Key moments from Presidential debate: Biden's stumbles, Trump on Zelensky

Donald Trump called Zelensky a 'great salesman' as Joe Biden struggled with verbal stumbles, a raspy voice, and a halting delivery while defending his policies and criticising Trump

During the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, US President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, engaged in a heated exchange. Without an audience and skipping the customary handshake, the candidates stood a few feet apart at their podiums, setting the stage for a tense showdown.

Biden, who fielded the first question, addressed the rise in inflation since his administration began, attributing it to the conditions inherited from Trump amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. His initial response was marked by a hoarse voice and throat-clearing, while Trump looked on with a smirk.

In the early part of the debate, Biden experienced several verbal stumbles. He struggled with a raspy voice and a halting delivery while attempting to defend his economic policies and critique Trump. The 81-year-old appeared to lose his train of thought when discussing the national debt, mistakenly referring to “billionaires” as “trillionaires” before correcting himself. He also had a prolonged pause during his argument for higher taxes on the wealthy, ending his thought incoherently.

 

Accusations of economic ‘free fall’

However, President Biden was quick to criticise Trump’s economic record, stating, “Donald Trump left me an economy that was in free fall.” He also condemned Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying, “He said things were fine during the pandemic—just inject a little bleach in your arm. I turned our country around.”

Biden further criticised Trump by pointing out job losses during Trump’s administration, stating, “Donald Trump is the only president besides Herbert Hoover who left office with fewer jobs than when he began. Donald Trump had the largest national debt of any US president over a four-year period.”

Withdrawal from Afghanistan and other foreign policy blunders

The debate became more intense on matters of foreign policy, particularly the US’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump criticised Biden’s handling of the withdrawal, calling it “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.” He said, “I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power.”

Biden countered, saying, “When he was president, they were still killing people in Afghanistan. He didn’t do anything about that.” 

He also referenced a controversial moment from Trump’s presidency, where Trump allegedly called fallen US soldiers “losers and suckers”, and invoked the memory of his late son Beau, who served in Iraq and later died of cancer. “My son was not a loser and not a sucker,” Biden said. “You’re the sucker. You’re the loser,” he added, addressing Trump. Trump denied ever making the statement, calling it fabricated.

The long-pressing issue of ‘immigrants’

Immigration was another contentious topic. Biden accused Trump of spreading falsehoods about the state of the country’s immigration crisis. “The idea that illegal immigrants are being welcomed in the United States is simply not true,” Biden asserted. “There’s no data to support what he said. Once again, he’s exaggerating. He’s lying.”

Trump retorted by claiming that Biden had failed to secure the southern US border, allegedly allowing scores of criminals into the country. “I call it Biden migrant crime,” Trump declared.

Abortion rights sparring gets heated

The debate took a heated turn when Biden criticised Trump for supporting an abortion ban, calling Trump’s actions “a terrible thing” after the Republican touted his nomination of Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. “It has been a terrible thing, what you have done,” Biden stated emphatically.

Trump defended his stance, arguing that returning the issue to the states was the correct approach and accusing Biden of not supporting any limits on abortions. Biden, highlighting the plight of rape victims facing obstacles in accessing abortion services, said, “It’s just ridiculous, and they can do nothing about it. You have the morals of an alley cat.”

From Putin - a war criminal to Zelensky - a great salesman

The Presidential candidates sharply differed in their views on the war in Ukraine. Biden labelled Vladimir Putin a war criminal who would extend the conflict to neighbouring NATO states like Poland. Trump, however, referred to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as “the world’s greatest salesman.”

Trump also denied responsibility for the January 6 insurrection, instead claiming that the then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was to blame for rejecting National Guard troops — one of the several dubious assertions made by the former US President.