- By Kurtis Adigba
The debate which took place in Atlanta, Georgia, was promoted as a ‘ make or mar’ event for the two candidates with the potential to reset the trajectory of the race
President Joseph R. Biden, 81, the 46th president of the United States of America, faced former President Donald J. Trump, 78, the 45th president of the United States, in the earliest presidential debate organized by CNN since presidential debates began on June 27, 2024. Presidential debates are usually held between September and October in an election year.
The debate which took place in Atlanta, Georgia, was promoted as a ‘ make or mar’ event for the two candidates with the potential to reset the trajectory of the race. So much was riding on the debate that was seen as a rematch between the two men. President Biden and Trump faced each other in 2020 .Trump was extremely obstructive in those debates and did not allow Biden to speak. An agitated Biden at some point in the debate said” can you shot up man”? . The debate was anchored by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
According to reporting by the CNN President Biden asked for the debate so early in order to shake up the race, present his records to the American people, and show the sharp contrast between his vision of America which is upbeat, inspirational, aspirational, bold, and hopeful, with that of his opponent that is dark, dystopian, hopeless, chaotic, and fearful. It will be also an opportunity to remind Americans about where things stood when he took over and his accomplishments in the last three and half years.
Before the debate, Trump had been convicted on 34 counts of felonies by a jury made up of his peers in New York for falsifying his business records and lying about it. Trump according to the charges paid hushed money to adult pornstar, Stormy Daniels and lied about it. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer had paid Miss Daniels $130k in slush funds to prevent her from telling Americans that Trump had sex with her while his wife, Melania, was pregnant with their son, Baron. President Biden’s son, Hunter, had also been convicted of lying to the authorities in the form he filled to buy a gun while he was on probation. Both men are waiting to be sentenced. Trump described his conviction as a rigged verdict from the weaponization of the DOJ against him by President Biden. Biden on the other hand, accepted his son’s conviction and promised not to pardon.
The two candidates approached the debate differently. While President Biden hunkered down with his aids in Camp David to prepare for the debate, Trump was on the campaign trail mocking Biden. He said Biden was so weak and confused that he doesn’t know what he is doing. Realizing that he may have set the bar too low for the President, Trump and his surrogates changed tone. They said President is a terrific debater and may come out highly charged and firing on all cylinders after getting a shot to in the arm( suggesting drug use). President Biden on the other hand prepared to debate different versions of Trump not knowing what version of Trump will show up. The stage was set.On the debate night, the candidates emerged wearing Navy Blue suits with blue tie( Biden) and red tie (Trump), as symbols of their political parties- Democratic and Republican.
They were asked questions on the economy, democracy, Ukraine-Russia war, Israel-Hamas war, the January 6 insurrection at the capitol, and others. President Biden appeared weak with a husky voice. His campaign said he was battling cold. He gave short and sometimes inaudible answers to questions and at a point, appeared to have lost his thoughts and froze momentarily before mumbling something incoherently. Trump seized upon it and said” I don’t know what he is saying and I don’t think he knows either”. Trump on the other hand appeared strong, loud, vague on answers. He spoke audibly, coherently, and forcefully, but he lied about almost everything. He was bombastic as usual and used deplorable words to describe the president and the country.
Trump refused to commit to accepting the results of the elections if he lost and deflected the question three times. Reminded by Dana Bash, he gave a convoluted answer. He also deflected the question on the January 6 attacks on the capitol by his supporters and the role he played in putting them up to it. He said the country was messed up and needed to be rescued. He called Biden stupid and accused him of being weak. He said presidents Xi and Kim Jong Un have no respect for President Biden and won’t deal with him. He also said the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars would not have happened under him. He promised to end the wars if he is elected and Make America Great Again. He didn’t say how he will do it.
President Biden on the other hand, talked about his vision for America. He said America is the best and greatest nation on earth by far. He compared his records to Trump on the economy, employment, foreign affairs, social security, veteran affairs, health, children’s welfare and others. He said his government created 800k new manufacturing jobs in the last three and half years, reduced the unemployment rate from 15% that he inherited from Trump to the lowest level since the economic depression of 1929. He touted his records on lowering costs of drugs for the elderly and child credits. He said he had restored America’s respect and dignity all over the world and that he is working with NATO to persecute the Ukraine-Russia war and prevent Putin from taking Ukraine and other countries in the region. He spoke about his efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war and pledged continued support for Israel. Biden positioned himself as the fighter for the people and promised to keep working and fighting for them if reelected.
Immediately after the debate, John King, said he had received messages from nameless top Democratic leaders in panic mode about the disastrous and atrocious performance by President Biden. He said someone described Biden’s performance as a “ train wreck”and expressed fears about him hurting candidates on down ballots. He said Democrats are in panic mode and were calling for President Biden to be replaced.
Pundit after pundit pilloried Biden’s performance. Only David Axelrod, gave a positive spin on his performance. He said Biden started slowly, improved and gained strength as the debate progressed. He said Trump didn’t do better and accused him of lying. He said Trump was a bit measured, but what Americans saw on the debate stage was the same Trump, a compulsive and obsessive liar without moral guardrails. Van Jones on the other hand described Biden’s performance as disastrous and painful to watch. He said the debate was between an Old man and a Con man. To the pundits, President Biden failed to make a strong case before Americans about his capacity to lead. But the data from polling and focus groups around the country does not support the pundits position. The debate didn’t change too many minds. It didn’t move the needle significantly.
Many believed that Trump won the debate on optics and not on substance and truth. According to CNN fact-checkers, Trump told over thirty(30) lies in 90 minutes of the debate. He gave vague answers, muddled facts and lied about every other thing. They said Biden got some figures wrong and made some misleading claims, but he was largely truthful. The White House and the Biden campaign admitted that he started slowly but he got the job done by speaking to Americans on his vision and accomplishments in clear terms. They said Biden is a man used to being knocked down and he will get up and defeat Trump in November. They promised that he will keep fighting for Americans.
President Biden held a rally in North Carolina yesterday. He was fired up, coherent, and full of energy. He admitted that he is an old man, slower in his steps, not a good debater as he used to be, but he knows how to tell the truth and tell the difference between right and wrong unlike Trump. His performance last night may have calmed frayed nerves in the Democratic camp, but not enough to stop the panic. The days ahead will be interesting.
The calls for Biden to be replaced have not gained traction, but it has gotten people to speak. Prominent among them is Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, Biden’s boss, and unarguably the most popular democrat alive. Obama said he knows that debate are hard. He has been there so many times. He knows that one bad debate is not fatal to a campaign. Obama himself was a victim of pundit lynching in 2012 after the first debate between him and Mitt Romney. Pundits said Obama looked tired and wished he was somewhere else. They said he failed to hit Mitt Romney hard on the 47% comments he made and gave an atrocious debate performance. They projected Romney as the winner and pronounced that the race was his to lose. Obama fought back, stayed on message, and gave blistering performances in the next two debates, after President Biden, then Vice-president to President Obama, had eviscerated Paul Ryan in their only debate. Biden was used to gauge how Americans will respond to attacks on opponent. President Obama is still backing President Biden to stay on top of the ticket and win the election.
President Biden has stepped up campaigning and he is raising money from donors. His campaign has raked in over $28m after the debate. It is my considered opinion that President Biden lost on optics while Trump won sentiments and lies. The race has just started. Joey from Scranton, PA, will not back down. The earlier the democrats queue behind him, the better for them, the country, and the world.
- Kurtis Adigba, a Nigerian Lawyer and political consultant lives in Lagos