Live coverage: Trump and Biden face off for first presidential debate
President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will share a stage in Atlanta Thursday as they face off in the season’s first presidential debate. The format for the evening will be unique, with no audience and both men speaking into microphones that will be muted when it’s not their turn to prevent them from speaking over each other. Trump supporters have been doing everything they can to lower expectations by complaining about the moderators, inflating the time Biden spent preparing, and concocting wild conspiracy theories that Biden will be “jacked up” on drugs. But those same supporters have to be concerned about Trump’s recent rally performances, in which his usual word salad has seemed more like word coleslaw when he was forced to speak without a teleprompter. Biden’s last major primetime appearance before the public was a powerful State of the Union address in March, but since then, there have been months in which media has harped endlessly on Biden’s age and outlets have edited videos to make him seem incompetent. With a huge percentage of the public expected to tune in, this is a critical night for both candidates. Join us for the blow by blow. UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:28:39 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Trump claims that Biden’s immigration policies has caused “hundreds of thousands of people to die” and that “people are coming in and killing our citizens at a rate we’ve never seen before.” This is an absolutely fantasy. “We're literally an uncivilized country now.” Trump is not answering the question. Biden: “Every single thing he said was a lie.” Ends with hitting Trump on the “suckers and losers.” Trump claiming that was a made-up quote. “No one has taking better care of our soldiers than me.” Trump claims that Biden made up the quote. When Biden is really mad, he does better. Keep poking him, Trump. UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:23:52 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Biden gets hit by the immigration question. Trump has already made this part of every response and now he’s getting an open invitation to repeat his statements again. Biden really needs to just answer “That was all lies” and move on. Because that’s all that Trump is doing is lying. Hey … there. Biden did it. UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:20:51 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Biden gets another swing at abortion and ends with simply says he supports Roe v. Wade. Trump again insists that Democrats want to kill babies up to “after being born.” Trump and Biden going back and forth on this, with Biden looking stronger than he has at any other point tonight. Daily Kos is the largest independent, progressive news outlet and activism hub in the country. Can you please support our work with a $5 monthly recurring donation? UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:19:22 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Trump gets asked about abortion. “This is something everybody wanted,” says Trump. Claims that “every legal expert” wanted it moved back to the states. “I believe in the exceptions” but “gotta get elected also.” Now Trump goes into the nonsense of “eight mention, ninth month, even after birth” Claims that Democrats wanted to kill the baby after birth. Biden starts off strong on dealing with abortion, having his best answer so far. But he opens the door for Trump to attack him again on immigration, which weakens Biden’s point. Trump is actually doing Biden’s work here as he continues taking credit for killing Roe. UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:14:47 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Trump making a series of false claims about the COVID-19 pandemic, and then swings into the “no one respects us” “w’e’re like a third world country” etc. Just lines from his rally speeches. Biden moves quickly to talk about the debt that Trump created, but his effort to deal with everything at once is only causing him to trip over his own feet. Again, he needs to slow it down and not try so hard to squeeze everything into every response. Trump is getting to repeat all his talking points, including his attacks on Biden, because he’s not trying to give factual answers. He’s just attacking Biden. UPDATE: Friday, Jun 28, 2024 · 1:09:46 AM +00:00 · Mark Sumner Trump has already going to “so many other things” and is claiming that the only jobs that Biden has created are “for illegal immigrants.” Biden needs to slow it down and not try to hit every single point in every single answer. Trump gets asked about tariffs, claims that the other countries will pay for the deals. So far the format is not working to hold Trump to account for anything
JoriPress
President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will share a stage in Atlanta Thursday as they face off in the season’s first presidential debate. The format for the evening will be unique, with no audience and both men speaking into microphones that will be muted when it’s not their turn to prevent them from speaking over each other.
Trump supporters have been doing everything they can to lower expectations by complaining about the moderators, inflating the time Biden spent preparing, and concocting wild conspiracy theories that Biden will be “jacked up” on drugs. But those same supporters have to be concerned about Trump’s recent rally performances, in which his usual word salad has seemed more like word coleslaw when he was forced to speak without a teleprompter.
Biden’s last major primetime appearance before the public was a powerful State of the Union address in March, but since then, there have been months in which media has harped endlessly on Biden’s age and outlets have edited videos to make him seem incompetent.
With a huge percentage of the public expected to tune in, this is a critical night for both candidates. Join us for the blow by blow.
Trump claims that Biden’s immigration policies has caused “hundreds of thousands of people to die” and that “people are coming in and killing our citizens at a rate we’ve never seen before.”
This is an absolutely fantasy. “We're literally an uncivilized country now.”
Trump is not answering the question.
Biden: “Every single thing he said was a lie.” Ends with hitting Trump on the “suckers and losers.”
Trump claiming that was a made-up quote. “No one has taking better care of our soldiers than me.” Trump claims that Biden made up the quote.
When Biden is really mad, he does better. Keep poking him, Trump.
Biden gets hit by the immigration question. Trump has already made this part of every response and now he’s getting an open invitation to repeat his statements again.
Biden really needs to just answer “That was all lies” and move on.
Because that’s all that Trump is doing is lying. Hey … there. Biden did it.
Biden gets another swing at abortion and ends with simply says he supports Roe v. Wade.
Trump again insists that Democrats want to kill babies up to “after being born.”
Trump and Biden going back and forth on this, with Biden looking stronger than he has at any other point tonight.
Trump gets asked about abortion. “This is something everybody wanted,” says Trump. Claims that “every legal expert” wanted it moved back to the states.
“I believe in the exceptions” but “gotta get elected also.”
Now Trump goes into the nonsense of “eight mention, ninth month, even after birth” Claims that Democrats wanted to kill the baby after birth.
Biden starts off strong on dealing with abortion, having his best answer so far. But he opens the door for Trump to attack him again on immigration, which weakens Biden’s point.
Trump is actually doing Biden’s work here as he continues taking credit for killing Roe.
Trump making a series of false claims about the COVID-19 pandemic, and then swings into the “no one respects us” “w’e’re like a third world country” etc. Just lines from his rally speeches.
Biden moves quickly to talk about the debt that Trump created, but his effort to deal with everything at once is only causing him to trip over his own feet. Again, he needs to slow it down and not try so hard to squeeze everything into every response.
Trump is getting to repeat all his talking points, including his attacks on Biden, because he’s not trying to give factual answers. He’s just attacking Biden.
Trump has already going to “so many other things” and is claiming that the only jobs that Biden has created are “for illegal immigrants.”
Biden needs to slow it down and not try to hit every single point in every single answer.
Trump gets asked about tariffs, claims that the other countries will pay for the deals. So far the format is not working to hold Trump to account for anything he says.
Right away, CNN hits Biden with the issue of inflation. Biden’s moving quickly to point out that the economy he was handed from Trump was a disaster and that he had to move quickly to keep things from moving to complete chaos.
Biden’s voice is a bit hoarse and he’s speaking very quickly, clearly trying to get in as much as he possibly can within two minutes. Meanwhile, Trump is just standing by looking smug.
Biden and Trump have taken the stage. Neither seems to have made a move to shake hands.
If you’re suffering through any of CNN’s pre-debate punditry, you’ll know that President Joe Biden has to climb a mountain, tame a lion, defeat death at chess, and do a hundred push-ups one-handed to prove his fitness.
Donald Trump has to stand on stage and not go into a screaming fit. That’s his only requirement.
The disparity in what pundits are demanding of the two men could not be greater.
