Democrats concerned after Biden’s debate performance as Trump gets away with lies and deflections – live | US elections 2024
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Democrats lament ‘really disappointing’ Biden debate – reports
The reviews from Democrats of Joe Biden’s debate performance against Donald Trump are in, and they are not good.
The president’s raspy voice, tendency to meander and difficulty finishing his answers have his allies deeply worried about his ability to beat Trump in the November elections, multiple media outlets have reported.
Here’s how his former communications director Kate Bedingfield put it:
Joe Biden’s former communications director Kate Bedingfield, on CNN: “It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden.”
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) June 28, 2024
The Hill received an ominous text from a swing state Democrat:
Hoo boy. From one House Dem who hails from a swing state:
“This was a disaster. Biden’s team needs to convince him to withdraw and have an open convention.”
— Al Weaver (@alweaver22) June 28, 2024
Former top Barack Obama strategist David Axlerod said Democrats are so worried they may wonder if Biden should continue his campaign:
.@davidaxelrod on CNN post-debate, “ there are gonna be discussions on if he should continue.”
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) June 28, 2024
Key events
2020 Presidential candidate Andrew Yang has come out swinging, using the hashtag #swapjoeout in multiple tweets, and writing, “Look, I debated Joe 7 times in 2020. He’s a different guy in 2024”:
Look I debated Joe 7 times in 2020. He’s a different guy in 2024. #swapJoeout
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) June 28, 2024
Moira Donegan: ‘This debate was a disastrous opening performance for Biden’
Moira Donegan
The Biden campaign is probably hoping that you did not watch the first presidential debate. Over the course of 90 minutes in Atlanta, the president was only sometimes coherent, delivering meandering statements that were often inaudible, frequently veering off topic, and often running out of his allotted time mid-sentence, so that his message remained unclear or outright incomprehensible to viewers.
It was a disastrous opening performance for a president whose greatest electoral vulnerability is his age and perceptions about his fitness for the demands of his office. Biden’s showing at the first presidential debate has placed his campaign’s least favorite issue – the president’s stamina and acuity – back at the center of the electoral contest.
In one of his more energetic and clear moments, Biden responded to a question about his age by pointing out that Donald Trump is only three years younger than he is, “and a lot less competent”. That may be true, but Trump – the convicted felon who has been found liable for sexual assault, was impeached twice, and attempted to overturn the last election when he lost – was forceful, alert, and on message, even as he repeatedly lied.
In contrast, when the cameras cut to Biden, he was often slack-jawed, his eyes unfocused, seeming to stare into the middle distance with a look of vacant horror. The contrast was stark. Many of the liberal-leaning voters watching no doubt despaired at Biden’s performance, which they feared would permanently cement the popular opinion that he is simply too old for the job.
He may well be. Even in response to what should have been easy questions, Biden fumbled:
A CNN flash poll has Trump winning the debate 67% to 33%.
Trump gave a better performance, voters said. Polled before the debate, the same voters said they thought Trump would give a better performance than Biden, but it was closer: 5% to 45%.
Chris Stein
Here is a summary – and snap verdict –after that debate:
Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s first debate does not appear to have turned out well for the president, who struggled with a raspy voice, occasional cough and general difficulty landing his lines in the 90-minute face-off. Democrats are now in panic mode over his chances in the November election, with one notable strategist calling it “a Defcon 1 moment” that will serve to heighten voters’ concerns over his advanced age. Biden showed no sign of changing course, telling supporters “see you” at the next debate scheduled for September, while Kamala Harris acknowledged the president had a “slow start” to what she said was an otherwise successful night. As for Trump, he used the debate as an opportunity to tell a panoply of lies about many, many things. Expect Democrats to go on the attack over that in the next couple days, Biden freakout notwithstanding.
Here’s a look back at what happened tonight:
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Biden is not the first incumbent to suffer in his first debate.
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The president, who took a whole week to prep for the debate, reportedly came down with a cold beforehand.
