WASHINGTON — For a re-run that showcased a rematch between two men with a combined age of 159, the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday night had a fiery sense of urgency.
Each man framed the presidential race as a crisis for the country, based almost solely on threats they said the other represented.
Here are some takeaways:
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President Joe Biden, right, and Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump participate in a presidential debate Thursday hosted by CNN in Atlanta.
Biden doesn't allay fears about his age
Presidential debates are often scored on style and impression more than substance. Trump was confident and composed, even as he steamrolled facts on abortion and immigration with false assertions, conspicuous exaggerations and empty superlatives. Biden was often halting, his voice raspy, even when he had the facts on his side. He had difficulty finishing his arguments and marshalling his attacks.
Trump's supporters have seemed unconcerned about his relationship with the truth, and his performance and delivery helped him. Biden's supporters consistently express concern about the president's age and capacity and he did little to reassure them.
One of the first glimpses viewers got of Biden was when he lost his train of thought while making his case on tax rates and the number of billionaires in America — trailing off and looking down at his lectern before mumbling briefly and saying “we finally beat Medicare.” When he tried to finish his point, he was cut off because of the time limits.
At other times, Biden made some puzzling non sequiturs that seemed to undercut what the campaign has said are his strong points, including the economy and abortion rights. As Biden critiqued Trump's economic record, the president suddenly pivoted to Afghanistan and how Trump "didn’t do anything about that" — although the botched withdrawal of Afghanistan is widely considered one of the lowest points of Biden's presidency.
Later, as Biden singled out state restrictions on abortion, he confusingly pivoted to immigration and referred to a “young woman who was just murdered” by an immigrant. It was unclear what point he was trying to make.
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Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump listens to questions during Thursday's presidential debate.
Trump won't condemn Jan. 6 attackers, giving Biden an opening
Trump was cruising through the opening of the debate when he suddenly stumbled over the question of how he would reassure voters that he would respect his oath of office after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He continued to engage in denialism about the attack and refused to denounced those who attacked police and stormed the building by breaking doors and windows. He suggested that those charged will somehow be found one day to be innocent.
More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal offenses stemming from the riot. Of those, more than 850 people have pleaded guilty to crimes, including seditious conspiracy and assaulting police officers. About 200 others have been convicted at trial.
Trump tried to avoid addressing the issue. He defended the people who stormed the Capitol, blaming Biden for prosecuting them. “What they’ve done to some people who are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Trump told Biden.
Trump warned that the members of the congressional committee that investigated Jan. 6 could face criminal charges, as could Biden himself.
Biden shot back: “The only person on this stage who’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at.”
Trump didn’t back down from his vow to seek vengeance. Coupled with his refusal to condemn the Jan. 6 attackers, it made for a stark moment.
Asked if he would accept the results of the election, Trump said, “if it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely,” which notably is not an unqualified yes.
Biden hits Trump on conviction, allegation of sex with a porn star
In what may well be a first in a presidential campaign, Trump called the president, Biden, a “criminal” and said he could well be prosecuted after he leaves office. Biden then brought Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York in which prosecutors presented evidence that Trump had sex with a porn actor.
“I didn’t have sex with a porn star,” Trump said.
On abortion, Trump falsely says everyone is happy, and Biden misses an opportunity
Abortion is an issue Democrats think could help deliver a victory in November. Trump in 2016 campaigned on overturning Roe v. Wade, and as president appointed three Supreme Court justices who provided the deciding votes revoking the 49-year right to the procedure. In response to a question from the moderators, Trump vowed not to go further if he returns to the White House, where his administration would have the authority to outlaw the abortion pill mifepristone, which is widely used.
Overturning Roe is one of Trump’s greatest political vulnerabilities, but on Thursday the former president contended everyone was happy with what he did.
“As far as abortion's concerned it’s back to the states,” Trump said, contending the Founding Fathers would have been happy with the end of Roe. “Everybody wanted it brought back.”
