On Thursday, June 27th, President Biden and former President Trump met for the first time in four years on the debate stage in Atlanta, a pivotal moment in the U.S. presidential election. The two candidates clashed on issues such as the economy, reproductive rights, immigration, and foreign policy.
Overall, while both candidates had their strengths and weaknesses in their performance, many Democratic voters felt that Biden may have missed an opportunity to showcase his strength and persuade undecided voters.
In contrast, Trump departed from his aggressive tone in the first debate of 2020, which had drawn criticism. Many analysts believe that Trump may have benefitted more from this debate.
According to a quick poll released by the debate’s host, CNN, the majority of viewers who watched Thursday night’s debate believed that Trump outperformed Biden.
The poll indicated that 67% of debate viewers thought Trump performed better, while only 33% believed Biden did better.
For Trump, this result exceeded expectations. Before the debate, among the same group of voters surveyed, 55% expected Trump to perform better, while 45% thought Biden might.
The poll surveyed 565 registered voters via text message who watched the Thursday debate. Since this poll reflects viewers’ opinions only, it may not represent broader public sentiment.
CNN also noted that the percentage of respondents from the Republican Party slightly exceeded their proportion in the overall national electorate who responded to this poll.
At the start of the debate, Biden appeared hoarse and lacking in energy. Despite the White House later stating that Biden had been experiencing cold symptoms, this increased concerns among some voters about his age.
Both candidates had equal time to answer questions, with the option to end their remarks early. In the end, Trump spoke for a total of 40 minutes and 12 seconds, while Biden spoke for 35 minutes and 41 seconds.
Thirteen undecided voters interviewed after the debate by Reuters expressed disappointment in Biden’s performance during the debate.
Gina Gannon, a retired resident from the battleground state of Georgia who voted for Trump in 2016 before supporting Biden in 2020, said, “Biden appeared very weak and confused from the beginning. I worry about how our global enemies perceive Biden in this way. I am shocked and dismayed. I hate to see our president perform like this on TV and in front of the world.”
She added, “I am absolutely voting for Donald Trump now.”
That night, many Democrats also criticized Biden’s performance. Some privately raised doubts about whether Biden should continue as the party’s nominee.
Vice President Kamala Harris immediately attempted to defend Biden after the debate ended.
Harris acknowledged in her post-debate comments that Biden struggled at the start of the debate.
“He participated in the debate with a cold, but he got into his best form at critical moments,” she said, listing Biden’s attacks on Trump during the debate.
“When I look at the performance of the last three and a half years, I won’t spend the entire night talking to you about the last 90 minutes,” she said.
Despite this, Biden’s debate performance did not quiet internal critics within the party.
Former Obama strategist David Axelrod told CNN after the debate that Democrats would discuss whether Biden should continue to run.
Axelrod praised Biden’s policy discussions but noted that people would be shocked by his tone and demeanor at the debate’s start.
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s former White House communications director, also commented, “Biden’s debate performance was indeed disappointing.”
She said, “I don’t think there’s any other way to look at it. His main issue is proving to the American people that he has the energy, the stamina – and he didn’t accomplish that.”
Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio expressed his belief that more Americans were concluding after the first debate that they lived better under President Trump.
“Did we live better under Trump or under Biden? Did my pocket get fatter? Is the world safer and more secure?” Rubio said, emphasizing that these domestic issues would determine the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election.
Rubio is one of the potential candidates to run alongside Trump in the campaign. He said he doesn’t know who the vice president will be but is focused on addressing domestic issues.
The senator expressed concern about how other world leaders would view the U.S. after Biden’s debate performance.
“I’m not so happy about it, but obviously the president struggled tonight, and that worries me about how this is going to look to China, Iran, and Russia,” Rubio said.
“This is not good for our country,” he added.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believed that although he wasn’t eligible to participate in the first presidential debate of this election cycle, the event could still help his campaign gain momentum.
Kennedy said after the debate that voters viewed both Biden and Trump as imperfect choices, saying, “They are tired of choosing the lesser of two evils.”
He hoped that some of these voters would start paying attention to his candidacy.
Kennedy believed that the debate raised concerns among voters about Biden’s age, stamina, mental acuity, and worries about whether Trump would spread misinformation on the national stage.
“I don’t think it helped President Trump or President Biden. I think it helped me a lot,” Kennedy said.