Joe Biden ally says President’s debate performance was ‘painful’
A former Special Advisor to Barack Obama and staunch Democrat has conceded that the party was “in pain” after Joe Biden’s performance in the debate.
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Joe Biden and Donald Trump have met for their first debate ahead of America’s presidential election in November – and the incumbent’s often feeble performance has reportedly sparked a “sense of panic” inside his own party.
Despite the “shock” in some parts of the Democratic Party at his performance Mr Biden said he “did well”.
But according to a CNN flash poll, taken straight after the debate, 67 per cent of registered voters said Mr Trump had won the debate. Prior to the debate, 55 per cent of the voters expected Mr Trump to prevail.
Yet the poll also showed little enthusiasm for either man to run America. Yet here Mr Trump is now doing better. Of those surveyed, 36 per cent have confidence in Mr Trump’s ability to lead to Mr Biden’s 14 per cent.
Intriguingly, just 5 per cent of those polled said the debate would change their voting intention.
Mr Biden and Mr Trump clashed repeatedly, and often in deeply personal terms, during the CNN-hosted debate in Atlanta, Georgia.
The President entered the contest with his approval ratings already low, and questions swirling about his mental faculties.
He did little to allay those concerns by waving to an empty room when he took the stage – there was no audience – and things got worse for him from there.
Read on to see how the debate unfolded.
‘That was painful’
A former Special Advisor to Barack Obama and staunch Democrat Van Jones has conceded Joe Biden is too old to be running for president again, claiming the 81-year-old’s performance in the debate was “painful”.
Speaking on CNN, Van Jones said Mr Biden lost the debate within the first three minutes.
“That was painful. I love Joe Biden, I worked with Joe Biden, he didn’t do well at all, he did not do well at all,” he said, adding that the party still had time to figure out their battle plan for the election.
“He had a test tonight to restore the confidence of the country, of the base and he failed.
“There is time for this party to figure out a different way forward, if he will allow us to do that, but that was not what we needed from Joe Biden and is personally painful for a lot of people.
“It’s not just panic, it’s pain of what we saw tonight.”
Biden ‘We did well’
Mr Biden reckons he performed OK, despite the views of commentators.
“I think we did well,” he told reporter at an Atlanta Waffle House restaurant which he visited on the way to the airport.
He added that it was “hard to debate a liar,” and that he had a sore throat.
Vice President Kamala Harris immediately went into bat for her President.
“Yes there was a slow start but it was a strong finish,” she said on CNN.
“People can debate on style points, but ultimately, this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance and the contrast is clear”.
She said the Biden she works with “is someone who has performed in a way that has been about bringing people into the Oval Office — Republicans and Democrats — to compromise in a way that is extraordinary these days because it just doesn’t happen, but Joe Biden can make it happen”.
‘DEFCON 1 moment’ for Democrats
Another Democratic campaign veteran, David Plouffe, has sounded the alarm, describing the evening as a “DEFCON 1 moment”.
“The biggest thing in this election is voter’s concern, and it’s both swing voters and base voters, with his age, and those were compounded tonight,” Plouffe told MSNBC.
“So what the campaign’s going to do is try to run ads, Biden will go out tomorrow and the next day and be aggressive.
“The concern level is quite high. It reminds me of 2012 but in reverse. We had a narrow lead in battleground states, the race tightened, but we were OK. Biden is behind narrowly right now, he’s the one who has to change the equation here, and the biggest barrier that’s keeping his ceiling too low is concerns about age.
“I think Trump had so many openings that you could have just scissored him up on tonight. And Biden did have a couple of good moments, but I think at the end of the day – it doesn’t matter what people like us say. It’s what voters say.
“It really pains me to say this: they’re three years apart. They seemed about 30 years apart tonight. And I think that’s going to be the thing voters really wrestle with.”
‘A sense of shock’: Panic over Biden’s performance
No prizes for guessing the biggest talking point after the debate: Joe Biden’s shaky performance, particularly at the very beginning, when the TV audience would have been at its highest.
David Axelrod, who was Barack Obama’s top political adviser during his presidency, reported on “a sense of shock” among Mr Biden’s fellow Democrats.
“Each candidate had a goal,” Axelrod said.
“For Biden, that goal was to be energetic, engaged, and to look like someone who is capable of serving for another four years. That was job number one.
“There is a feeling – I think there was a sense of shock, actually, at how he came out at the beginning of this debate. How his voice sounded. He seemed a little disoriented.
