U.S. President Joe Biden delivered an uneven performance at Thursday's debate, while his Republican rival Donald Trump rattled off a series of attacks that included numerous falsehoods, as the two oldest presidential candidates ever clashed on stage ahead of November's U.S. election.
The two men traded barbs on abortion, immigration, the war in Ukraine and their handling of the economy as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.
Biden and Trump were under pressure to display their command of issues and avoid verbal gaffes as they sought a breakout moment. Biden, in particular, has been dogged by questions about his age and sharpness, while Trump's incendiary rhetoric and sprawling legal woes remain a vulnerability.
Inflation and economyThe first question went to Biden, pressed to defend rising inflation since he took office.
Biden acknowledged that inflation had driven prices substantially higher than at the start of his term but said he deserves credit for putting "things back together again" following the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump asserted that he had overseen "the greatest economy in the history of our country" before the pandemic struck and said he took action to prevent the economic free fall from deepening even further.
Biden gestures during a presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)AbortionBiden blamed Donald Trump during the debate for the deluge of state abortion restrictions since the fall of Roe v. Wade. As president, Trump appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped form the majority that overturned the constitutional right to abortion — and he has taken credit for that during his campaign.
Highlighting Trump's connection to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its impact on pregnant people across the U.S. has become a cornerstone of Biden's campaign. Biden has also warned that a second Trump term could lead to nationwide abortion restrictions.
Trump said on the debate stage that he believes in abortion ban exceptions "for rape, incest and the life of the mother," and repeated his catchall states-rights response when abortion rights came up, touting that he returned the abortion question to individual states after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which once granted a federal right to abortion.
ImmigrationTrump said Biden had failed to secure the southern U.S. border, ushering in scores of criminals.
"I call it Biden migrant crime," he said.
In response, Biden said, "Once again, he's exaggerating, he's lying."
Studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.
Trump gestures during the debate on Thursday. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)As expected, Trump also leaned heavily on discussing migrant crime. He also said migrants are coming into the U.S. illegally from "mental institutions" and "insane asylums." He has not provided evidence for that claim, which he has frequently made at rallies. Trump also said he had the "safest border border in history" — a highly questionably claim and a familiar talking point.
Biden has stuck to his talking points on immigration, highlighting 40 per cent drop in arrests for illegal immigration since issuing an executive order suspending asylum.
War in UkraineTrump suggested Russia never would have attacked Ukraine if he had been in office.
"If we had a real president, a president that knew that was respected by Putin, he would have never he would have never invaded Ukraine," he said.
Trump has a long history of positive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin's toughness, including calling Putin's tactics in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine "genius" and "very savvy."
Trump expresses no such warmth for Ukraine or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, most recently calling him a "salesman" this month for the Ukrainian leader's military aid requests to the United States.
"This place, the whole world, is blowing up under him," Trump said of Biden.
"I never heard so much malarkey in my whole life," Biden retorted.
Debate moderators Dana Bash, left, and Jake Tapper of CNN listen during the debate. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)NATOBiden pushed back at Trump bragging about pushing European allies to put more money into defence.
"This is a guy who wants to pull out of NATO," Biden said, adding that he "got 50 other nations" to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
Biden forcefully responded to Trump's NATO comments, saying: "He has no idea what the hell he's talking about."
'You're the sucker'The current president and his predecessor hadn't spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election, but their personal animus quickly came to the surface at the debate.
Biden got personal in evoking his son, Beau, who served in Iraq before dying of brain cancer.
The president criticized Trump for reportedly calling Americans killed in battle "suckers and losers."
Biden told Trump, "My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You're the sucker. You're the loser."
Trump said he never said that and slammed Biden for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
People watch the debate in a Chicago bar on Thursday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)'Morals of an alley cat'Almost 45 minutes into the debate, Biden finally referenced Trump's recent felony conviction in a New York hush money trial.
"You have the morals of an alley cat," and referencing the allegations in the case that Trump had sex with a porn actress.
"I did not have sex with a porn star," replied Trump, who chose not to testify at his trial.
Trump retorted that Biden could face criminal charges "when he leaves office," he said, though there is no evidence of any wrongdoing,
"Joe could be a convicted felon with all the things that he's done." He added of the president, "this man is a criminal."
EnvironmentMore than an hour into the debate, the candidates finally talked about climate change, which Biden has called an existential crisis and a top priority of his presidency.
Trump, after initially declining to answer on climate, said he wants "absolutely immaculate, clean water and I want absolutely clean air."
He said that during his administration, "we were using all forms of energy, all forms, everything" and claimed he "had the best environmental numbers ever." It was unclear what he was referring to.
Biden called climate change the greatest threat to humanity, adding that Trump "didn't do a darn thing about it."
Biden cited the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is authorizes billions for clean energy. Biden called it the most significant climate legislation ever passed.
The current president and his predecessor hadn't spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election, but their personal animus quickly came to the surface at the debate. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)Biden loses train of thoughtBiden seemed to lose his train of thought while responding to a question about the national debt.
His voice trailing off several times, Biden first referred to "billionaires" as "trillionaires" before correcting himself.
Then, while arguing that the wealthy should pay more tax, he seemed unable to complete his sentence, pausing for an extended awkward moment, before ending his thought in a way that sounded nonsensical.
Tax reform would create money to help "strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I was able to do with the, with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we had to do with," Biden said before pausing.
"We finally beat Medicare," Biden said, likely referring to COVID-19.
Trump pounced: "He's right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death."
Two White House officials said Biden had a cold. But his uneven performance could deepen voter concerns that the 81-year-old is too old to serve another four-year term.
AgeMore than 80 minutes into the debate, Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, were asked about their age and ability to serve well into their 80s.
Biden, answering with the hoarse voice he's had all night, launched on a litany of policy achievements and noted that Trump is only "three years younger."
Biden also used the answer to slap at Trump for bad-mouthing the U.S.
"The idea that we are some kind of failing country? I've never heard a president talk like that before," Biden said.
In his retort, Trump bragged about his golf game and said he's in as good a shape as he was 25 years ago and perhaps "even a little bit lighter."
Trump avoids affirming he will accept vote resultsThough asked three times, Trump never directly affirmed that he would accept the election results, no matter who wins.
Several times Trump noted that he would accept the results "if it's a fair and legal and good election," but wouldn't give a "yes" or "no" answer to moderator inquiries.
The follow-ups came after Trump ultimately denounced political violence as "totally unacceptable."
After the moderator asked Trump three times whether he would accept the results of the November election, Biden responded that he doubted Trump would "because you're such a whiner."
Biden noted there was no evidence of any widespread fraud in the 2020 election and that multiple courts had dismissed challenges brought by Trump's campaign.
