By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Friends and foes expressed concern Friday that U.S. President Joe Biden was “losing” his high-stakes debate with former President Donald Trump.

Commentators wrote an hour into the debate that he looked “old” and “weak”—and a handful argued Biden should drop out of the race.

While Biden, who at age 81, was already battling perceptions that he was too elderly for a second term, Trump, 78, was facing concerns from moderate and swing voters about his, at times, bombastic style.

Yet Biden struggled at times, stumbling over answers with a raspy voice — a campaign aide said he has a cold — and adding fodder to concerns about his age and mental fitness.

The biggest moment of the night came early, when Biden appeared to freeze for several seconds while answering a question about the economy, commentators said.

That – and all of the many other gaffes of the evening, were to be replayed on cable news shows and shared thousands of times on social media for weeks to come.

Experts polled by the USA Today publication said they saw sharp differences in the stamina of the two candidates on stage Thursday night, warning that Biden’s low-energy demeanor could hurt him for months to come.

In one of the most defining moments of the debate, Biden took a prolonged pause and appeared to freeze while answering a question about the economy.

After stuttering, the president continued, but began talking about COVID-19 and Medicare.

Trump sought to highlight Biden’s slower responses, at one point saying “I really don’t know what he said at the end of this, and I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”

However halfway Biden started gaining his footing again, mocking Trump’s physical fitness and calling him a “whiner” and a “loser.”

Trump was criticized for allegedly offering falsehoods and misleading statements in his responses. He hammered Biden on immigration and the border, even when he was asked about other issues.

And he dodged questions about whether he would accept the results of the election.

Trump downplayed his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during the first presidential debate, saying some people “asked me to go make a speech.”

He has denied any involvement in violent efforts by Capitol rioters to overturn the election.

Both candidates also hurled personal insults at each other, with Biden hitting Trump for his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels and Trump calling Biden a “complainer” and the “worst president” in American history.

President Biden and Trump did not shake hands when they entered the debate stage in what has been the first presidential debate in four years – the last one was 2020.

Although it might seem like a break from traditional debate norms, it is not the first time. The 2020 presidential debates were held in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the two men also did not shake hands.

Yet it set the stage for a turbulent debate.

Cable News Network (CNN) moderator Jake Tapper asked Biden the first topic of the debate, the economy: “What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency than they were under President Trump?

Biden, with a voice that sounded a bit hoarse and raspy, answered the first question by describing the American economy as “in freefall.”

When answering a question about the national debt, Biden said: “We would be able to wipe out his debt, clear up all those things we need to do in childcare, elder care, making sure we continue to strengthen our healthcare system, making sure we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’m been able to do with dealing with everything…If we finally beat Medicare…”

Amy Koch, former majority leader of Minnesota senate, told Daily Express US outlet: “The Biden confusion was a bad, bad moment.”

As Biden continued his answer, he fell into a gaffe, claiming that he had created 15,000 jobs. Biden had previously claimed that he had passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since he took office.

Trump opened the debate by claiming that the state of the economy and his handling of the pandemic was “rocking good,” adding that his administration’s policies did not inherit inflamation when he was president.

The Republican then claimed that millions from prisons, mental institutions and asylums have been illegaly admitted to the country, although critics said there is no evidence to support it.

Trump returned to the topic by claiming that the US economy was ready to start paying down its national debt before the pandemic.

Trump said that he supported the Supreme Court’s decision to preserve access to mifepristone, adding that he will not block the abortion medication if he was re-elected as President.

“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade [that enabled nation wide abortions] and putting it back to the states,” Trump said.

Trump also claimed that Biden was “destroying Medicare” by putting people who cross the border illegally onto the health program.

Fact checkers said immigrants illegally entering the country are, ineligible for federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

When discussing Roe V. Wade, Trump claimed Democrat policies allowed doctors to “rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby.”

“That is simply not true,” Biden responded. “Roe v. Wade does not provide for that — that’s not the circumstance. Only if a woman’s life is in danger, or she’s going to die. That’s the only circumstance where that can happen.”

With foreign policy as the next topic, Trump called the US withdrawal from Afghanistan “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life,” and said that he had been working toward a withdrawal “with dignity, with strength, with power.”

Trump then used time on a foreign policy question about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to criticze Biden on the issue of veterans.

“First of all, our veterans and our soldiers can’t stand this guy. They can’t stand him. They think he’s the worst commander in chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had,” Trump said.

Biden then referenced a 2020 article that alleged Trump made disparaging remarks about fallen American servicemen.

“My kid was not a loser, was not a sucker,” Biden said, in reference to his late oldest son, Beau Biden, before pointing to Trump and saying, “You’re the loser, the sucker.”

Defending himself, Trump said: “First of all, that was a made-up quote, ‘suckers and losers.’ They made it up.”

“It was in a third-rate magazine that’s failing, like many of these magazines. To think that I would, in front of generals and others, say ‘suckers and losers,'” he continued.

Biden also brought up Trump’s criminal felony conviction for the first time in the debate, calling Trump a “convicted felon.”

Trump then pivoted to Biden’s son, Hunter, during the back-and-forth exchange by calling him a “convicted felon,” in reference to Hunter’s federal gun trial in which a Delaware grand jury found him guilty on three felony charges earlier this month.

Yet with both elderly men setting the tone for a likely ugly presidential race, observers may be forgiven to wonder who will be able to lead and keep the USA united.

Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.

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