“He did get stronger as the debate went on, but by that time I think the panic had set in. And I think you’re going to hear discussions, that I’m not sure will lead to anything, but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.”
CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip and senior analyst John King both reported on exactly those sorts of rumblings among Democrats.
Phillip said there was concern from Mr Biden’s colleagues that “there has been some real damage done tonight that can’t be undone”.
“They were hoping that tonight could be a game changer,” reported Phillip.
“They are now seeing a president in the White House that they’re not sure can do this for another four years.”
Over on CBS News, the same signs of panic were being discussed.
“There are at least some House Democrats who were gathered tonight watching this together talking about talking to the White House about having him step down,” the network’s senior White House correspondent, Ed O’Keefe, reported.
“That’s how bad it was, in their view.”
One member of the House texted O’Keefe saying: “I have never seen a freakout like this.”
On MSNBC, former Bush administration official Nicolle Wallace said Democrats were wondering what had been “wrong” with Mr Biden.
“There are conversations happening inside Biden’s circle, and certainly a much more frank conversation inside the Democratic coalition,” said Wallace.
“I think conversations range from whether he should be in this race tomorrow morning to what was wrong with him.”
Wallace’s co-host Joy Reid said she was also on the phone “for most of the debate”.
“My phone really never stopped buzzing throughout. And the universal reaction was somewhere approaching panic,” Reid said.
“The people who were texting with me were very concerned about President Biden seeming extremely feeble, extremely weak.
“Biden had one primary job tonight. He had to settle his own party. He needed to settle Democrats … Joe Biden’s job was to reassure them, to calm them, to make them feel that, ‘Yes have four more years in me. I have the ability and the stamina to do four more.’
“He did not do that. He did the opposite. He made them more panicked.”
‘You’re a whiner’: Debate ends angrily
The golf tangent we spoke about below came in response to a question about the candidates’ advanced age – specifically Mr Biden’s.
The subsequent question, aimed at Mr Trump, was whether he would commit to accepting the result of the 2024 election (having refused to accept his defeat in 2020).
The moderators struggled to get a straight answer, and re-asked the question multiple times.
“If it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely,” Mr Trump eventually said.
“I would have much rather accepted (the 2020 result), but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous. And if you want, we’ll have a news conference on it in a week.”
Mr Trump launched dozens of court cases after his 2020 defeat, but failed to put forward any evidence of widespread fraud. The cases were all thrown out.
Mr Biden responded to Mr Trump’s answer with another personal attack.
“You’re a whiner. When you lost the first time, you appealed and appealed to courts all across the country. Not one single court in America said any of your claims had any merit – state or local – none,” he said.
“You continue to say this lie about somehow there’s all this misrepresentation, all this stealing. There is no evidence of that at all.
“I tell you what – I doubt whether you’ll accept it because you’re just a whiner. The idea that if you lose again – you can’t stand the loss. Something snapped in you last time you lost.”
That marked the end of the debate, aside from the candidates’ closing statements.
Trump, Biden go off on bizarre tangent
The moderators waited until the back end of the debate to bring up the obvious shadow looming over these two candidates: their age.
Mr Biden was first to be asked about voters’ concerns.
“First of all, I spent half of my career being criticised for being the youngest person in politics. I was the second-youngest person ever elected to the Senate. Now I’m the oldest,” Mr Biden said.
“This guy’s younger and a lot less competent. Look at the record. Look at what I’ve done. I’ve turned around the horrible situation he left me.”
He proceeded to talk about the computer chip industry.
Confronted with the same question, Mr Trump spoke about the cognitive tests he has taken.
“I aced them, both of them, as you know. We made it public,” Mr Trump said.
“I’d like to see him just take one, a real easy one. Go through the first five questions, he couldn’t do it. I took two cognitive tests. I took physical exams every year.
“I’m in very good health. I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships. To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards.
“He challenged me to a golf match. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. I think I’m in very good shape. I feel that I’m in as good a shape as I was 25-30 years ago.”
The candidates refused to stop talking about their respective golf games.
“Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him. I got my handicap when I was vice-president down to a six,” Mr Biden said.
“By the way, I told you before, I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?”
“That’s the biggest lie – that he’s a six handicap,” Mr Trump shot back.
“I’ve seen your swing. I know your swing.”
He underlined the segment by saying, perhaps belatedly: “Let’s not act like children.”
‘Won’t have a country anymore’
Donald Trump has told American voters they probably “won’t have a country left anymore” if Joe Biden wins re-election.
