In a heated discussion with Donald Trump that featured accusations about his personal life, Joe Biden found it difficult to alleviate fears that he is too elderly to serve a second term as president on Thursday.
A blustery Trump unleashed a tirade at his successor, branding him an economic and global failure.
the US president attempted to respond, but his delivery was stuttering as he talked quickly in a scratchy, trailing voice, stammering while staring blankly.
After spending the previous week in seclusion preparing, his performance aroused fresh worries inside his Democratic Party, since polls indicate that Trump is either tied or leading in the November election.
In what was the first-ever presidential debate, the two men accused one another of being the worst presidents in history.
As they battled over their golf strokes, Trump and Biden—who were both the oldest presidents when they were first elected—even called each other infantile.
At CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, did not exchange handshakes en route to their podiums.
Their microphones were muted while the other speaker spoke, and there was no live audience.
Claiming to be sick, the US president struck at Trump with well-practiced phrases, trying to remind the millions of TV viewers that Trump would be the first convicted felon to hold the presidency.
“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden said.
Speaking forcefully, Trump—a seasoned speaker from live events and reality TV—ran through a lengthy list of grievances with Biden’s record.
Trump sought to seize on the US president’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.”
Kamala Harris, the vice president, resorted to damage control. While praising Biden’s “extraordinarily strong” record, Harris raised reservations about his debate in a live CNN interview.
“Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish,” Harris said.
Former Biden communications director Kate Bedingfield claimed on CNN that the president’s evening was “really disappointing.”
“I don’t think there is any other way to slice it,” she said.
According to a CNN poll, 67 percent of those who saw the debate thought Trump won.
Democrats are likely to formally nominate Biden as their candidate in Chicago in August, with little room for change unless the president withdraws.
Biden has sought to dispute Trump’s claims that he is insufficiently aggressive for the position.
However, Julian Zelizer, a historian at Princeton University, believes Biden’s fans will be “extremely concerned.”