That’s not true. Polls have shown significant opposition to overturning Roe and voters have punished Republicans in recent elections for it. “The idea that the founders wanted the politicians to be the ones making the decisions about women’s health is ridiculous,” Biden shot back.
In a unanimous decision this month, the Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone, a pill that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year.
Until Thursday, Trump had not detailed his position on access to the medication, but during the debate he indicated he supported the justices’ decision, saying: “I will not block it."
But when it was his turn to speak, Biden stumbled through his explanation of Roe, which he said “had three trimesters" — a lost opportunity for the Democrat to make a strong rhetorical case on an issue vital for his party.
“The first time is between a woman and a doctor,” Biden continued. "Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.”
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President Joe Biden speaks during Thursday's presidential debate.
Trump blunts Biden's border progress with dark rhetoric
In recent months, Biden has tried to reverse his poor public standing over his handling of immigration, first by endorsing a bipartisan Senate proposal with some of the toughest border restrictions in recent memory and then, after that legislation collapsed, taking executive action to clamp down on migrants seeking asylum at the southern border.
But as Biden tried to tout the progress he’s made, particularly the 40% drop in illegal border crossings since his border directive was implemented this month, Trump invoked his trademark dark and catastrophic rhetoric to paint a portrait of a chaotic border under Biden’s watch.
For example, Trump argued that the migrants arriving at the U.S. border are coming from “mental institutions” and “insane asylums” — a frequent refrain of his at rallies for which he has offered no evidence. He also claimed the U.S.-Mexico border is the “most dangerous place anywhere in the world” and cited examples of immigrants in the U.S. illegally who had committed violent crimes.
Though some immigrants do commit horrific crimes, a 2020 study published by the National Academy of Sciences found “considerably lower felony arrest rates” among people in the United States illegally than among legal immigrants or native-born. But Trump often benefits from his certitude.
It's the economy, and Trump says Biden is stupid
The debate began with Biden defending his record on the economy, saying he inherited an economy that was “in a freefall” as it was battered by the coronavirus pandemic and that his administration put it back together again.
But after Biden touted his administration’s accomplishments — such as lowering the cost of insulin and the creation of millions of new jobs — Trump boasted that he oversaw the “greatest economy in the history of our country” and defended his record on the pandemic.
Biden retorted: “He’s the only one who thinks that.” But Trump responding by attacking him on inflation, arguing that he inherited low rates of inflation when he came into office in January 2021 yet prices “blew up under his leadership.”
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Images of U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, are reflected in an open car door as people watch the first general election debate of the 2024 season on a giant outdoor screen at the Nite Owl drive-in theater, Thursday in Miami.
One of Biden's strongest moments is about veterans
Biden — whose deceased son, Beau, served in Iraq — had one of his most forceful moments when he went on the attack against Trump’s reported comments in 2018 that he declined to visit a U.S. military cemetery in France because veterans buried there were “suckers” and “losers.”
It was an argument that Biden, then the Democratic challenger, made against Trump in their first 2020 debate and one that the incumbent president has regularly used against Trump, framing him as a commander in chief who nonetheless disparages veterans. “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker,” Biden said. “You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”
Trump responded that the publication that initially reported this comments, The Atlantic, “was a third-rate magazine” and had made up the quotes. But undercutting Trump’s retort is the fact that his former chief of staff, John Kelly, confirmed those private remarks in a statement last fall.
History-making moments from presidential debates
That old age question (again)
Updated![That old age question (again)](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=200%2C136 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=300%2C204 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=400%2C272 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=540%2C367 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=750%2C510 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C816 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/bb/cbbd2c5f-e26c-5f7f-9d90-b3cc60d530d2/667d6c6d0d12e.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1156 1700w)
Pictured: President Ronald Reagan, left, and his Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, shake hands before debating in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 22, 1984. (Ron Edmonds, Associated Press)
When everyone knows a sensitive question is coming yet you make the answer sound spontaneous, you're having a good debate. Republican President Ronald Reagan landed a line for the ages in the second presidential debate of 1984 after an underwhelming opening matchup.
