Donald Trump, Joe Biden to go head-to-head in first debate of 2024 US presidential campaign

Donald Trump launched a barrage of attacks against Joe Biden in a hilarious preview of the highly anticipated US presidential election debate. Watch the video.

Donald Trump slammed Joe Biden as boring and a threat to the “survival and existence” of the United States in a preview of the pair’s highly anticipated 2024 election debate.

Hours before the current and former president were due to face off in the first head-to-head clash of the campaign, Trump took to Truth Social to preview two major lines of attack expected to be deployed on the CNN debate stage.

“JOE BIDEN IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, AND A THREAT TO THE SURVIVAL AND EXISTENCE OF OUR COUNTRY ITSELF!!!” Trump posted to social media.

In a follow-up post, Trump targeted the octogenarian’s low-energy presidency with a mock advertisement for “Bidenica” sleep medication

“If you’re having trouble sleeping, ask your doctor about Bidenica: the sleep aid made from 100 per cent Joe Biden press conference,” the video says.

As “patients” in the sketch doze off to sleep, the narrator continues: “Patented blend of confusion and forgetfulness that will calm the most overactive brains”.

The piece ends with the liability disclaimer that side effects include “rampant lying and an inability to secure the southern border”, and urges further medical attention if patients start speaking “gibberish, become disorientated or start thinking you are president”.

The video is a sketch from Fox News host Jimmy Failla that was originally released in March.

Biden parried with a video showing footage of the 2021 US Capitol riot followed by Trump telling supporters to “fight like hell.

Michigan Sheriff Chris Swanson argued in the video that Trump did not stop the riot and performed “neglect of duty.”

“I have no desire to work with somebody who divides,” Swanson said. “That’s not what America is. But I’ll work with anybody who unites. That’s why I’m with President Joe Biden.”

Donald Trump told insurrectionists to “fight like hell” on January 6 and stood by as they attacked law enforcement.

Sheriff Swanson is right—it’s neglect of duty. pic.twitter.com/zYPPoW9yQ2

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 26, 2024

TRUMP BIDEN TO CLASH IN DEBATE

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are ready to rumble in the first head-to-head debate of the United State’s 2024 presidential campaign.

The current and former president will make history in a rematch unseen in recent memory; with the debate rule book overturned and each candidate facing serious challenges in the lead-up to the November election.

Against the odds, Mr Trump has waded through a felony conviction and three other criminal and civil cases to reach the debate stage as the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party. Mr Biden, meanwhile, has fended off sustained pressure to prove himself a viable candidate despite questions over his age and acuity.

Donald Trump will go head-to-head with Joe Biden at 11am AEST on Friday. Picture: AFP

The debate almost didn’t happen. It wasn’t until Mr Trump famously challenged Mr Biden to face him “any place, any time”. As a result, the showdown at 11am AEST on Friday will be the first since 1988 not run by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Instead, the location, moderators, and rules have been chosen directly by the campaigns and CNN, the network hosting and broadcasting the debate, which will be simulcast in Australia on Sky News.

Changes to the format, which commentators widely view as favourable to Biden, include no live audience and the muting of microphones while the other candidate is speaking.

There will be no opening statement, but the final closing statement will be made by Mr Trump after winning a coin toss.

The Biden campaign dismissed calls to drug test both candidates as “frankly silly” after Mr Trump demanded the president be screened for performance-enhancing substances.

“I mean, I don’t even really know what to say about that. I worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign. She had also debated him very effectively. He accused her of being on drugs,” said spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod.

Signage for the presidential debate is seen outside the CNN studios in Atlanta. Picture: Getty Images

Ms Clinton, the former US Secretary of State, debated both former President Trump, in 2016, and President Biden in 2007, during the Democratic primaries. She lost both subsequent elections.

In previewing how each candidate will approach the debate, Ms Clinton said to expect “a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies”.

“It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather,” she wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

“If he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential.”

Her political party colleague, meanwhile, “has facts and truth on his side” but is disadvantaged by a precedent of poor first debate performances by the incumbent president.

But Biden will win if his “story comes through” on his stewardship of the Covid lockdowns, inflation, and climate change.

In campaign prep, the Biden team has been drilling on Trump’s time in the White House and recent comments on abortion and immigration, as well as stoking fears that the former president would become a dictator on “day one”.

Trump, meanwhile, will parry that his felony convictions are an example of political persecution at the hands of Mr Biden’s Department of Justice.

Trump is also expected to highlight Biden’s record on the economy, inflation and foreign policy; from the withdrawal from Afghanistan to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Online bookies are offering prop bets on everything from what issues will be raised to the colour of the candidate’s ties.

BetOnline.ag has odds for the number of “non-facts” raised, with the over/under for Mr Trump at 15.5 while Mr Biden’s is 9.5. Biden is odds on favourite for a long pause of 4.5 seconds, while Trump will likely be first scolded by moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

The unusually early timing of the debate has led to unverified speculation that Biden could be replaced as a candidate if he has a disastrous performance against Trump, who the bookies say is the odds-on favourite to win the first matchup.

There will be almost two months between the first debate and when the Democratic Party officially nominates its presidential candidate at its National Convention between August 19 to 20.

The second, and final, debate will be held on September 10.

Originally published as Donald Trump, Joe Biden to go head-to-head in first debate of 2024 US presidential campaign