The first-ever televised election debate between a current and former US president led, according to some, to a real political earthquake, but in fact the way it unfolded was foretold, and the surprise in political circles from the unconvincing performance of the additionally hoarse head of state was largely overplayed and dramatized, writes BTA.
During the 90-minute television spectacle, former President Donald Trump was confident, even when he was telling untruths, and current President Joe Biden hesitated, even when the facts were on his side, summarizes an analysis by the Associated Press.
According to a CNN survey, the majority of voters who watched the verbal skirmish Biden-Trump, were not affected by the performance of the two contenders for the White House. 81 percent of registered voters did not change their decision for whom they would vote, and only 14 percent admitted that the debate made them think twice, but nevertheless did not change their opinion. Only 5 percent reported that they changed their preferences.
The poll found that the debate lowered Biden's rating from 37% to 31%, while Trump increased his approval rating from 41 to 43 percent. 48 percent of television viewers reported Trump's superiority, and 23 percent believed that Biden would do a better job of governing the country. Significantly, 22 percent, or one in five, were dissatisfied with both candidates. These results indicate that viewers did not see anything surprising or different from what Biden and Trump have shown them so far.
However, after the debate, leading Democrats said that "it's still too early." And that one debate will not necessarily swing the pendulum in the opposite direction, the AP commented. "Judge him (Biden) by what he has done so far and what he intends to do, not by the way he says things." However, there were also viewers who felt disappointed. "Biden just lacked the spark he needed," said Maine Democrat Rosemary DeAngelis. She said Trump showed "more drive and energy," even though he told a bunch of lies.
Lynn Miller, a fellow Republican from the same region, told the AP that it looked like someone had given Trump the cognitive enhancer Adderall, but Biden had not.
"I've never seen Trump in that condition," Miller said. "And I hate to say it, but Joe seemed a little carried away." "But I support him anyway because Trump lies about everything," she added.
Another active viewer, quoted by the AP, said that the Republican's answers were insightful but unsatisfactory.
“I want to hear Joe Biden speak to the voters and ignore the crazy guy in the room“, said Matthew Wilson – vice chairman of the Democratic Party in Georgia. But the man whom Democrats call crazy was not ignored at all during the debate, reports the AP.
As an analyst in the British newspaper “The Guardian“ notes, the debate was more shocking than expected, “Trump lied shamelessly and Biden babbled incoherently“. This was not a debate, but a farce, notes the London daily.
The publication “Politico“ believes that Biden's performance was so unsatisfactory that no one delved into Trump's lies.
In fact, however, the television theater - which the debate, organized in a studio and according to rules imposed by the current president's team, turned into - showed nothing that Americans did not already know about the two participants: as always, Trump had a hard time stopping, although he was more polished than usual, and Biden stuttered, this time with a hoarse voice. And this is nothing new, so it is not surprising.
In this spirit, each accused the other of being the worst president in US history, writes the French in “Le Monde“.
Slightly exaggerated in. “New York Post“ commented that millions of viewers witnessed the end of Biden's political career. According to the author of the publication, the debate turned into a political earthquake of biblical proportions.
On the other hand, however, the organization of the event by Biden's team - without an audience, without permission to use written notes and with the microphone turned off for the participant who currently has no voice so that he cannot apostrophize his opponent, may not be so short-sighted, given the fact that the vote is not until November.
As MSNBC notes, “there was one thing he (Biden) had to accomplish. And that was to convince America that at his age he was up to the presidency. But he did it“.
Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens points out that Biden is not a TV talk show host, but a “workhorse“, but nevertheless “the debate changed the trajectory of the race“.
As political analyst Amy Walter summarizes, it should be noted that Trump did not win the debate so much as Biden lost it. And she does not think that the debate will influence those who have not yet decided who to vote for.
In practice, the rules for the debate prepared by his opponent's team gave Trump the opportunity to present his favorite points without interruption, while Biden “woke up“ only in the 20th minute. The problem is that Biden's hesitant answers will now be circulated on social media in the same way that manipulated videos have been circulating to show how weak the head of state is. But this is also nothing new in the election campaign.
The AP summarizes that Trump behaved like he was at a campaign rally, saying whatever he wanted without worrying about whether it had anything to do with the truth. And that was really unfortunate, the agency concludes.
Black voter mobilization activist Adrian Shropshire says that in her opinion, viewers witnessed the superiority of one of the participants. But she adds that "they just saw the same unrestrained Trump that they see at every rally and in videos on social media". Nothing new.
Other Democrats point out that Biden was unprepared to effectively counter Trump, who "lies constantly."
After the debate, Biden said, quoted by the White House, that "it's hard to argue with a liar" and complained about his sore throat. It caused his hoarse voice, which seemed to be a truly unpredictable element of his performance.
Biden even referred to the New York Times article that Trump lied 26 times in 90 minutes.
Overall, the two contenders traded blows on a number of topics - from the economy and inflation to immigration and security on the southern border, abortion, climate change, the storming of the Capitol and armed conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
Biden's supporters want to believe, at least publicly, that by November Americans will have forgotten his poor performance in this “angry confrontation“, to unite, as Biden's campaign manager Jen O‘Mally Dillon said “around the Democrat's positive and victorious vision“ for the future, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
In any case, during the debate, which was also likened to a fight without boxing gloves, both Trump and Biden remained true to themselves. This is also not a surprise.
NBC quoted an unnamed political analyst who compared Biden's performance to "collective suicide" by the Democrats and called the debate a "nail in the political coffin" for the incumbent president.
After the debate, there was talk among Democrats about the possibility of replacing presidential candidate Biden while there is still time. Because even if you remove the nail from his reputation, the hole in the political coffin remains. Apparently, these are people who officially claim to be surprised by the behavior of the head of state in the debate.
Back in late May, the Democratic National Committee announced that it intended to nominate Biden as its presidential candidate before the national convention in Chicago in August.
Furthermore, Biden has not made the slightest hint that he intends to abandon the nomination. There is no discussion of President Biden withdrawing his re-election bid and he plans to participate in the debate against Republican Trump in September, the current president's campaign spokesman said last night, quoted by Reuters.
"I would not run again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high", Biden later said at a campaign event.
Less than a day after the debate, however, the editorial board of the American newspaper "The New York Times" called on the 81-year-old Biden to withdraw from the race, even though he had been "an admirable president", because he appeared at the debate like "the shadow of a great public servant" and would be taking a "reckless gamble" if he continued his campaign.
"There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr. Trump's shortcomings and those of Mr. Biden," the liberal publication wrote. "It is too big a gamble simply to hope that Americans will ignore or downplay Mr. Biden's age and frailty, which they see with their own eyes," it added.
"Joe Biden is a good man and a good president, but he doesn't have to run for re-election," concludes New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
At the same time, Reuters reported that Biden's campaign said that between 11 p.m. and midnight, an hour after the end of the televised debates, the CNN studio in Atlanta, Georgia, collected the most donations since the start of the current president's campaign in April this year.