Team Blitz India
WASHINGTON: The first debate of the presidential race between Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden and his Republican Party rival Donald Trump was billed to be a historic encounter. And the verdict – gauged from reactions across the country and abroad – ranged from a bad day for the incumbent to a disaster for him and his ruling party.
A poll by CNN, the host of the first of three presidential debates, said 67 per cent of watchers thought Trump had won. During the debate both Biden and Trump exchanged strong personal remarks against each other on immigration, foreign policy and abortion issues, but neither outlined new policies. A widely held view is that Biden’s performance was in complete contrast to the one during the 2020 debate when he outperformed Trump.
Trump was characteristically brash and bombastic, spouting outrageous falsehoods about his own presidency and his role in the January 2021 mob attack. He called Biden a “Manchurian candidate” who was “being paid by China” and said the whole country is exploding because of him.
Shaky and raspy
According to media reports, Biden was seen to be shaky and raspy in most part of the 90-minute debate. He also shuffled and stalled while answering questions and even went blank a couple of times. But he picked up steam later and attacked his rival aggressively. Observers pointed out that Biden became too personal on a few occasions, even to the embarrassment of his followers. He alleged that Trump had described soldiers who died in the Normandy landing as “suckers”.
Trump denied the remarks and repeatedly accused Biden of not being coherent. When Trump was asked if he would accept the results of the election, he said, “If it’s a fair, and legal, and good election, absolutely.” Referring to the case of hush money payment to a porn actor by Trump, Biden said, “The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I am looking at right now.”
Biden is also accused of missing numerous opportunities to fact-check Trump’s outrageous claims. Speaking with reporters afterward, Biden indicated that he had been battling a cold, indicating a reason for his below par performance.
No replacement
Soon after debate there were whispers in the Democratic Party if it was too late to replace their candidate, but devoted followers of Biden ruled it out. New York Times reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, one of those mentioned along with Kamala Harris as a possible replacement for Biden, brushed off talk about switching candidates. “I would never turn my back on President Biden’s record,” he told reporters.