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Trump appeared to say he would accept the results of the election no matter who wins, but added caveats.
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CNN may be in for it over a debate format that allowed Trump to spew falsehoods unchecked by the moderators.
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The debate highlighted the candidates’ very different visions of America. To Trump, it’s a nation that has been “destroyed”, while to Biden, it is “the most admired country in the world”.
Republican senator Marco Rubio of Florida is on CBS right now.
“President Biden looked ways that are concerning not just for democrats but for America,” he says. He says there is “no choice” and that the US was “stronger and better” under Trump he says.
Biden supporters chant in response: “We need you.”
“We’re the finest nation in the world,” Biden says energetically, and “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you”.
CBS responds: “It appears his cold has been cured.”
Biden is speaking to supporters after the debate. He is using a John Wayne reference and has, quoting Wayne, called Trump a “lying dog-faced pony soldier”.
Here is what the stock market thinks of the debate:
US stock futures and the dollar rose in early Asian trading on Friday as 2024, which means Trump was viewed by investors as putting in a stronger showing than his opponent.
While the election is four months away, investors anticipate a Trump presidency would mean lower corporate taxes, tougher trade relations and therefore higher stock prices and bond yields.
Hi, this is Helen Sullivan bringing you the latest reaction and analysis after that debate for the next while.
If you have questions about the debate or the election, get in touch on Twitter @helenrsullivan or email: helen.sullivan[at]theguardian.com and I’ll do my best.
CNN’s deliberate decision to forgo live factchecking evokes a bit of dread and deja vu from the 2016 election.
David Chalian, CNN’s political director, told the Associated Press: “Obviously, if there is some egregious fact that needs to be checked or the record needs to be made clear, Jake and Dana can do that. But that’s not their role. They are not here to participate in this debate. They are here to facilitate a debate between Trump and Biden.”
Indeed, neither host pushed back on the barrage of false and misleading claims from Donald Trump, nor did they the fumbles by Joe Biden. This debate over how to moderate the debate – and whether networks should offer fact checks – was also raging back in 2016.
After a televised debacle in which then-NBC host Matt Lauer failed to push back on Trump’s falsehoods in a commander-in-chief forum, networks declined the Hillary Clinton campaign’s requests for debate fact checks. On NBC, Lester Holt was under immense pressure at that point to do some live fact checks and pushback, which he did to some extent – but ultimately stayed focused on keeping the conversation going. When Trump won that election, media organizations were left to grapple with how they failed to take seriously his political rise – and weight of his lies.
Joe Biden has staked much of his candidacy on abortion rights – but he didn’t mention the issue in his closing statement.
Across the US, but especially in swing states like Arizona, organizers are hoping that the abortion rights issue will galvanize voters who have started to cool on Biden. But the president didn’t do much to return to the issue after answering the one debate question tonight that focused on abortion rights.
Though Donald Trump claimed that overturning Roe v Wave was “something everybody wanted” – numerous polls have found that Roe was popular when it was in place and the majority of Americans disagree with the decision to overturn in. Republicans who have advanced harsh abortion restrictions have been increasingly out of touch with what most voters want.
Pressed by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Kamala Harris again acknowledged that Joe Biden had a “slow start”.
“It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone. I’m not going to debate that point,” Harris said.
“I’m talking about the choice in November. I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime. And do we want to look at what November will bring and go on a course for America that is about a destruction of democracy, electing a man who has said he’ll be a dictator on day one? Or do we want to continue on a course that’s about strengthening America’s economy, building and creating 15m American jobs, over 800,000 manufacturing jobs?”
Harris acknowledges Biden’s ‘slow start’ as she defends debate performance
In an interview with CNN, Kamala Harris defended Joe Biden’s debate performance, and pointed out that Donald Trump spent plenty of time distorting facts and dodging questions.
“What we saw tonight is the President making a very clear contrast with Donald Trump on all of the issues that matter to the American people. Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” said Harris. “Joe Biden is extraordinarily strong on substance and policy and performance.”
