Mother Jones illustration; Ben Hendren/Sipa/AP
Joe Biden had his shot—a chance to dispel concerns about his age and his abilities. But in his first debate with Donald Trump, he stumbled through 90 minutes, muffing answers, often looking uncertain, speaking in a low, gravelly voice that did not convey strength. This was not only a missed chance. It was a disaster. Afterward Democrats had good cause to be in despair and to wonder if disarray was on its way.
While Biden’s State of the Union speech earlier this year showed him vigorously on his game—perhaps a surprise to his detractors—this appearance, within minutes, provided a ton of ammo to those who contend Biden is not up to the job. In the Oval Office, he may be able to do the work of a president well. But if a vibrant public performance is necessary to win the confidence of uncommitted or loosely committed voters, Biden failed miserably.
The bottom line was obvious before the first commercial break: Trump came across as the Trump people know and either love or hate: boastful, brash, disingenuous, demagogic. Biden was not the Biden that Democrats wanted.
Biden accurately slammed Trump for Trump’s stint in the White House: historic deficits, a supersized tax cut that benefitted the rich, mismanagement of the Covid pandemic. Yet he often muddied his remarks with not just his usual stutter but with half-sentences and misspoken words. There’s no denying this: Biden did not come across as commanding. Any voter who has wondered about the abilities of this 81-year-old-man would not be reassured.
Trump stuck to the usual stuff. He was combative and dishonest. He repeatedly stated the United States had the best economy in its history when he was in the White House. He claimed Democrats want to allow abortions after birth. He insisted that he did more for veterans than Biden and that vets “can’t stand” Biden. He hailed his handling of Covid and said he would end the Ukraine war immediately after being elected. (Why not share this plan before?) He blamed Nancy Pelosi for January 6, insisting (falsely) that he had offered 10,000 troops to protect the Capitol that day. He said polls rated him “one of the best” presidents ever. It was his customary blend of lies and bluster.
Biden got his licks in—and it often got ugly. Referring to Trump’s recent New York City criminal trial and the verdict in a civil case that found Trump liable for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll, Biden called him a “convicted felon” and said he had “the morals of an alley cat.” Biden pounded Trump for inciting January 6, doing nothing to stop the violence that day, and vowing to pardon the rioters who have been prosecuted and found guilty.
Trump gave no ground on this front. When CNN host Jake Tapper asked Trump if he had violated his constitutional oath that day by not intervening to halt the rioting, Trump did not answer the question and instead attacked Biden for being a weak leader. And when Biden turned to Trump and asked him to denounce the rioters, Trump would not, showing that Trump remains the champion of violent domestic terrorists.
If the debate was merely just about the sentences said, Biden would have racked up points. But too often his delivery was faltering. He couldn’t stick it. He even looked befuddled, whether or not he was.
Trump more effectively channeled his anger and hatred. For some voters, that will make him seem fierce and forceful. He lied and lied—claiming he had “the best environmental numbers ever” and was responsible for lowering the price of insulin—but he did so with fervor. Just as he relentlessly decried America as a decaying “third-world nation” that people around the world are laughing at.
Trump’s main line of attack was fear: Millions of migrants—from prisons and mental institutions—are pouring into the country and destroying it, and Biden is either orchestrating or allowing this. “They are taking over our schools, our hospitals, and they will be taking over Social Security,” he bellowed. And crime, crime, and crime. “If Biden wins this election…we probably won’t have a country left anymore,” Trump brayed. Moreover, he added, Biden “will drive us into World War III.” And Trump threw in glancing references to made-for-Fox conspiracy theories about Biden and his son Hunter. He called Biden a “criminal” and assailed his competency: “We’re trying to justify his presidency…The worst presidency in the history of this country.”
Biden kept trying to land punches. He pointed out Trump’s falsehoods. “He hasn’t done a damn thing about the environment,” Biden exclaimed. He declared that Trump doesn’t understand American democracy. He noted that many former Trump White House officials and cabinet officers have refused to back Trump in this race. He had a particularly good moment when he turned to Trump and said, “You’re a whiner. When you lost the first time…you continued to promote this lie…There is no evidence of that at all… Something snapped in you when you lost last time.”
But Biden was trodding through a maelstrom with unsteady steps. He coughed. He blinked a lot. His sentences often trailed off. This is not trivial stuff—not when his age, fairly or not, has become a critical issue of the campaign. Voters don’t get to watch a president at work in the Oval Office. Public appearances matter. Shortly into the debate, his team began telling reporters that Biden was fighting a cold. But that explanation will not help.
When the candidates were asked about the age issue they each face, Biden recited a list of his accomplishments: job creation, new manufacturing jobs, investments in computer chips. “We are the envy of the world,” he said. It was not the most convincing retort.
Trump bragged that he had aced two cognitive tests (really?) and had recently won two golf club championships. (Factcheck: He cheats at golf.) He absurdly asserted he was in as good physical shape as he was 3o years ago. He claimed Biden couldn’t pass these tests or hit a golf ball 50 yards. Then the two bickered about golf-playing, with Biden deploying this zinger: “I’m happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag.” But like most all of Biden’s attack lines, this one bounced off Trump. There was no oomph. No verve. For most of the night, Biden was verveless.
Minutes into the debate, without even checking with Twitter, you could tell what the reaction was going to be. There would be no way to spin this: a bad night for Biden and the Democrats. A debacle. And one didn’t need a crystal ball to know that there would soon be—maybe before the debate was done—renewed chatter about the possibility of replacing Biden as the Democrats’ nominee. (How that can happen without a complete mess is tough to envision. Would Vice President Kamala Harris inherit the nomination? If she went for it and was challenged by one or more candidates—California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer—would that lead to a civil war within the party and offend a key constituency: Black voters?)
Bill Clinton used to say that strong-and-wrong beats weak-and-right. With his performance on Thursday night, Biden created a perfect test case for that proposition.
