President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump held a debate Thursday that was watched by millions, and what voters saw generated more questions than answers.
Here are five key takeaways from the Atlanta contest.
Democrats, we have a problem
Biden — who his campaign said has a cold — appeared to be bely his 81 years of experience on stage, speaking in a halting, raspy voice and missing key opportunities to press hard and coherently against Trump.
Though the veteran Democrat showed passion at times, he looked lifeless most of the time. The post-debate analysis came in quickly — and it was devastating.
“It was a major disaster,” Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia, told AFP.
“This debate is a problem,” said Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer, adding that Biden’s supporters “will be extremely concerned about how this unfolds.”
Trump at times appeared more authoritative and energetic, though, as he hurled falsehoods about Biden’s presidency, election fraud and abortion policy.
A more disciplined Trump
Of the two candidates, it was Trump who surprised viewers by showing a more restrained, civilized side than his usual political bulldozing. Hosts on CNN turned off the microphones until the candidate was asked a question, a move experts say benefited the challenger.
For example, when Biden leveled accusations against Trump that he had “encouraged” rioters to storm the U.S. Capitol in early 2021, Trump maintained his silence, either looking down or shaking his head.
And when it was his turn to speak, he pounced.
“Trump’s restrained and authoritative demeanor — at least to him — masked the many lies he told throughout the night and helped his appeal to voters concerned about top polling issues like the economy and the border,” Ashley Koning, director of the Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, told AFP.
it’s private
The debate, which began without a handshake, left no doubt that these men did not like each other. From Biden calling his opponent “a convicted felon” to Trump saying “I don’t think (Biden) knows what he said,” the personal animosity was palpable.
“You have the morals of a street cat,” Biden said after laying out Trump’s various legal challenges and the rulings against him.
“You’re an idiot, you’re a loser,” Biden said.
“Everything he does is a lie,” Trump shot back.
“He’s the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump angrily said.
Less chaos, less accountability
The tumultuous scenes of their first debate in 2020, in which then-President Trump lashed out at Biden and the debate moderators, were a distant memory Thursday night, as CNN’s strategy to avoid the noise worked.
“I think the rules may have helped Trump because they prevented him from shouting at Biden’s answers,” said Robert Rowland, a communications professor at the University of Kansas.
With no cheering or jeering from the studio audience, the two candidates had more opportunities to focus on the issues.
And with CNN’s moderators failing to provide real-time fact-checking during the debate, Trump, and to a lesser extent Biden, ran rampant in making misleading or false statements on a variety of topics ranging from immigration and crime to the economy.
Ominous Tone
Trump’s candid answer to a key question at the end of the debate offered a worrying look at the post-election future.
Moderators asked Trump three times if Republicans would accept the results of the vote before he finally answered the question directly, saying, “If it’s a fair and legal and a good election, then absolutely.”
But in the same breath, he reiterated his baseless claims about rigging or interference in the 2020 election, saying that “the fraud and everything else was ridiculous.”
Biden suggested Trump’s conditional response should not be trusted either. “I doubt you’ll accept it because you’re so complaining,” Biden said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
