “Putin’s Strategy,” told Fox News Digital. “Some have published multiple stories, most or all of which smear both candidates and mock the United States.”
“what [Russian President Vladimir] “What Putin sees is an American society that is deeply divided and troubled by its own problems,” Kofler said. “Putin likely believes that Russia will win no matter who wins, because he sees the United States as so divided and polarized that he expects chaos after the election.”
“After all, Moscow is convinced that the social crisis that has engulfed the United States is good for Russia,” she added.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed Putin was “too bored to stay up and watch the US debates” but “we have seen the media reports of these debates.”
Peskov added that the Kremlin had not attempted to “evaluate the discussions” or “draw any official conclusions”, and insisted that Russia had “never interfered in US election campaigns”.
Russian President Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region of Russia’s Far East on September 13, 2023. (Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin via Reuters/File photo)
Outside the Kremlin, Russian media have reportedly touted the debate as a victory for Russia, one that would put Putin in a position to dictate the terms of any war in Ukraine, especially if Donald Trump wins the White House.
They highlighted Biden’s “half-open mouth, unblinking eyes” and “expressionless face.”
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“This is how Joe Biden appeared before an audience of millions,” Valentin Bogdanov, head of Russia state television’s New York branch, told Kremlin-backed RT.
According to East2West, news reports have focused specifically on CNN’s reaction, saying its anchors are “powerless” and Democrats are in “serious panic.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hold a joint press conference after their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on May 9, 2024. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
China also voiced its disapproval of the debate, with state media appearing to have largely ignored it, but the state-run Global Times called it “the most chaotic presidential debate in history” and “like a reality TV show,” and also highlighted segments in which Biden and Trump spoke about China. According to the BBC.
The Global Times took particular issue with Trump blaming Beijing for the “ravaging COVID-19 pandemic and America’s economic woes.”
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State media outlet Beijing News said the debate had exposed the shortcomings of both candidates, with the “ever-disorganized” Biden and Trump spreading “rumors” instead of answering questions directly.
Xinhua placed the debate in the context of an America “tired of the new Biden-Trump showdown”, highlighting Biden’s “several gaffes” and “unclear” speech, while accusing Trump of not answering questions directly and making statements “containing many exaggerations and lies”.
President Joe Biden (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week, Nov. 15, 2023, in Woodside, California. (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese social media celebrities were even more scathing, with Hu Xijin, a former state media editor for social media platform X, deriding the US presidential debates as “very entertaining for many Chinese people.” According to Newsweek:.
“Objectively speaking, the poor performance of these two old men was a negative advertisement for Western democracy,” he wrote.
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Other social media users described the debate as a “disaster,” a “catastrophe” and a “waste of time,” but it should be noted that Chinese media have sought to portray the US as a country in turmoil with an uncertain political future.
Iran’s Republic Press Agency appeared to focus less on the debate, with the country’s presidential elections scheduled for this weekend taking up the bulk of its coverage, but Middle East expert and Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Risa Daftari warned that a mediocre performance in the debate would catch the attention of all of America’s rivals.
In this photo released by the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wearing a black turban at center, prays in front of a flag-draped coffin during a funeral ceremony for the late Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and his associates, who died in a helicopter crash Sunday in the mountains of northwestern Iran, on the campus of Tehran University, Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Tehran, Iran. (Courtesy of the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran via The Associated Press) (Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran, via The Associated Press)
“America’s adversaries will see President Biden’s actions as evidence of the current incompetence of the leader of the free world,” Daftari said. “Through deterrence and the right rhetoric and positioning alone, the United States has always been capable of defending its interests and bringing stability to the world.”
“That wasn’t necessarily the case under the Biden administration. [Thursday] “Tonight’s performance is an even more extreme reminder of American weakness,” she added.
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“We currently face many destabilizing global crises, including a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the Iranian regime’s possession or use of nuclear weapons, and the Iranian regime’s continued proxy war against Israel and Western assets in the region. [and] “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues,” Daftali said, “and of course any of the current crises could intensify between now and the election.”
Even allies reacted poorly, starting with Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who issued a cryptic message about X that some interpreted as an unfavorable comparison between Biden and the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (left), Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Council President Charles Michel (not shown), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden watch the parachutists at the G7 summit. Biden is on the far right watching the parachutists. (Photo by Michael Kappeler/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
“Marcus Aurelius was a great emperor, but he botched the succession by handing the baton to his incompetent son Commodus, and his disastrous reign marked the beginning of Rome’s decline,” Sikorski writes. “The key is to navigate your way into the sunset.”
French news outlet Le Monde described the debate as a “bad storm” and lamented Biden’s obsession with “unsettling his opponent” by mocking Trump’s answers to his questions. The BBC reported:.
German media outlet Der Spiegel likened the debate to a “car crash” and half-heartedly praised the “theatrical performances” of both candidates, arguing that supporters on both sides would feel their candidate got the job done.
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Another outlet, Die Welt, lamented that Biden is not an inspiring candidate, but rather one with “common sense and a stable character” who will bring “normalcy” to the White House.