Reagan was 73 and seeking a second term in his race against Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, then 56. In the first debate, Reagan struggled to remember facts and occasionally looked befuddled.
One of his top advisers, Nevada Sen. Paul Laxalt, suggested afterward that aides “filled his head with so many facts and figures that he lost his spontaneity."
So Reagan's team took a more hands-off approach toward his second faceoff with Mondale. And, when Reagan got a question about his mental and physical stamina that he had to know was coming, he was ready enough to make the response feel unplanned.
“You already are the oldest president in history,” moderator Henry Trewhitt said before asking whether Reagan might not be able to handle a challenge like the Cuban missile crisis.
“Not at all,” Reagan responded in defense of his crisis management smarts. He smoothly continued, “I want you to know that, also, I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Then, capitalizing on years of Hollywood-honed comedic training, the president took a sip of water, giving the audience and even Mondale, who himself cracked up, more time to laugh. Finally, he grinned and left little doubt that he'd rehearsed a response, adding, "It was Seneca, or it was Cicero, I don’t know which, that said, ‘If it was not for the elders correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state.’”
Years later, Mondale said that while TV viewers saw him laughing, “I think, if you come in close, you’ll see some tears coming down, because I knew he had gotten me there. That was really the end of my campaign that night."
Reagan thereby proved that even at his age, a candidate could get better over time. And with this year's race pitting 81-year-old Biden against 78-year-old Trump, 73 doesn't seem so old anymore.
Reagan is also remembered for using a light touch to neutralize criticisms from Democratic President Jimmy Carter in a 1980 debate.
When Carter accused him of wanting to cut Medicare, Reagan scolded, “There you go again.” The line worked so well he turned it into something of a trademark rejoinder going forward.
Gaffes galore
Updated![Gaffes galore](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/6/a0/6a08728c-341e-5660-bec3-e6875915f182/667d6c70f07f0.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1133 1700w)
Pictured: Jimmy Carter, left, and Gerald Ford, right, shake hands before the third presidential debate, Oct. 22, 1976, in Williamsburg, Va. (Associated Press
In 1976, Republican President Gerald Ford had a notable moment during his second debate against Carter — and not in a good way. The president declared that there is “no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.”
With Moscow controlling much of that part of the world, moderator Max Frankel responded, “I'm sorry, wha ..?” and asked if he'd understood correctly. Ford stood by his answer, then spent days on the campaign trail trying to explain it away. He lost that November.
“The closer the election, the more zingers and important debate lines can matter,” said Aaron Kall, director of the debate program at the University of Michigan. “Not just on who won, or who lost, but how does it affect fundraising, how does it impact the media cycle in coming days and weeks.”
Not all slips of the lip have a devastating impact.
Then-Sen. Barack Obama, in a 2008 Democratic presidential primary debate, dismissively told Hillary Clinton, “You’re likable enough, Hillary.” That haughty answer drew a backlash but Obama recovered.
The same couldn’t be said for the short-lived 2012 Republican White House bid of then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Despite repeated attempts and excruciatingly long pauses, Perry could not remember the third of the three federal agencies he’d promised to shutter if elected.
Finally, he sheepishly muttered, “Oops.”
The Energy Department is what slipped his mind.
Getting personal
Updated![Getting personal](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=200%2C135 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=300%2C203 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=400%2C270 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=540%2C365 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=750%2C507 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C811 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/b/58/b58a3e81-bb21-5df4-8bd5-0da2759f1363/667d6c767ca8c.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1150 1700w)
Pictured: Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, left, shakes hands with Sen. Dan Quayle, R-Ind., before the start of their vice presidential debate at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Neb., Oct. 5, 1988. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, Associated Press)
Another damaging moment opened the second presidential debate in 1988, when CNN anchor Bernard Shaw pressed Democrat Michael Dukakis, the governor of Massachusetts, about his opposition to capital punishment with a question that evoked the candidate's wife.
