Dem panic over Biden’s performance, Trump energetic but disciplined in the duel on TV

The hours following the televised debate between Joe Biden e Donald Trump are dominated more by the Concern for the health of the incumbent president that from the discussion on the contents of a very heated but orderly confrontation,thanks to the strict rules imposed by CNN: no audience, no ‘prompter’, the microphone turned off when the other speaks, to avoid a repeat of the 2020 TV duel, which degenerated into a verbal brawl with continuous mutual interruptions.

The 81-year-old Biden responded more pointedly to questions from Jake Tapper e Dana Bash, demonstrating that he had done a fairly tidy job of preparation, but appeared tired and in a weak physical condition, with a cold that made his voice hoarse. Both dem strategists and the social media base are panicking over the confirmation of fears on Biden’s precarious health, already increased after the latest international outings, including the recent G7. Nonetheless, after the broadcast, Biden declared that she “did well.”

Is it too late to take a step back?

More cautious Kamala Harris, almost as if to give voice to the doubts that are starting to circulate in Democratic circles about the suitability of such an elderly candidate. “It was a slow start, that’s obvious to everyone, I don’t question that,” Harris acknowledged, “but he finished strong.” For David Axelrod, the man behind Obama’s campaign victory, “it was the night that confirmed people’s fears.” And we wonder if it is not too late to take a step back: the name that circulates most insistently as a possible replacement is that of the fifty-six-year-old governor of California, Gavin Newsom.

Trump, who is only three years younger than him, on the contrary showed a remarkable physical vigor for his age and could increase his lead in those swing states where he is given a lead of at least one point for this reason alone. The Republican candidate, energetic but disciplined, has often skirted around the issues he was asked about, continuing to answer the previous question or taking the conversation elsewhere. Inflation (which, according to Trump, is “killing” the US), abortion, immigration and Ukraine are among the main issues of a tense and very heavy-toned face to facewith both contenders accusing each other of being the worst president in US history

Trump on the attack on immigration

I due they enter the studio without shaking hands. Biden claims to have lifted the nation out of the “chaos” left by his predecessor, increasing jobs. Trump retorts that during his administration the economy was running well before Covid arrived, a problem that – he claims – he was never “credited with having solved”.

With Biden instead, the former president attacks, the US would have become a “third world country” devastated by illegal immigration, which brings in through the border with Mexico, defined as “the most dangerous on Earth”, people who come “from prisons and mental institutions”, “rape and kill” and “sleep in luxury hotels while our veterans sleep in the streets”. Biden has implemented a late crackdown on immigration but the increase in the number of illegal entries in some phases of his mandate is one of his major weaknesses, which Trump continually insists on, even when they ask him to do something completely different. His Democratic opponent, in turn, accuses him of “exaggerating” and “lying”.

From Abortion to Ukraine, the Topics of the Conversation

On social security, economy, energy and environment, both claim to have done better than the other but we don’t delve into the data, time is tight. Then ithe abortion knot. Biden promises to restore Roe vs. Wade, the entrepreneur states that there is more freedom if competence returns to individual states and assures that he will not intervene to block the abortion pill.

On foreign policy, however, Trump has not explained how he intends to resolve the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza,where Israel, he declared, “must finish the job”. He went back to making fun of Zelensky as “an excellent businessman who always manages to leave here with money” but defined the peace conditions set by Putin as “unacceptable”. For the tycoon, the war between Moscow and Kiev broke out because Biden, with the disorderly withdrawal from Afghanistan, “the most embarrassing day in our history”, showed weakness and pushed Putin to “think he could take Ukraine”. And even the attack on October 7, according to Trump, would never have happened if he had been in the White House.

After an hour has passed, Biden seems to be gaining comfort and his throat clears. And she lands a couple of low blows. She says Trump is “a convicted felon” who “had sex with a porn star when his wife was pregnant” and therefore “can’t come and lecture us.” Trump denies having had any dealings with Stormy Daniels,in fact, it would all be a set-up by the Democrats.

On theassault on Capitol Hill on January 6committed by his agitated supporters who had brought the fight to overturn a vote that Trump continues to consider illegitimate to extreme consequences, the real estate developer places the responsibility for the unrest on Nancy Pelosi, then Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, who reportedly rejected his proposal to send ten thousand members of the National Guard. But will Trump accept the next verdict at the polls, whatever it may be? “If the vote is legitimate and free, yes,” he guarantees. Biden reminds him that his attempts, including judicial ones, to carry out recounts in his favor have all failed.

A black deputy for “The Donald”?

And the debate is being hosted by Atlanta, Georgia, a state where Trump is said to have put direct pressure on the local administration for this purpose. As well as a state with a large black community. AND African-Americans’ choices will be decisive, because Trump enjoys unusual support among them for a Republican. In fact, he claims to have increased their jobs and adds that illegal immigration must be stopped so that they do not lose them.

It is not unlikely that the vice presidential candidate he revealed he “already chose” is black. The former president expressed public respect for the New Yorker Byron Donalds and during a rally he had asked the public if they would have wanted the deputy as his second. However, the senator’s stock is rising Tim Scotta more insipid figure but useful in capturing the evangelical vote.

“Dem, we have a problem”

In the Democratic camp, attention is focused on Biden’s worrying performance. Trump recalls having published the results of his medical tests, says he is ready to take a neurological test and asks his rival if he would do the same. The incumbent president says he is willing to undergo “one of those tests” but, if the content of the answers can be discussed, on physical form the comparison was unequal. Trump was controlled and confident, even though he repeatedly rattled off slogans instead of getting to the heart of the matter.

CNN cites party insiders as saying “we have a problem.” The New York Times monitored social media and reactions: “On social media, in chat rooms and emails, the president’s supporters went wild over the president’s shaky voice, his rambling answers and his apparent confusion during some of his answers.” “Months-simmering concerns about Biden’s age exploded into public attention before the debate was even over,” the most important progressive newspaper in the United States wrote.