Donald Trump and Joe Biden locked horns at the first 2024 presidential debate Thursday night in Atlanta, Georgia — and, by most measures, the Republican nominee won … or maybe more accurately … the current President lost.
During the tense, 90-minute contest, the two candidates stood onstage at podiums fielding questions from CNN hosts Dana Bash and Jake Tapper at the network’s Techwood Turner campus studio.
Right from the start, Biden came out of the gates struggling to answer a question on inflation with his hoarse voice barely audible as he gave a rambling response. His camp later told the press that Joe was sick with a cold.
At other times during the debate, the 46th president stood frozen with a blank look on his face. He also jumbled his words, saying at one point there were a thousand trillionaires instead of billionaires, but he quickly corrected himself.
Perhaps the most embarrassing moment came when Biden was talking about health care and completely lost his train of thought. He looked down and stopped speaking altogether before Tapper moved on to Trump.
But it wasn’t all bad news for Biden, who landed a few zingers, labeling Trump a convicted felon after he was found guilty in his Manhattan hush money case.
Biden also accused Trump of sleeping with porn star Stormy Daniels while his wife was pregnant. Trump denied having sex with Daniels.
Biden slammed Trump for his actions on January 6th and for allegedly calling soldiers who died in combat “suckers and losers.”
As for the 45th president, Trump had a solid night in terms of style, steam rolling over Biden with his bravado. Throughout the debate, Trump was uncharacteristically controlled emotionally – never once blowing up.
Of course, Trump lied quite a bit, falsely claiming Democrats want abortion up until and after birth. He also misrepresented what happened on January 6th, stating that a small number of people attacked The Capitol and were escorted inside by police. According to fact checkers, there were many other instances where Trump lied or told half-truths.
After all was said and done, most TV pundits and Americans as a whole felt that Trump ran away with the victory and Joe crashed and burned, mainly because of his old age and mental acuity.
In fact, MSNBC and CNN anchors said that while on air they were receiving panicked text messages from Democratic party leaders who were alarmed by Joe’s terrible performance.
The biggest issue that looms … lots of high-ranking Dems are convinced Americans now don’t have confidence Biden is up to taking on a second term, and there’s now talk about who will approach Biden to step aside.
Among those waiting in the wings … Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro.
Stay tuned.
