Conflicts over the economy, abortion, illegal immigration, etc.
Biden’s aging controversy reignites President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who are rematching for the first time in four years for the position of owner of the White House, faced each other in their first TV debate on the night of the 27th.
The controversy over old age is emerging again as President Biden fails to meet expectations in a debate that has been attracting attention as a variable that will overturn the current ultra-thin battle situation. The two candidates clashed on topics including the economy, abortion, illegal immigration, democracy, climate change, the war in Ukraine and Gaza, welfare, and drugs in a 90-minute TV debate held at the CNN studio in Atlanta, Georgia.
Starting with the first topic, the economic issue, they engaged in a sharp battle, with President Biden claiming that his predecessor, former President Trump, had handed over a “falling economy,” and former President Trump counterattacking by saying, “Inflation is really killing us.”
Throughout the debate, former President Trump either talked about something completely different in response to questions he did not want to answer or used the time to criticize President Biden. When asked whether he would accept the conditions for ending the war in Ukraine presented by Russian President Vladimir Putin, he initially placed responsibility for the war on President Biden, but when the host asked again, he said, “No.” “I can’t accept it,” he replied.
President Biden strongly argued that “Putin is a war criminal” and that only by continuing to support Ukraine can other European allies and the United States be safe, creating a clear contrast with Trump’s “America First” policy. Abortion is an issue on which President Biden can take the offensive, as many women are protesting the abolition of abortion rights by the Supreme Court, which was reorganized to be conservative during the Trump administration, but he has not been able to take full advantage of it. On the other hand, former President Trump clearly explained his position that abortion is a matter for each state to decide, and that exceptional abortions for cases of rape, adultery, or to protect pregnant women should be allowed.
The host also asked about voters’ concerns surrounding the ages of President Biden (81) and former President Trump (78). President Biden tried to turn the spotlight on former President Trump, saying, “This man is three years younger than me and much more incompetent,” but it was assessed that President Biden’s performance on this day heightened voters’ anxiety about his age. President Biden sounded hoarse, and former President Trump attacked him by saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of the sentence, and he doesn’t seem to know what he said either.”
President Biden’s team explained that the president had a cold. In this debate, it was decided to turn off the candidate’s microphone, not in the order of speaking, so it was conducted in a calm manner compared to the first TV debate four years ago, which was filled with interruptions and mutual slander during the debate, but it was not without emotional clashes. When former President Trump took issue with the Biden administration’s treatment of veterans, President Biden mentioned that former President Trump called fallen U.S. soldiers a “sucker” and a “loser” during his term in office, and said, “My son is a loser.” I wasn’t a pushover. He raised his voice, saying, “You are a brat, and you are a loser.” President Biden’s eldest son, Beau, served in Iraq and died in 2015 from brain cancer.
President Biden questioned former President Trump’s recent guilty verdict on charges of ‘silencing a sexual scandal’ and attacked him as “the only convicted felon on this stage” and “having the morals of a stolen cat.” In response, former President Trump said, “Biden could also become a convicted felon for something he did while he was in office. “Joe could be indicted for everything he did while in office,” he said, adding that he would be the worst president in history.