“Joe, our country is being destroyed as you and I sit up here and waste a lot of time on this debate,” Mr Trump said.
“This shouldn’t be a debate. He is the worst president. Look, he’s the worst president in the history of our country. He’s destroyed our country.
“Now all of a sudden, he’s trying to get a little tough on the border. He came out with a nothing deal, and it reduced it a little bit. It’s insignificant. He wants open borders. He wants our country to either be destroyed or he wants to pick up those people as voters. And I don’t think – we just can’t let it happen.
“If he wins this election, our country doesn’t have a chance. Not even a chance, of coming out of this rut. We probably won’t have a country left anymore. That’s how bad it is. He is the worst in history by far.”
Mr Biden responded to this by citing a survey of historians which ranked Mr Trump as the worst US president in history.
“Just to understand, they rate him the worst, because what he’s done is so bad,” Mr Trump responded.
“They rate me one of the best, OK? If I’m given another four years, I’ll be the best. I think I’ll be the best.”
‘You’re a criminal’: Debate gets personal
It took a little while but Joe Biden eventually brought up his opponent’s recent criminal conviction over the scheme to pay hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“The only person on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at now,” Mr Biden said, glancing at Mr Trump.
Moderator Jake Tapper asked Mr Trump about his remarks suggesting he would seek “retribution” against his political opponents through the legal system.
“I said my retribution will be a success and make this country successful again because it’s a failing nation now. My retribution will be a success,” said Mr Trump.
“When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level and will be convicted probably numerous other times and should have been before.
“He could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office, with all the things he’s done. He’s done horrible things.
“This man is a criminal. You’re lucky, I did nothing wrong. We had a system that was rigged and disgusting.”
“The idea that I did anything wrong … is outrageous. It is simply a lie,” said Mr Biden.
“The idea that you have a right to seek retribution against any American just because you’re president is simply wrong. No president has ever spoken like that before. No president in our history has spoken like that before.
“The crimes you are still charged with and all the civil penalties you have. How many billions of dollars in civil penalties do you have, for molesting a woman, having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant? What are you talking about?”
Trump claims he will end Ukraine war immediately
Donald Trump claimed Vladimir Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he was president. He argued that America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan exuded weakness, and encouraged the Russian president.
“I have never heard so much malarkey in my life,” Mr Biden said.
Asked whether Putin’s proposed terms to end the war – which would involve Ukraine giving up all its occupied territory – were “acceptable” to him, Mr Trump said “no”.
He proceeded to complain about the level of aid being given to Ukraine by the US.
“This is a war that never should have started,” said Mr Trump.
“I don’t think there’s been anything like it. Every time Zelensky comes to this country, he walks away with $60 billion. He’s the greatest salesman ever.
“The money we’re spending on this war, it should have never happened. I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelensky as president-elect before I take office on January 20. I’ll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly and stupidly, and I will get it settled and settled fast before I take.”
Mr Trump did not elaborate on how he would end the war.
‘Every single thing he said is a lie’
During a discussion on immigration – particularly the situation at America’s southern border with Mexico – Mr Biden accused Mr Trump of lying repeatedly.
“They’re going to destroy our country. Just take a look at where they’re living. They’re living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places,” Mr Trump said.
“Our veterans are on the street, they’re dying, because he doesn’t care about our veterans. He doesn’t like the military at all. And he doesn’t care about our veterans.
“Nobody’s been worse – I had the highest approval rating for veterans taking care of the VA (America’s veterans’ affairs agency) – he has the worst. He’s gotten rid of all the things that I approved.
“We had by far the highest, now it’s down by less than half. He’s done all these great things that we did. I think he did it just because I approved it, which is crazy. But he has killed so many people at our border by allowing all of these people come in.”
“Every single thing he said was a lie. Every single one.,” Mr Biden said.
“We’re also in a situation where we have great respect for veterans. My son spent a year in Iraq, living next to one of those burn pits, came back with Stage 4 gleblastoma.
“I was recently in France for D-Day. I spoke all about those heroes that died. I went to the World War I cemetery he refused to go to. He was standing with his four-star general. He
told him he didn’t want to go there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers.
“My son was not a loser or a sucker. You’re the loser. You’re the sucker.”
Mr Trump claimed the quote was “made up”.
“They made that quote up. It was in a third-rate magazine that was failing. They made it up. They put it in commercials,” Mr Trump said.
“To think that I would, in front of generals and others, say ‘suckers and losers’ – we have 19 people that said it was never said by me. It was made up by him, just like Russia Russia Russia was made up.”
