6/29/24

By Aditi Jha

Former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden participated in a presidential debate hosted by CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta on June 27th. The Biden campaign raised $14 million during the night of the debate and the day after, while Trump raised $8 million.  Only 48 million Americans watched, in contrast to the 73 million who watched their first debate in 2020. The candidates were given a pen, a notepad, and a water bottle. Props or prewritten notes were prohibited. Their mikes were muted when it wasn't their turn. There was no audience and the moderators did not fact-check. A coin flip resulted in Biden choosing his podium position on the right side and Trump choosing to deliver his closing statement last. A Fox News poll showed that Biden had a 50% to 48% lead over Trump before the debate. After the debate, the general response was that Biden was quiet, shaky, and trailed off on tangents while Trump took advantage of the lack of fact-checking and told a series of false claims. While Trump made those claims, Biden looked confused and shocked. Professor at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, Frank Sesno, told Reuters that "You got the sense of Trump the attack dog and Biden as something of the policy wonk and the hesitant old man that you saw standing behind that mic." Despite his performance, Biden said that he would stay in the race. "I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," he said later at a rally. "I don't walk as easy as I used to, I don't speak as smoothly as I used to, I don't debate as well as I used to. I would not be running again if I didn't believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high." A New York Times poll taken after the debate shows Trump now leading by six percent, 49% to 43%. The post-debate performance wasn't a good look for Biden either. In his first interview since the debate, he tried to say that he chose the first Black vice president but instead said "the first Black woman to serve with a Black president." Instead of saying he was the first Catholic to win statewide in Delaware, he said "I'm the first president to get elected statewide in the state of Delaware." If Biden stepped aside, the Democrats would have less than two months to pick somebody else to replace him before the national convention on August 19. The second debate will be hosted by ABC News on September 10th. 

That's the news for today. Stay safe!