LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun
US PRESIDENT JOE Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump have battled it out in their first debate of the 2024 election cycle at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta.
The two rivals did not shake hands as they took their positions at podiums just feet apart in a studio with no live audience.
Both men traded barbs across 90 minutes, labelling each other liars.
Both men also lost their train of thought at various points, but Biden in particular struggled to deliver certain answers and trailed off when speaking.
Trump sought to seize on Biden’s delivery, saying at one point: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
In CNN’s post-debate analysis, John King said many people in Biden’s campaign team are panicking and some Democrats want Biden to step aside as his performance in the debate was so “dismal”.
During the same discussion, fellow commentator Van Jones, who was a special adviser to President Barack Obama (when Biden was vice president), said the debate was “painful”.
“I love Joe Biden. I worked for Joe Biden. He didn’t do well at all,” Jones said.
“That’s a good man. He loves his country. He’s doing the best that he can. But he had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence of the country and of the base. And he failed to do that.”
Jones described the debate as being between “an old man and a con man”.
I love Joe Biden. But tonight's debate hurt. #DebateNight pic.twitter.com/IjS6YEptff
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) June 28, 2024
Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that her boss had a “slow start” in the debate, but insisted Biden had a “strong finish”.
“It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point,” she told CNN.
For what it’s worth, Biden himself thought it went well.
“I think we did well,” Biden told reporters as he visited a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta for a post-debate meal.
When asked if he had any concerns about his performance, Biden said: “No, it’s hard to debate a liar. New York Times pointed out he lied 26 times, big lies.”
For anyone wondering why Biden’s voice was so raspy during the debate, the White House said he has a cold.
White House official says POTUS was examined by his doctor, Kevin O'Connor, at Camp David in recent days, and O'Connor determined it was a cold. POTUS tested negative for COVID.
— Nancy Cordes (@nancycordes) June 28, 2024
The current and former presidents squared off at a pivotal moment – opinion polls show the election could go either way.
Many voters have expressed apprehension over the choice between Biden – at 81, the oldest ever incumbent – and 78-year-old Trump, now a convicted felon.
When asked about concerns over their age, both men denied they were too old for the role.
Biden said Trump is only a few years younger than him, but is “a lot less competent”. He urged voters to look at his record.
Trump said he was as fit as ever, perhaps fitter than he was 20 or 30 years ago, and challenged Biden to a cognitive test.
The pair then argued about golf skills.
Biden and Trump responded to questions about voter concerns regarding age and capability to serve during the CNN presidential debate in Atlanta. Watch CNN and follow live: https://t.co/1L1VCZQBWF pic.twitter.com/02QySSSKkj
— CNN (@CNN) June 28, 2024
Millions of Americans tuned in to the debate which marks the start of a summer of campaigning in a deeply polarised and tense US still scarred by the chaos and violence that accompanied the 2020 election.
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, claiming that particular election was rigged to prevent him winning.
“On January 6 we were respected all over the world”
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) June 28, 2024
— Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/pJxxibw5gz
When asked if he would accept the election results this time around, Trump didn’t give a straight answer but said violence is “totally unacceptable”.
When pushed on the issue, Trump said “if it’s a fair and legal and good election” he will “absolutely” accept the outcome.
Biden and Trump kicked off the first presidential debate on CNN by slamming each other's records on the economy. Watch and follow live: https://t.co/aAgMty4ys1 pic.twitter.com/1OLrFXfEUr
— CNN (@CNN) June 28, 2024
Biden, who took the opening question of the night, immediately criticised his predecessor for presiding over “an economy that was in free fall” and a pandemic that “was so badly handled, many people were dying”.
Trump quickly shot back that under his 2017 to 2021 leadership, “we had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” and that inflation under Biden today is “killing” the United States.
Trump was last month found guilty of 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.
Referencing these criminal convictions, Biden accused Trump of having the “morals of an alley cat”.
“The crimes you are still charged with. Think of all the civil penalties you have.
“How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public… for having sex with a porn star on the night, while your wife was pregnant?
What are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.
Biden added: “The only person on the stage that is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now.”
Trump denied having sex with Daniels, saying: “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”
He fired back that Biden’s son Hunter – who was earlier this month found guilty of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun – was the real criminal.
Responding to Trump’s claims of a wave of “Biden migrant crime” and low approval ratings for the president among veterans, Biden said “every single thing he said is a lie”.
“We have great respect for veterans,” he said, adding that his late son Beau Biden was exposed to burn pits while serving in Iraq and later died of cancer.
Biden also brought up a controversial moment from Trump’s presidency, in which he allegedly said that fallen US soldiers were “losers and suckers”.
“My son was not a loser and not a sucker,” he said. “You’re the sucker. You’re the loser,” he added, addressing the former president.
Trump responded that the quote was “made up” and he never said it.
“Nobody has taken better care of our soldiers than I have,” Trump added.
Biden claimed he's the only president in the last decade who doesn’t have "any troops dying anywhere in the world".
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) June 28, 2024
Three US troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan in January.
During the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021, 13 US troops were killed in a suicide attack. pic.twitter.com/2BGJSdmIQo
Biden claimed that he is the only president this decade “that doesn’t have any… troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did,” referring to Trump.
“Truth is, I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have any, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did,” Biden said.
However, this is incorrect. US service members have died abroad during Biden’s presidency, including 13 troops killed in a suicide bombing during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
When asked about the conflict and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Biden said Hamas is the only group who does not want the war to end.
He reiterated his support for Israel and said Hamas should be eliminated.
Trump responded to the question on Gaza by saying Israel should “finish the job”.
Speaking about Biden, he said:
He doesn’t want to do it. He’s become like a Palestinian — but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, he’s a weak one.
When asked about the war in Ukraine, Trump said the conflict would never have started if the US “had a leader”, implying it would not have started on his watch.
“I’ll have that war settled before I take office,” he said, adding that he would speak to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, to end the conflict. He did not outline exactly how.
After Trump claimed that some Democrats want to allow abortions “after birth”, Biden replied: “That simply is not true.”
Post-debate, CNN fact-checkers said Trump’s claim about Democrats killing babies after birth is “nonsense”.
“That is infanticide and illegal in all 50 states. A very small percentage of abortions happen at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy,” they noted.
During the debate, Biden criticised Trump for appointing three conservative Supreme Court judges who struck down the nationwide constitutional right to abortion, saying:
It’s been a terrible thing, what you’ve done.
“If I’m re-elected, I’m going to restore Roe v. Wade,” he said, adding that the decision to end a pregnancy needs to be between a woman and her doctor.
Trump said he is in favour of abortion in cases involving rape or where the woman’s life is at risk. He noted that not everyone will agree with him, adding people have to “follow their heart” on the issue.
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderated the debate, taking it in turns to ask the men questions. When one candidate was speaking, the other’s microphone was muted. There was no live audience in the studio.
Trump stood at a podium on the left and Biden stood on the right, with their positions decided by a coin toss.
The coin landed on Biden’s pick — tails — which meant his campaign team got to choose whether it wanted to select the president’s podium position or the order of the closing statements.
Biden’s campaign chose to select the right podium position. Trump’s campaign then chose for the former president to deliver the last closing statement.
In his closing statement, Trump praised his record during his first term as president. He called Biden a “complainer” and said “the whole country is exploding because of you, because they don’t respect you”.
In his statement, Biden focused on taxes and promised to bring down inflation.
Contains reporting from © AFP 2024
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