The first major debate of the 2024 American presidential election, which will take place at the end of the year, gave rise to a bombardment of lies from Donald Trump facing a slow, weak and confused Joe Biden…
Can Joe Biden still be a candidate for the US presidential election in November 2024? The question is being asked in the Democratic camp after a debate against Donald Trump that was disastrous for the White House tenant. The 81-year-old president, who had demanded that this face-off with his Republican predecessor be held early in the campaign, missed a crucial opportunity to reassure the millions of Americans in front of their screens about his vitality and health.
On stage, Joe Biden often appeared confused, chewing his words and getting tangled up more than once. Donald Trump, who was convicted of criminal charges at the end of May, largely imposed his style, multiplying exaggerations and untruths, particularly on immigration, without the intervention of the two CNN journalists hosting the evening.
Notably, the former president, who never acknowledged his defeat against Joe Biden in 2020, did not commit during the show to unconditionally recognize the result of his duel against the Democrat on November 5. He also once again relieved himself of any responsibility for the attack carried out by his supporters against Congress in Washington on January 6, 2021.
“Unquestionably a disaster” for Joe Biden
On the substance, the candidates discussed at length the issues of inflation, immigration and support for Ukraine. Joe Biden, whose voice was often hoarse in front of CNN cameras – his camp indicated that he had a cold – attacked on a subject that he knows is delicate for the billionaire, criticizing him for his “terrible” action against the right to abortion.
He also accused Donald Trump of “lying” when he said that illegal immigration was causing crime to soar. But since American presidential campaigns entered the television age more than 60 years ago with the debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, form has been as important as substance.
Joe Biden tried the Coué method at the end of the debate, not really far from denial. “I think we did well,” the Democrat said during a stop at a Georgia restaurant after the show, saying it’s “hard to debate with a liar.” According to a CNN survey of viewers, the verdict is clear: two thirds of them judged that Donald Trump had won the match.
Distressed reactions and calls to withdraw from anonymous Democrats spread through the press as soon as the debate ended. “Joe Biden’s performance during the debate was disappointing, there’s no other way to say it,” admitted Kate Bedingfield, former White House communications director during his first years in office. “It was undoubtedly a disaster,” political scientist Larry Sabato told AFP. On this side of the Atlantic, The world also analyzes this morning the “shipwreck” of the Democratic candidate, “appearing on several occasions overwhelmed, stumbling over words, incapable of following the thread of his thoughts.”
Sent to try to put out the fire, American Vice-President Kamala Harris was herself forced to concede that Joe Biden had been “slow to start” but that he had “finished strong”.
The Trump-Biden debate, a turning point in the campaign
Republican Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s former primary rival and whose votes are particularly sought after by both candidates, went so far as to suggest that Joe Biden would not be “the Democrats’ candidate in the election”, urging Republicans to “stay on their guard”.
Can Joe Biden withdraw, willingly or by force, a few months before the American election on November 5? Such a scenario is in fact extremely unlikely and Joe Biden should, barring a huge surprise, be nominated by his party for the November presidential election during the Democratic convention in Chicago in mid-August.
Joe Biden’s poor performance, however, very likely marks a turning point in a campaign that has so far been extremely tight: the two candidates are neck and neck in the states likely to swing the election. However, it is very difficult to say whether the debate will radically move the lines, in a country where political polarization is extreme.
Donald Trump still threatened by justice
The stakes are no less enormous: if one of the two candidates manages to attract a few independent voters, this could be enough to give him the advantage in November, as the election promises to be close.
Another big unknown, however, weighs on the election: Donald Trump should know in two weeks about his sentence in his trial in New York. The former Republican president theoretically risks prison in this case, even if this scenario seems very unlikely.
The US Supreme Court, largely reshuffled by the former real estate mogul, must also decide soon whether Donald Trump has criminal immunity to obtain the cancellation of the charges against him over his attempts to illegally reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election. It could know his fate as early as Friday.
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