Pressed to comment on Biden’s performance and Democrats’ concerns that it only heightened voters’ apprehension over his age, Harris said:
Ultimately, this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance. And the contrast is clear. Look at what happened during the course of the debate. Donald Trump lied over and over and over again, as he is wont to do.
He would not disavow what happened on January 6. He would not give a clear answer on whether he would stand by the election results this November, he went back and forth about where he stands on one of the most critical issues of freedom in America, which is the right of women to make decisions about their own body. He has been completely ambiguous and all over the place about where he stands on that issue, despite the fact that he hand-selected three members of the United States supreme court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v Wade.
The decision of CNN hosts Dana Bash and Jake Tapper to altogether forgo fact-checking is being widely panned by journalists and political commentators:
CNN = not meeting the moment.
The absence of real-time fact checking is the biggest failure of this debate.
— Anthony Coley (@AnthonyColey) June 28, 2024
So much general angst about the lack of fact checking tonight. The after-the-debate correction of many misstatements (mostly Trump’s) won’t be heard by a lot of people who need to know that.
— Not THAT Karen, thank you (@karenbates) June 28, 2024
CNN’s lack of fact checking and wooden questions are just as bad for democracy as everything else that’s happening
— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) June 28, 2024
Former Obama campaign manager says Biden’s debate performance ‘a Defcon 1 moment’
In an interview on MSNBC, David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and worked in his White House, warned that Joe Biden’s debate performance drew attention to his advanced age, which is one of his biggest weaknesses.
“It’s kind of a Defcon 1 moment,” Plouffe said. “The biggest thing in this election is voters’ concerns, and it’s both swing voters and base voters, with his age, and those were compounded tonight.”
Though Biden is only three years older than Trump, Plouffe said, “They seemed about 30 years apart tonight. And I think that’s going to be the thing that voters really wrestle with coming out of this.”
“DEFCON 1 moment”
Obama campaign vet David Plouffe on the fallout from Biden’s debate performance.
Plouffe adds Biden did “have a couple of good moments” but the “concern level is quite high.” pic.twitter.com/SPi1pcIlDy
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 28, 2024
Biden says ‘see you at the next one’ despite Democratic worries over debate performance
While many of his allies were expressing concerns over his debate performance, Joe Biden headed over to speak to supporters at a watch party, and showed no indication of pulling out of the second debate scheduled for early September.
“He’s just a liar,” Biden said of Trump. “ I can’t think of one thing he said that was true, not being facetious. But look, we’re going to beat this guy. We need to beat this guy, and I need you in order to beat him.”
He concluded with: “Let’s keep going. See you at the next one.”
Lauren Gambino
Trump hammered the issue of immigration.
Nearly every question detoured back to the topic.
It’s his signature issue, and his strongest issue with voters. Americans consistently tell pollsters that they believe Trump is better equipped to handle the border than Biden.
Voters rank immigration as a top issue, sometimes the top issue. Unprecedented migration at the US-Mexico border, and the sense that the Biden administration has failed to address it, has alarmed many Americans, including Democrats.
But for much of the debate, Trump simply played on those fears. He continued to wrongly conflate crime and border crossings. He has vowed to carry out the “largest” deportation campaign in American history.
Lauren Gambino
Incumbents usually start off rusty.
There is no downplaying the full-blown panic within the Democratic party right now. But, if any are searching for a silver lining, they may remember that incumbent presidents often perform poorly in the first debate of their re-election campaign.
The reason? Presidents are the boss, the commander in chief. For nearly the past four years, they have given the orders and often aren’t challenged. A debate puts them in a new, uncomfortable setting.
President Barack Obama famously had a terrible first debate against Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, but came back to deliver a much stronger performance in the second debate and of course was re-elected.
Will Biden get a second chance to debate Trump this cycle? If worried Democrats have their way, probably not.
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