“If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” Shaw asked. Dukakis showed little emotion as he responded, “I don’t see any evidence that it’s a deterrent.”
Dukakis later said he wished he'd said that his wife "is the most precious thing, she and my family, that I have in this world."
That year's vice presidential debate featured one of the best-remembered, pre-planned one-liners.
When Dan Quayle, the Republican vice presidential nominee and Indiana senator, compared himself to John F. Kennedy while debating Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, the Democrat was ready. He'd studied Quayle's campaigning and seen him invoke Kennedy in the past.
“Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy,” Bentsen began slowly and deliberately, drawing out the moment. “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
The audience erupted in applause and laughter. Quayle was left to stare straight ahead.
Blunders without words
Updated![Blunders without words](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=200%2C296 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=300%2C443 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=400%2C591 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=540%2C798 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=750%2C1109 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/ea/9ea81132-ca36-5f01-9461-f8f690d34e4d/667d6c799eddc.image.jpg?resize=1184%2C1750 1200w)
Pictured: President George H.W. Bush looks at his watch during the 1992 presidential campaign debate with other candidates, Independent Ross Perot, top, and Democrat Bill Clinton, not shown, at the University of Richmond, Va., Oct. 15, 1992. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, Associated Press)
Quayle and George H.W. Bush still easily won the 1988 election. But they lost in 1992 after then-President Bush was caught on camera looking at his watch while Democrat Bill Clinton talked to an audience member during a town hall debate. Some thought it made Bush look bored and aloof.
In another instance of a nonverbal debate miscue, then-Democratic Vice President Al Gore was criticized for a subpar opening 2000 debate performance with Republican George W. Bush in which he repeatedly and very audibly sighed.
During their second, town hall-style debate, Gore moved so close to Bush while the Republican answered one question that Bush finally looked over and offered a confident nod, drawing laughter from the audience.
A similar moment occurred in 2016, as Hillary Clinton faced the audience to answer questions during her second debate with Trump. The Republican candidate moved in close behind her, narrowed his eyes and glowered.
Clinton offered no visible reaction then, but later wrote of the incident, "He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.”
Biden-Trump redux
Updated![Biden-Trump redux](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=200%2C133 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=540%2C360 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=750%2C500 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C800 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/e1/2e13c09e-a226-5a7c-abf5-ae26a6700b76/667f420520109.image.jpg?resize=1700%2C1133 1700w)
Pictured: President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University, Oct. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (Patrick Semansky, Associated Press)
June 26’s faceoff is the first time a current president debates a former.
Historically, incumbents sometimes struggle during opening debates. They're used to being surrounded by White House advisers who offer little pushback. In 2012, then-President Obama’s seemingly detached first debate performance against Mitt Romney allowed the Republican to gain momentum.
Romney, though, had an awkward moment during the second debate.
Answering a question about gender pay equity, the former Massachusetts governor talked about going to women's groups to get help finding qualified female applicants for top state posts.
"They brought us whole binders full of women,” he declared. Obama turned that into an attack line at subsequent rallies, gleefully saying, “We don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women.”
If Biden's debate skills are rusty this time, his opponent's might be as well. Trump skipped all the GOP primary debates this time, meaning he’s not done one since squaring off with Biden twice in 2020.
Trump interrupted so frequently when they first debated four years ago that Biden eventually cried out, “Will you shut up, man?” — a visceral moment if there ever was one. Trump is remembered that night for instructing members of the far-right Proud Boys group from the stage to “stand back and stand by.” Some members of the extremist group took it as a sign of encouragement.
The second Biden-Trump debate of 2020 saw producers cut the mics to discourage interrupting, making it less chaotic. It featured Biden wistfully declaring, “I am anxious to have this race. I’m anxious to see this take place.”
It did. And now it's happening again.