President Biden meandered at times in his remarks and showed little of the fire displayed at his most recent State of the Union, prompting immediate concern among supporters, while Trump performed as expected, repeating lies and exaggerations while defaming Biden and his record.
Well, that was a disheartening disaster for American Democracy.
President Biden came off as doddering and unfocused at times, while Trump told his usual cavalcade of lies that went uncontested by moderators.
As Trump defamed Biden and America, at times, Biden stumbled through several answers, a performance that reportedly prompted “panic” among Democratic Party leaders reigniting the “replace Biden” on the ticket rhetoric.
The former president and convicted felon capitalized on the lack of real-time fact checking time and time again, and pivoted at will toward the U.S.-Mexican border to hammer Biden on his record there.
Trump went back to the border issue no matter what he was asked, to which Biden responded by saying “there is no data” to support his claims that countries are “emptying out their prisons” and “killing our citizens… at a level never seen before,” as Trump claimed.
Trump traded in outright lies and hyperbole, hoping to tar Biden with the “tyrant” label, alleging Biden has committed numerous crimes, though several House investigations have produced no such evidence of wrongdoing.
“Joe could be a convicted felon by the things he’s done,” said Trump, claiming countless deaths at the border and other unqualified, alleged crimes.
“This man is a criminal,” said Trump of Biden, asserting that the president has weaponized the Justice Department against him. “We have a rigged system. I did nothing wrong.”
“The idea that I did anything wrong is outrageous,” shot back Biden, pointing to Trump’s recent criminal convictions, civil case losses, and other legal woes, including election interference charges and a White House documents case currently being held up by a partisan judge in Florida appointed by Trump.
“You have the ethics of an alley cat,” said Biden, noting Trump’s alleged sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels among the other unsavory details of his legal woes.
Trump, in response, returned to the well of “we’re becoming like a third-world nation” repeatedly, hammering Biden on his immigration record during almost every answer no matter what was asked of him.
Meanwhile, a weak-voiced Biden, reportedly congested with a cold, responded to Trump’s lies about his record on immigration and other issues pertinent to voters.
When it came to the Jan. 6 insurrection, Biden attempted to paint Trump as the gleeful architect of an attack on America’s democracy.
“Look, he encouraged those folks to go to Capitol Hill,” said Biden. “He sat there for three hours (during the insurrection) doing nothing.”
In typical fashion, Trump responded with his trademark Nancy Pelosi was-to-blame word salad that his supporters have gobbled up eagerly for years.
On Ukraine, Trump returned to the same well of lies and unfounded bravado.
“I will have that war settled as president-election … before I take office,” claimed Trump with his trademark over-simplification of incredibly complex issues.
Biden noted that American aid for Ukraine came mostly in the form of arms and noted that America’s NATO allies are contributing as much military aid as the United States in the effort to thwart Putin’s war in Ukraine.
As for Gaza, Biden said the plan the White House put forward, including hostage exchanges and a ceasefire – has been largely approved by the international community. Trump again alleged that were he still president, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine would have never happened.
When asked about reproductive rights for women, Trump said he wouldn’t ban abortion despite repeatedly saying he would support more draconian measures prior to the debate.
“Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in exceptions… for rape, incest, and the life of the mother,” adding that the country “is coming together” while supporting state’s rights on abortion, calling it a “great thing” before returning to his lies about Biden’s abortion stance.
“He’s willing to rip the baby out of the womb in nine months,” said Trump, while backing away from his own extremist remarks on abortion and trying to color Biden as a baby killer.
“We are not for late-term abortion,” snapped back Biden. “He takes credit for taking it (Roe v. Wade) away,” predicting Trump would kowtow to the extremists in his party over abortion if reelected.
Regarding America’s reputation on the world stage, Trump returned to his old “Everyone is laughing at us” rhetoric, to which Biden replied: “No one wants to screw around with us!”
“Every single thing he said is a lie,” said Biden, refuting claims that the Biden administration allowed unchecked immigration into the United States from the southern border, unwanted children were killed after their birth, 2020 election denial, and other wackadoo lies we’ve come to expect from Trump.
Biden got especially fiery when he confronted Trump on his reported bashing of veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice, which he reportedly made while visiting France during D-Day, according to Trump’s former Chief of Staff and retired four-star general, John Kelly.
“My son was not a loser and a sucker!,’’ said the president of his late son Beau, who died in 2015 of a brain tumor that Biden and others attribute to his son’s exposure to noxious burn pits in Iraq.
“You’re the sucker! You’re the loser!” exclaimed Biden, hoping to land a devastating body blow on Trump that largely fell flat.
And the rest of the night was more of the same back-and-forth that left sane viewers crestfallen over the fact that these two men are our only choices come November.
Overall, it was a dispiriting 90-some minutes marked by failed efforts to rein in the lies of a chronic fabulist, former president, and felon by the current commander-in-chief who looked too old and haggard to tackle the job.