Biden and Trump participate in the first debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Photo/IC photo
The first candidate debate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election was held at 9 p.m. ET on June 27 (9 a.m. Beijing time on June 28) at CNN's studio in Atlanta, Georgia, and lasted 90 minutes.
This debate showdown between Biden and Trump will make history as the first debate between a current president and a former president, and it will also be the first time in four years that the "Beit showdown" will be staged again.
"Closed-door debate" of "one-on-one heads-up"
The televised debate of candidates in the U.S. presidential election has been the highlight of all U.S. presidential elections. This "one-on-one" approach, which is believed to have a significant impact on the voting preferences of voters, especially swing and middle voters, has always been valued by parties, bipartisans and political observers.
In the 2020 presidential election, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, only two TV debates ended in a tiger, and the two remaining "heads-up" ended up being a farce.
The first scene not only changed from a "literary fight between gentlemen" to a "shrew scolding street quarrel", but the two sides even competed to "grab the microphone", resulting in the opponent's speech being repeatedly interrupted, and Biden, who spoke slowly, obviously suffered a loss in the face of Trump, who was born as a talk show host, and actually said the "broken thoughts" of "Can you shut up, brother".
The second coincided with the intensification of the epidemic and the postponement of the debate due to Trump's confirmed infection. At the opening of the belated debate, the two men were even exempted from the usual etiquette of shaking hands.
And the two people standing in front of the debate stage this time are on the same starting line of "lack of warm-up and practice". In the past four years, the two have not only never been "in the same frame" offline, but they have also never participated in any form of political debate alone.
As the current president, Biden will of course try his best to avoid the debate scene, so as not to "say too much and make more mistakes". In this presidential primary, the Democratic Party, like any party primary in which the incumbent president participates, is a "formality", with no opponent and no debate.
During the Republican primaries, the rivals had already died down, leaving Trump alone to sing a one-man show, and of course the debate or something was saved.
According to the organizers, this time, in order to avoid the embarrassment of 4 years ago, the moderator will turn off the microphone of one of the other candidates when he speaks. In this way, the two will not be able to repeat the old trick of "grabbing the wheat". This will certainly make the debate smoother, but it may also make the "melon-eating masses" have a lot less "melons" to eat.
In addition, the debate was held in a "closed-door debate" format, with no general audience at the venue, and a small number of people who remained for work were asked to "not make any noise".
Many insiders and observers believe that this is a big manifestation of Biden's "aura of sitting president" and "home advantage" (CNN is a pro-Democratic media).
It is reported that last year, in Trump's "Town Hall Forum" hosted by CNN, Trump and the audience interacted enthusiastically. The Biden campaign witnessed the scene, fearing that "our Joe" would suffer, so they solemnly made a special request to the organizers to "close the door in silence".
This time, Trump arrived in Atlanta four and a half hours early, and without saying a word, he bypassed the supporters present and "rushed to the scene", showing unusual solemnity.
Biden arrived about two hours earlier than Trump and was greeted by officials such as the mayor of Atlanta, as well as a large number of local Democratic dignitaries such as Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter.
All this reflects the background of the "home field" of the Democratic Party in the first debate: Georgia is a traditional "blue state", and the host CNN is the "toxic media" that Trump hates.
Data map: The vehicle drove in front of the White House in Washington, the capital of the United States. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
The focus of the debate under the alternating chokes
Polls ahead of the debate showed that voters generally gave Trump higher marks on the economy and immigration – the two most popular issues among American voters in this election. Biden is more favored by voters in many "small items" such as abortion, health insurance, and the environment. It can be said that this debate was "full of gunpowder" from before it began to officially begin.
The debate began on time, and for the first time on the spot, the order of speeches was decided by flipping a coin. Biden was given the opportunity to speak first and chose to stand on the right side of the screen. Not surprisingly, in his first speech, Biden dismissed the argument that the U.S. economy is underperforming and interpreted the inflation problem, which is the most popular issue, as a "legacy of Trump's tenure" and boasted that his government was "doing a good job."
Mr. Trump defended his idea of increasing tariffs, saying that the move "would only punish foreign countries that exploit the United States, but would not increase the tax burden on the United States." He blamed Biden's administration for weakening America's global standing, and boasted that "the U.S. economy and jobs were the best during my administration."
