Comment on Big Questions for Democrats as Biden Lags in Key States

“Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance on Thursday left Democrats scrambling to defend the president, with his strongest backers defiant amid concerns it could sink his campaign,” USA Today reports. “Swarmed by reporters on the spin room floor, Biden surrogates batted away suggestions the president should step aside or risk delivering another term to former President Donald Trump.” Said California Gov.

“President Biden hoped to build fresh momentum for his re-election bid by agreeing to debate nearly two months before he is to be formally nominated. Instead, his halting and disjointed performance on Thursday night prompted a wave of panic among Democrats and reopened discussion of whether he should be the nominee at all,” the New York Times reports. “Over the course of 90 minutes, a raspy-voiced Mr.

After former President Donald Trump was criminally convicted last month, a historic first for a U. S. President, the guilty verdict was expected to be a topic neither Trump—who has campaigned on the claim that he was politically targeted—nor President Joe Biden could stay away from. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But instead of dominating discussion, Trump’s conviction only came up for the first time more than 45 minutes into the over 90-minute debate moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash—and it was only mentioned during one less than five-minute segment. Read More: These Are the Biggest Moments in the First Presidential Debate “The only person in this stage [who] is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said during a back and forth about the Jan.

On Thursday night, independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. stood alone on a stage in a small studio in Los Angeles answering the questions posed to his rivals at the first presidential debate 2,000 miles away in Atlanta. A livestream behind the scenes showed dozens of people hooting, clapping, and chanting “Bobby!” from plastic chairs in a dark studio as Kennedy stood behind a lit-up blue podium with a screen behind him reading “The Real Debate.” He faced Jon Stossel, a libertarian media personality, who served as a moderator of sorts as he frequently cut Kennedy off to return to CNN.

Former President Donald Trump defended the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. He called the Charlottesville white supremacist rally a “made up story.” He boasted that “We had H20” during his administration. He tried to assure American voters that he did not have sex with a porn star. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Under normal circumstances, Trump’s words would mark defining moments in the first 2024 presidential debate.

As soon as Fox News started to trumpet the idea that Joe Biden would be on drugs at the debate, everyone should have known what was coming. The narrative is set now: Trump was strong; Biden is weak. Biden's voice was raspy; Trump's was strong. Trump spoke with confidence; Biden was tentative. Everything that came out of Trump's mouth was a lie.