In the first debate between Biden and Trump, Biden was even more powerless.
Interviewer: How do you make sure you're old enough to be elected next time?
Biden: I have a young mentality.
TRUMP: He should have had a drug test.
It may seem like a joke, but it's a conversation that took place during a presidential debate in the United States.
At 9 p.m. EST on June 27, in Atlanta, Georgia, the two 2024 presidential candidates, Biden and Trump, held their first televised debate.
The last time these two "old men" appeared on the same stage was four years ago; Shortly thereafter, Trump lost the election, but he refused to accept defeat and prepared for his next election in the White House.
Back in November 2022, Trump began campaigning, earlier than any major candidate in modern American history.
Trump is ready to make a comeback, and he clearly has a greater advantage than his opponent, Biden.
Trump and Biden did not shake hands with each other when they took office after the televised debate began. Biden entered first, and Trump didn't even glance in Biden's direction after standing on the podium, as if he had a mentality that even if I lost.
At the end of the 90-minute debate, Biden's performance was disastrous, and it was, as a poll conducted by CNN immediately after the debate showed that Trump won the debate with 67 percent to 33 percent.
Unlike previous years' debates, in order to ensure the smooth running of the debates, the organizer CNN also formulated some new rules:
- The debate is 90 minutes long, with two ad breaks.
- Trump and Biden can't talk to their staffs during breaks.
- The microphone will be muted throughout the debate, except when it is the candidate's turn to speak.
- Props and cheat sheets are not allowed, but pen and paper and some water will be provided for both candidates.
- There are no studio audiences.
- Toss a coin to decide which side of the TV screen they are on and who speaks last.
Judging from these rules, there is a great deal of attention to the ability of the two candidates to speak on the spot, which is obviously not Biden's strong point, and from the actual performance, Biden's performance is indeed "disastrous".
For us, one of the most important issues in this debate is the mainland, but in the first debate, the two sides did not engage much on this issue.
It's more about the fentanyl collaboration and the opioid crisis in the U.S., where Trump criticized us.
What's even more interesting is the confrontation between the two sides, with verbal swords.
For example, Trump slammed Biden's military strategy as "crazy" and claimed that many countries are not afraid or disrespectful of Biden, adding, "Biden will push us into World War III." ”
In addition, Trump also attacked Biden as being bribed by us, but there is obviously no evidence for this.
This debate is less like a formal rational debate, it is sometimes more like a mutual accusation and complaint, or even a personal attack, between two old urchins.
When it comes to trade, Trump said that the current U.S. trade deficit with China is the largest in history, and Biden refuted this claim, saying that the U.S. trade deficit with China is the lowest since 2010, and in turn blamed Trump for failing to make any progress on trade during his presidency.
And what are the facts? Apparently Biden is a little more right.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. trade deficit with China was $279 billion last year, the lowest since 2010 and lower than the record of $418 billion set in 2018 when Trump was president.
Figured it out, in this televised debate, both U.S. presidential candidates worked hard to show a tough stance on the mainland, such as threatening to increase tariffs and appealing to voters who want to protect American jobs.
Another important issue is age, whether these two 80-year-olds can be qualified for this job, which is also a topic of great concern to Americans.
Biden was asked about his age and the fact that he would be 86 at the end of his second term once re-elected, and Biden is also the oldest inaugurated president in U.S. history.
Biden responded by saying that he had been often criticized as one of the youngest lawmakers in the United States, while Mr. Trump was three years younger and much less capable.
Mr. Trump has not escaped the issue of age, but Mr. Trump's response was more convincing, with Mr. Trump saying he passed two cognitive tests and then began attacking Mr. Biden.
At one point, the debate turned into a game of golf, with both men comparing athletic records, which was laughable.
"He [Biden] can't do it, he can't play 50-yard ball, and I feel like I'm in the same good shape as I was 25 or 30 years ago," Trump said. In fact, I weigh a little less. ”
Compared to Mr. Trump's aggressiveness, Mr. Biden's voice was hoarse throughout, and officials on his campaign team said Mr. Biden was hoarse because he had caught a cold in the past few days.
All of this makes Biden look weaker and more "weak".
Prowf, a Democratic strategist who planned the Obama campaign in 2008, told the media that Trump and Biden look "30 years apart," but in fact, Biden is 81 years old and Trump is 78 years old.
Then there are the internal economic problems of the United States.
Biden said Trump left him a country with a collapsed economy and rising unemployment; Trump responded that when he was in office, the United States had the greatest economy, and Trump said that Biden did not inherit inflation when he took office, and now inflation is killing us.
And so it is.
When Biden took office in January 2021, inflation in the United States was only 1.4%.
During the first two years of Biden's administration, inflation in the United States rose sharply, peaking at 9.1% in the year to June 2022. The main reasons are the global supply chain problems caused by the coronavirus and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as the results of the discovery of gold in the United States during the coronavirus.
Since then, inflation in the United States has steadily declined, reaching 3.3% in May this year.
Overall, since Biden took office in January 2021, prices in the United States have risen by about 20%, which is very scary.
In the first 15 minutes of the debate, Trump repeatedly emphasized the point that the United States is no longer respected by other countries.
Trump also referred to Biden's son's recent criminal conviction and suggested that President Biden should also be convicted of a felony "once out of office" for his "horrific" behavior as president.
Mr. Trump, 78, has been more comfortable in the debates, appearing confident despite one unfactual lie after another, while avoiding the overly domineering manners that undermined Mr. Biden in his first debate with Mr. Biden in 2020.
Before the debate ended, Andrew Yang, who had competed with Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2020, wrote on social media, "Guys, the Democratic Party should nominate someone else while it's still too late." ”
After this debate, public opinion generally did not have a friendly evaluation of Biden, not only because of his hoarse voice, but more importantly, Biden's incoherent sentences many times did not make any sense.
Deutsche Welle's chief correspondent in Washington, Pohl, said: "There is nothing to sugar: this debate is a disaster for Biden. Biden's main goal tonight was to prove that he was fit for the task, but he failed. ”
And Trump is undoubtedly doing better.
Unlike the first debate with Biden in 2020, Trump didn't keep interrupting his opponents, and the least president-like behavior of the night came from Biden, who made fun of Trump's weight.
In the wake of the debate, there has been growing discussion about whether the Democrats could still nominate another candidate for president before or during the Democratic National Convention in August.
For Biden, the debate may have foreshadowed his defeat to Trump in the November election.
end.
Author: Luo sir, concerned about the economy, society and everything in our world, curious about the logic behind the development of things, optimistic pessimist.