Biden then lashed out at Trump's policy of "cutting taxes for the rich," while Trump defended his "greatest tax cut in history." When it comes to health care, Biden made a glaring slip of the tongue for the first time, and then turned to lashing out at Trump's stance and behavior on the issue of abortion.
In the third round, Biden accused Trump of belittling American soldiers killed in the war as "fools" and "losers", which Trump firmly denied; Biden also accused Trump of "throwing the burden of unemployment on to his successor," which, of course, is not a fact statistically.
In terms of international policy, Trump referred to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying that if elected, he would "resolve the conflict in some way quickly" before taking office. However, it did not disclose the methodology, and seemed to realize that the issue was not appropriate to go into depth. Biden then accused Trump of "deliberately withdrawing from NATO", for which Trump ignored him.
Next, the two sides repeatedly trangled over details such as abortion, and mentioned the issue of Trump's conviction for the "hush money case". Trump chose to respond with "anti-pumping", not only mentioning "Biden's son being convicted", but also threatening that Biden himself "is likely to be convicted of a felony immediately once he leaves office."
When the debate switched to Trump's strong point, illegal immigration, Biden for the first time appeared "suspected senile disease" such as shaking and closing his eyes, and let Trump play to his heart's content.
It's worth noting that when Biden mentions any area, Trump always manages to bypass his most supported immigration issue and shows his eloquence as a former talk show host. Biden, on the other hand, although he has defended his economic "achievements" in a clear manner, often gives the impression that he is not answering Trump's questions.
Observers note that Biden and Trump have very different positions on the important issue of "America's strength today." Biden adheres to the traditional proposition that "the United States is the most respected country in the world," while Trump called the United States "destroyed." Clearly, Biden is trying to show off, "My leadership has ensured America's greatness," and Trump is meant to remind that "Biden's leadership has destroyed America."
To this day, Trump has never conceded defeat in 2020. This time, he also tried to refuse to say whether he would accept it if he lost again, and instead accused Biden of "putting the country on the path of World War III". After repeated questions from the moderator, Trump said, "If this is a fair, legal, good election."
In the aftermath of the debate, pro-Democrats, especially in many swing states, commented on Biden's performance with frustration. David Plouffe, a senior campaign manager for the Democratic Party during the Obama era, believes that Biden's performance reminds people of his advanced age, and this is his biggest fate, "Obviously both are old people, but today Trump seems to be 30 years younger than Biden."
But there are also some Democrats who believe that "it's not surprising that incumbent presidents usually don't do well in the first debate." Biden confidently said, "Let's move on and see you next time." But in any case, this further exposes the extent of the rift in American society.
TV debates are becoming increasingly irrelevant?
Many analysts have pointed out that the greatest historical significance of this debate lies in the fact that it was the earliest in the contemporary history of the United States. In the past, "face-to-face" always had to wait until the party primaries officially ended, but as the Democratic Party primaries were dealt with as usual, the Republican party primaries were reduced to a one-man show early, and it became meaningless to wait any longer.
But as many election experts have emphasized, prematurely running a presidential election debate can also lead to "desensitization" of the debate. Election voting is far away in November, and in recent years, the average American voter has become increasingly "fragmented" in politics, and it is likely that they will not begin to pay attention to the election until the eve of the vote. As a result, for most people, the painstaking "June showdown" is destined to become a "distant memory".
Both parties and both candidates are focused more on their respective parties' national conventions in late summer. The next debate, hosted by the ABC on September 10, will be even more remarkable. Of course, this also means that this debate has become relatively less important.
It is known that the first televised debate on the candidates of the United States presidential candidates took place in 1960 with the participation of Kennedy and Nixon. At that time, Kennedy, who was originally behind in the polls, fully demonstrated his ability to debate, and finally reversed the election, which also made the TV debate of the presidential candidate more and more important.
But as analysts have argued, in an era of polarized voters and "position-locking," a major reshuffle in the media landscape, and "highly targeted projections" on both sides' campaign strategies, the 90-minute debate is just a matter of listening to most listeners, because their voting intentions have already been decided.
Some experts pointed out that, in fact, there are only a very small number of vacillators in the middle who will decide their voting intentions because of the performance of both sides of the debate. They believe that the real key is the battle between the teams in the days to weeks following the debate, the so-called "public opinion memory cycle". If you can seize this opportunity to make more "real shorts", you may become the final winner.
Written by Tao Short Room (Columnist)
Editor / Bruce Ma
Proofreading / Diyan Chen