KUALA LUMPUR – In a night of fiery exchanges and personal jabs, President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump faced off in their first presidential debate in an effort to win the hearts and ballots of US voters.
However, it quickly descended into chaos, marked by personal attacks and incoherent ramblings.
Biden, who is 81, struggled to maintain his focus and spoke in a raspy voice. Meanwhile, the slightly younger 78-year-old Trump was energetic but spouted misleading statements and dodged questions from the moderators.
The current president of the United States (Potus) aimed to highlight the stark differences in their approaches to economic policies by accusing Trump of catering to the wealthy elite with “the largest tax cut in American history,” which he claimed worsened the national deficit.
“He’s the only president other than Herbert Hoover who has lost more jobs than he had when he began,” Biden said.
In response, Trump painted Biden’s first term as a “disaster”, criticising the state of the economy and Biden’s immigration policies.
“We’re living in hell,” Trump exclaimed, pointing to ongoing nationwide protests.
Foreign policy was also highlighted in the debate, specifically Israel’s genocide in Palestine following the October 7, 2023 escalation.
Biden walked a tightrope, balancing his support for Israel with calls for restraint in Gaza. He stressed the importance of not letting Hamas continue its operations.
Trump, however, urged Biden to let Israel “finish the job” and criticised Nato allies for not contributing more to defence, despite the current aggression claiming almost 40,000 lives including women and children since the escalation, according to official sources.
“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian, he’s a weak one,” Trump said in a bizarre comment referring to his rival.
Biden then retorted: “I’ve never heard so much foolishness.”
The Potus also did not hold back on the tycoon’s legal woes, noting that Trump is the first former president convicted of a felony, facing three more indictments.
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said, referring to his opponent being convicted guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
He also called Trump’s conduct the “morals of an alley cat.”
The Democrat then found his footing discussing veterans’ care, condemning Trump for allegedly calling fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers,” a claim the Republican denied.
“My son was not a loser. Was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser,” Biden said, referencing his late son Beau Biden who died of cancer and served in the military.
As they were both embroiled in a heated discourse over troops, Trump seized the opportunity to slam Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling it the “most embarrassing moment in the history of our country”.
He also blamed Biden for the Ukraine war. He insisted that the invasion never would have happened “if we had a leader.”
“He’s given US$200 billion now or more to Ukraine. That’s a lot of money. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like it,” Trump said.
Other highlights included Biden’s remark about Trump’s height and weight. He said he would be keen to play golf with the former Potus if he “carries his own bag”, on top of bragging about his golfing skills.
“I’ve never seen your swing,” his rival rebutted.
Trump said, “Let’s not act like children,” as the trash talk ceased.
Biden then responded with: “You are a child.”
The debate ended with both candidates firmly entrenched in their positions, offering US voters somewhat of a contrast in their visions for America’s future. – June 28, 2024