The most fascinating reaction to the Trump/Biden debate on CNN was the immediate attack by a panel, including former White House advisor to Biden, Kate Bedingfield. and Van Jones, who was on the Obama staff, on Biden’s performance which was described as weak and incoherent.
There were even suggestions by CNN’s John King and others that Democratic Party leaders are considering asking Biden to step aside prior to the Convention in Chicago in August.
🚨CNN’S VAN JONES CALLS FOR BIDEN TO PULL OUT OF RACE:
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 28, 2024
“There are going to be a lot of people who want him to consider taking a different course now… That was not what we needed from Joe Biden. It is personally PAINFUL for a lot of people.” pic.twitter.com/IgcnwZhCbS
“One major Democratic donor and #Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as ‘the worst performance in history”
— Kenny Cunningham (@KennyCunningham) June 28, 2024
@ec_schneider @adamwren @politico #debate https://t.co/GeXTHDrBTJ
The early editions of the New York Times also took a dim view of the Biden show, saying that Biden struggled as Trump blustered in the CNN debate.
The particular focus on his performance was on his opening and closing statements, with merely grudging recognition that he had improved over the course of the question and answer sessions and that he had made some good points against Trump. Yet even here, the consensus was that Biden had failed to capitalise on the Democrat’s strong points and had teed up Trump to go on the attack.
My impression was similar in so far as there was an initial sense that Biden was going to be lucky not to be hauled off before half time like the corner forward who had allowed the opposing corner back score two early goals.
Biden did have several very bad moments, such as when the Border Patrol Union made it clear during the debate that they would never endorse Biden as he had claimed. And perhaps worst of all when Trump followed a rambling Biden response with the cutting remark that I really don’t know what he said. I don’t think he knows either.”
Trump Says he couldn’t understand what Biden says. Same here pic.twitter.com/Se4bHBAUZf
— Mirthful Moments (@moment_mirthful) June 28, 2024
Biden did recover, and I was reminded of John McGuirk’s claim when we Gripters were discussing this a week ago that anything barring a no show by Biden or a complete collapse would represent a victory given that so much of the Trump campaign, both prior to the debate and by Trump himself during it, was focused on Biden’s failing capacity and unfitness for office.
It is curious then that the Democrats themselves – and you would be forgiven for forming the impression during the immediate CNN panel discussion that there was an element of orchestration about all of this – believe that this might have been even from their point of view the final straw that convinced them that Biden cannot win. Or that they had come to this decision beforehand.
BREAKING: CNN grills Kamala Harris—should Joe Biden step aside?
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) June 28, 2024
"CNN's John King has described a panic in the Democratic Party right now because of Biden's performance. Some in your party are even asking if President Biden should step aside. What do you say to that?"
"The… pic.twitter.com/qCMMQ9adx3
So it will be interesting to see what the voters think. One early poll taken by CNN itself during the debate showed that 94% of viewers believed that Trump was winning.
Another state swing poll showed that 66% of those polled did not believe that Biden would be able to finish a second term. Worst of all for the President, a CNN flash poll showed that 67% of the audience who responded thought that Trump had won.
Fitness for office was the point of one of the questions from co-moderator Dana Bash who referred to both of the candidate’s age and whether this would be a factor. Trump’s boast about “acing” competency tests and his prowess at golf was responded to by Biden’s boast about lowering his handicap to 6 and that he would beat Trump in a driving competition. Thus rescuing Trump from his own facepalm moment, I thought.
Bash probably had 96% approval when she admonished them both to “Don’t let’s act like children.” Which was how it seemed, as did the sometimes curious facial expressions of Trump – who nodded his head and seemed to be suppressing a wry smile when being accused of all sorts of things – and Biden who veered between gazing into the middle distance and looking sideways and outraged.
Much of the exchanges were made up of vitriolic personal attacks. They both agreed that the other was the “Worst President Ever.” Biden variously accused Trump of having incited the January 6 “insurrection,” of being a “convicted felon” who had “sex with a porn star,” and on numerous occasions of lying.
Trump responded with references to Hunter Biden’s being a felon, of Joe potentially becoming one himself, of Biden having effectively bribed Ukraine to drop charges against the boy, and trumped it all by accusing Biden of being a “Manchurian Candidate” who is “working for China.” These guys do not like one another and made no pretence at all of the formal politeness and courtesy that once marked such debates.
On the issues, Biden I thought sounded possibly better and more detailed on some although he stumbled over longer explanations involving economic questions. He possibly did outscore Trump on tax although Trump made the valid point that Biden was still promising to do stuff on social security and tax and other issues that he has not done in the previous three and a half years.
Trump was certainly evasive and vague and it will be interesting what voters make of that, and rarely answered a direct question the first time. He mostly doubled down on introducing illegal immigration into most responses and the effects this has had on crime levels, jobs for black people and Hispanics, housing and so on.
Pro-life voters will have possibly been somewhat assuaged by Trump’s defence of his apparent softening of his position on abortion by claiming that the whole point of overturning Roe v Wade was to return the decision back to the states. Biden will not in any event have won them over by his garbled response to Trump’s claims about late term abortions, nor lost liberal voters.
On foreign policy Trump’s main line was that everything from Afghanistan to Ukraine and Gaza was due to Biden’s weakness and that he would reverse all of these disasters including bringing an end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza even before he formally took office if elected. He possibly overcooked the turkey in insisting that the United States has lost all international respect from friend and foe which elicited perhaps Biden’s best response in defending the US against such a calumny.
How all of this plays in the sticks is the other matter. Polling numbers over the next few days may well be decisive if there is any Machiavellian plan by the suits in the Democratic National Committee to take Biden out before Chicago and replace him with a candidate they think might beat Trump.
The question is, who might that be? Vice President Kamala Harris would be the obvious choice you might think but she is not even fancied by the bookies as the possible Democrat alternative to Trump who is now as short as 4/7 to win in November, Rather, Gavin Newsom the Governor of California appears to be the one being mooted and his price has been slashed to 6/1. Another possibility is Michelle Obama who before the debate was reported as being unhappy with the campaign. She is in the books at 20/1, the same price as Harris.
If all of this is anywhere close to what might happen over the next weeks then last night in Atlanta might be the last time anyone will see Biden and Trump debate. I could live with that I think