The context here is that Mr Trump’s former White House chief of staff, General John Kelly, claimed he called fallen US servicemen “suckers and losers”. Mr Trump has always denied saying it.
Candidates clash on abortion
Mr Trump was forced onto the back foot when the discussion turned to abortion. During this presidential term, the US Supreme Court overturned the historic decision Roe vs. Wade, which had underpinned abortion rights for half a century.
“The idea that the politicians, the founders wanted the politicians to be the ones making decisions about women’s health, is ridiculous. No politician should be making those decisions,” Mr Biden said.
“A doctor should be making those decisions. That’s how it should be run. That’s what it’s going to do. If I’m elected, I’m going to restore Roe v. Wade.”
“So that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth, because some states – Democrat-run – take it after birth,” Mr Trump said.
“So he’s willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby. Nobody wants that to happen. Democrat or Republican. Nobody wants it to happen.”
“You’re lying. That is simply not true,” Mr Biden shot back.
“Roe vs. Wade does not provide for that. That’s not the circumstance. Only if a woman’s life is in danger and she’s going to die – that’s the only circumstance where that can happen. But we are not for late-term abortion, period. Period, period.
“For 51 years, that was the law. 51 years, constitutional scholarship said it was the right way to go. Fifty-one years. And was taken away because this guy put very conservative members on the Supreme Court. He takes credit for taking it away.
“What’s he gonna do? What’s he gonna do, in fact, if the MAGA Republicans, he gets elected and the MAGA Republicans control the Congress and they pass a universal ban on abortion, period, across the board, at six weeks or seven or eight or 10 weeks, something very, very conservative? Is he going to sign that bill? I’ll veto it. He’ll sign it.”
‘We beat Medicare’: Biden’s awful stumble
Joe Biden suffered an awkward verbal stumble while trying to talk about the health system.
“ … making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the Covid – excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with. Look, if – we finally beat Medicare,” Mr Biden said.
And that was the end of his answer. Mr Trump pounced.
“Well, he’s right – he did beat Medicare. He beat it to death. He’s destroying Medicare,” said the former president.
“Because all of these people are coming in. They’re putting them on Medicare, putting them on Social Security. They’re gonna destroy Social Security.”
‘Like a Third World nation’
Donald Trump has also defended his record on handling the coronavirus pandemic.
“Remember, more people died under his administration – even though we had largely fixed it – more people died under his administration than our administration,” he said.
“He had far more people dying in his administration. He did the mandate, which is a disaster –
mandating it. The vaccine went out, he did a mandate on the vaccine, which is the thing that people most objected to about the vaccine. And he did a very poor job, just a very poor job.
“And I will tell you – not only poor there, but throughout the entire world, we’re no longer respected as a country. They don’t respect our leadership. They don’t respect the United States anymore. We’re like a Third World – between weaponisation of his election trying to go after his political opponent. All of the things he’s done, we’ve become like a Third World nation, and it’s a shame.”
Trump defends proposed tariffs
Donald Trump defended his proposal to place a 10 per cent tariff on all imported goods, insisting it would not raise the cost of those goods for American consumers.
“It’s not going to go higher. It’s just going to cost countries that ripped us off like China, and many others, in fairness to China. It will reduce our deficit tremendously and give us power for a lot of other things,” Mr Trump claimed.
“The only thing (Biden) was right about was I gave you the largest tax cut in history. I also gave you the largest regulation in history. The jobs went down and bounced back. He’s taking credit for bounce-back jobs. You can’t do that.
“He said he inherited 9 per cent inflation. No, he inherited almost no inflation, and it stayed that way for 14 months and then blew up under his leadership because they spent money like a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing.”
Biden grilled on cost of living
Moderator Jake Tapper’s first question concerned the cost of living.
“Since you took office, the price of essentials has increased,” he told Mr Biden.
“What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency than they were under President Trump?”
“We’ve got to take a look at what I was left when I became president, what Mr Trump left me. We had an economy that was in free-fall,” Mr Biden responded.
“The pandemic was so badly handled, many people were dying. All he said was it’s not that serious – just inject a little bleach into your arm and you’ll be all right.
“The economy collapsed. There were no jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 15 per cent. It was terrible. So what we had to do was try to put things back together again. That’s exactly what we began to do.”
He acknowledged there was “more to be done”.
Mr Trump countered by claiming the economy under his presidency was the best in American history.
“By the time we finished, we did a great job. We got a lot of credit for the economy, a lot of credit for the military, no wars, and so many things. Everything was rocking good,” Mr Trump said.
