ATLANTA - US President Joe Biden stumbled through early exchanges in June 27’s (June 28 morning in Singapore) presidential debate, a performance that risks exacerbating concerns about his age and intensifying Democratic worries about their candidate’s ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November’s election.
Mr Biden paused notably and appeared to freeze during one answer on abortion and tripped up in other responses, misstating numbers such as the amount of jobs created under his administration and the caps for out-of-pocket drug costs he implemented.
The shaky performance threatens to undercut Mr Biden’s campaign, fueling Republican attacks that at 81, the oldest president in US history, is not fit to serve another four year term. Trump capitalised on Mr Biden’s missteps, swiping at his opponent during an exchange on immigration.
“I really don’t know what he said on this, and I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump said.
Mr Biden is fighting a cold, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump’s performance was not without missteps of his own. Asked about Americans struggling with opioid addiction, the former president talked about immigration and Russia’s detention of a Wall Street Journal reporter. He falsely claimed credit for a cap on Medicare insulin prices, claimed Jan 6 rioters were invited into the Capitol by police, and was forced to claim he never had sex with a porn star – a central element of his hush money trial. He also repeatedly and awkwardly sidestepped questions about if he would respect the results of the election.
Later in the debate when asked about age concerns, Mr Biden retorted: “This guy’s three years younger and a lot less competent.”
“Look at the record. Look at what I’ve done,” he added.
But Mr Biden meandered through a scripted swipe on Trump’s previous exaggerated claims about his height and weight, and fell into an extended and muddled discussion of his golf handicap.
“Let’s not act like children,” Trump retorted.
Economic Sparring
The candidates opened their first presidential debate sparring over the economy, with each blaming the other for the rising cost of groceries and housing.
Voters have rated the economy as one of the defining issues of the campaign. Polls show voters skeptical of Mr Biden’s record despite solid job growth and investments in manufacturing and infrastructure as historically high inflation has wreaked havoc on US households.
“We had an economy that was in freefall. The pandemic was so badly handled,” Mr Biden said, pointing the finger at the former president’s record. “What we had to do was try to put things back together again, and that’s exactly what we began to do.”
Trump defended his tax cuts, set to expire next year, saying they paved the way for a stock market boom.
“I gave you the largest tax cut in history. I also gave you the largest regulation cut in history,” Trump said.
The dollar pushed higher against major peers as the candidates traded barbs, with the Mexican peso and Japanese yen among global currencies weakening. Bloomberg’s gauge of the greenback climbed to fresh highs for the year.
“Currencies are reacting to the US presidential debate,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist Carol Kong. “Judging by the reactions so far, markets think President Trump is ‘winning’ the debate. But its still early to make the conclusion.”
During the exchange on the economy, Mr Biden said 15,000 jobs were created during his presidency, instead of 15 million, that some seniors now have a US$200 (S$272) annual cap on out-of-pocket drug prices, instead of US$2,000, and incorrectly said some wealthy Americans were trillionaires.
“He’s not equipped to be president. You know it and I know it,” Trump said during the debate.
Legal Woes
Midway through the debate, Mr Biden began to hit Trump over his legal troubles, an unprecedented situation in a US election. Trump is the first former president convicted of a felony and faces three more criminal indictments.
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said, accusing his rival 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,” said Mr Biden.
Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury for falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to an adult film star and awaits sentencing.
Mr Biden directly cited Trump’s hush-money payment to the actress, Stormy Daniels, accusing the former president of “having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant.”
“I didn’t have sex with a porn star,” Trump replied.
Trump also hit back at Mr Biden for bringing up his conviction by noting that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, is also guilty of a felony, in his case for illegally obtaining a firearm while addicted to drugs. Trump went on to say without providing any evidence that Mr Biden himself would face prosecution.
Abortion Restrictions
Later in the debate, the two sparred over abortion, with Mr Biden calling Trump’s role in the wave of restrictions over the procedure a “terrible thing.” Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe versus Wade’s federal abortion protections.
Trump said the court’s ruling had just left the issue of abortion up to voters in the states.
Mr Biden found his footing later when discussing veterans’ care, attacking Trump for reported remarks calling fallen US soldiers “suckers” and “losers”.
“He was standing with his four-star general, and he told me you said, I don’t want to go in there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers. My son was not a loser. Was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser,” Mr Biden said, referencing his late son Beau Biden who died of cancer and served in the military.
Trump fired back, denying the quote and saying Mr Biden should apologise to him.
Mr Biden scoffed at that, saying he’s “done more for veterans than any president has in American history.”
Trump described Mr Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan as the “most embarrassing moment in the history of our country” and said it encouraged Russia to invade Ukraine.
He laid the blame for the Ukraine war at Mr Biden’s feet, insisting that the invasion never would have happened “if we had a leader.”
“This is a war that never should have started. If we had a leader in this war... He’s given US$200 billion now or more to Ukraine, he’s given $200 billion. That’s a lot of money. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like it,” Trump said.
Israel-Hamas War
During a discussion of Israel’s war against Hamas, Mr Biden walked a tightrope. The president sought to both stress his support for Israel in the wake of the deadly Oct 7 attack by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, and his push for more restraint in Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Israel’s campaign there to root out Hamas has sparked a humanitarian crisis and divided Democrats, unleashing criticism over Mr Biden’s handling of the war from young voters and progressives, key parts of the party’s electoral coalition.
Hamas cannot be allowed to continue, Mr Biden said.
Trump said Israel should be allowed to “finish the job.” He also struck a more isolationist note on foreign policy, urging Biden to demand that NATO allies in Europe contribute more for defense.
“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, he’s a weak one,” Trump said.
Mr Biden responded: “I’ve never heard so much foolishness.” AFP, BLOOMBERG
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2024-06-28 01:21:49Z
CBMiYmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnN0cmFpdHN0aW1lcy5jb20vd29ybGQvdW5pdGVkLXN0YXRlcy9iaWRlbi10cnVtcC10YWtlLXN0YWdlLWZvci11cy1wcmVzaWRlbnRpYWwtZGViYXRl0gEA
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