President Joe Biden’s team requested this debate.
They thought it was going to be the moment the 81-year-old showed voters he was fit to lead the country for another four years and that he was the man to beat Donald Trump.
That failed.
From the moment President Biden and former president Trump walked on stage, the contrast was stark.
Biden took small steps, slowly and stiffly.
Trump strode, with confidence.
And it went downhill from there.
Within the first few minutes, President Biden stumbled through an answer on the economy and healthcare – something he could have won points on.
He became confused between Medicaid and Covid, lost his train of thought, stopped and then blurted out “we finally beat Medicare,”
Donald Trump pounced.
“He was right. He did beat Medicaid, beaten to death and is destroying Medicare,” he said.
Later, Trump twisted the knife after Biden had delivered another largely incoherent remark.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either,” Trump said.
The two sparred over their records on the economy, migration, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and even who was better at golf.
Trump paid fast and loose with the truth but Biden wasn’t quick or clear enough in his retorts.
One of the only times Biden seemed to get his own back on Trump was when he raised the former president’s recent conviction.
“The crimes that you are still charged with … and think of all the civil penalties you have. How many billions of dollars do you want with civil penalties for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night while your wife was pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about?
“You have the morals of an alley cat” he said in what was clearly a prepared comment.
But instead of delivering a killer blow, it teed up a flat denial from Trump.
“I didn’t have sex with a porn star”, he said.
Read More:
Biden and Trump trade personal insults in first US presidential debate
Stumbles and mistruths: 5 takeaways of Biden-Trump debate
Biden v Trump: What they said
Fact check: The first 2024 US presidential debate
On reproductive rights – something of fundamental importance to Democratic voters – Biden failed to push back on Trump’s claims that Democrats support abortion “after birth”.
This should have been low-hanging fruit for Biden, but he didn’t grasp it.
Trump appeared relaxed and chummy with the CNN presenters, often addressing Jake Tapper and Dana Bash by their first names.
Biden on the other hand, often looked lost.
Panic spread among democratic strategists within the first half an hour of the debate while Republicans were claiming victory.
There are serious questions this morning over Joe Biden’s future as the Democratic presidential candidate.
But a switch at this point would mean him having to step aside voluntarily.
And given his determination to beat Trump again, he might not be willing to do that, regardless of what his team tells him.