“The thing we never got credit for and we should have was getting us out of the Covid mess. He created mandates that were a disaster for our country.
“We had given them back a country where the stock market actually was higher than pre-Covid, and nobody thought that was even possible. The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs, bounce-back from Covid.
“He has not done a good job.”
Melania Trump absent
One person which doesn’t appear to be watching is Melania Trump.
Mrs Trump has been conspicuous by her absence in Atlanta which First Lady Jill Biden will be at the debate.
During the CNN debate, Mr Trump is expected to attack the President’s record on the economy and immigration while Mr Biden will focus on his rival’s plans for abortion rights, foreign policy and whether he would dismantle democracy itself.
The President has spent a week hunkered down preparing for the debate. So much so, the Trump campaign has been tempering expectations that their candidate will snaffle an easy win. But the Biden campaign is also expecting a different Donald Trump to be on the stage – one that is more disciplined and less gaffe prone.
Mr Biden and Mr Trump, their respective parties’ oldest ever candidates for president, have agreed to an eye-opening series of debate rules aimed at minimising the prospect of a shouting match.
There will be no studio audience, depriving them of the momentum that comes from revving up supporters, and microphones will cut out when a candidate’s speaking time is over.
Trump, Biden launch savage attack ads
Today’s debate between the two rivals in the 2024 White House race saw both sides ramp up personal attacks in a campaign already characterised by bitter animosity.
To mark the event in Georgia’s state capital, Mr Biden’s Democratic Party paid for several huge billboards across the city.
“Donald, welcome to Atlanta for the first time since becoming a convicted felon. Congrats – or whatever,” read the sarcastic message under a picture of Mr Trump’s police mugshot.
Mr Trump was recently convicted in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Never one to pull its punches, Team Trump had its own attacks ready.
One 30-second television ad to be aired during the debate savagely mocks Mr Biden’s age, even though Mr Trump is a mere three years younger.
Called “Who’s Laughing Now,” it shows footage of Mr Biden stumbling on the stairs of his Air Force One plane, falling over while clipped into his bike and appearing lost on stage.
The narrator suggests Mr Biden is too frail to complete a second term. “Do you think the guy who was defeated by the stairs … got taken down by his bike … lost a fight with his jacket … and regularly gets lost … makes it four more years in the White House?” the voiceover asks.
Where is Melania?
There are lots of supporters of both candidates in Atlanta, including a slew of hopefuls in a beauty parade to be Trump’s vice president pick.
But one person is conspicuously absent – former First Lady Melania Trump.
She does not seem to have followed her husband to Georgia. She was not seen emerging from Mr Trump’s aeroplane when it landed. The Trump campaign has been tight lipped on whether Mrs Trump will be joining Donald.
Mrs Trump was also a no-show at the former president's trial in New York City.
The last time the pair were seen together was the graduation of their son Barron Trump when she was all smiles.
In perhaps a dig at the missing Melania, Mr Biden tweeted on the day of the debate a picture of First Lady Jill Biden stating “The best part of the campaign trail is having you by my side, Jilly”.
A Trump turns up to support Biden
Plenty of the Trump family will be rooting for Donald – but one won’t.
Mary Trump, the estranged niece of Donald Trump, is in Atlanta as a guest of the Biden campaign.
“For my whole life I have witnessed my uncle’s narcissism and cruelty,” she said in a statement.
“His sense of inferiority has always driven his jealousy and his pathological need to dominate others and this is information that is crucially important for the American people to have.
“We cannot afford to allow Donald Trump anywhere near the levers of power again.”
Neck-and-neck in polls
Mr Trump enjoys a slight advantage in the all-important swing states, but the overall polling looks extremely close in an election likely to be decided by a few photo finishes in a handful of battlegrounds.
The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Mr Trump edging ahead of Mr Biden nationally, 49 per cent to 45 per cent.
The rivals both step onstage for the 90-minute debate seeking to allay fears about serious political liabilities.
Mr Biden faces the most concern about his mental sharpness, with voters much more likely to bring up his age than Mr Trump’s, despite how close they are in age.
Ahead of the debate, both Mr Trump and Mr Biden have had missteps, stumbling over words or appearing muddled.
Mr Trump is also engulfed in controversy over his inflammatory rhetoric, his recent conviction for falsifying business records, and fears he would weaponise the presidency to settle personal scores.
– With AFP
Originally published as Joe Biden ally says President’s debate performance was ‘painful’
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