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Going into Thursday’s debate, I said both candidates would have to fight their worst tendencies to reassure voters. After years away from the debate stage, they would have to appeal to a double whammy of suburban skeptics and independents. They needed to reassure that small minority of voters who were still undecided in other ways.
They expected a President Joe Biden who was commanding, smooth-talking and coherent, who could defend a record that was not looking good to ordinary voters, who could dispel concerns about his age, or at least calm them overnight, as he did in the State of the Union.
In former President Donald Trump, they were looking for someone calm and disciplined who could contrast Biden’s record with his predecessor’s, while also controlling his personality quirks and tendency to relive the worst moments in 2020.
Will Biden lose the Democratic nomination?
For both men, the most favorable version they could potentially present was the State of the Union version: Biden’s State of the Union version is unnervingly loud, but more energetic and fluent, and he delivers some policy points; Trump’s State of the Union version is Trump, but more subdued, and includes some ad-libs.
President Biden and former President Trump debated on Thursday night, with Trump emerging victorious, and the contrast was undeniable. (Getty Images)
Only one of them was in attendance, and the contrast was undeniable. Even the difference in their voices during their opening statements was telling.
Less than 15 minutes into the debate, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought, ending his answer with the incoherent, rambling, “And then we finally defeated Medicare.”
Trump seized on this by simply smirking as he waited for Biden to respond, before criticizing Biden, saying he “defeated Medicare. Defeated it badly.”
Trump’s uncharacteristically restrained demeanor and debate rules that required microphones to be turned off to prevent crosstalk have left the president burying himself rather than saving himself from Trump’s intercession.
Disgracefully, Biden simply erased the 13 American soldiers who died during the disastrous withdrawal at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan.
“In fact, I’m the only president this century, this decade, who hasn’t caused the deaths of soldiers anywhere in the world like he has.”
Not only was it a self-defeating mistake for Biden to reference one of his most glaring and fatal missteps, it also allowed Trump to retort:
“When it comes to Afghanistan, I withdrew from Afghanistan, but we withdrew with dignity, strength and power. He withdrew. It was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.”
“Operation: Replace Biden,” the Drudge Report headlined after the CNN presidential debate. (Screenshot/Drudge Report)
Trump then deployed what are some of his greatest skills: comedic timing and a flair for entertaining television, delivering the line of the night: After Biden’s somewhat rambling and rambling response on immigration, the host turned the focus to Trump.
“I have no idea what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
He said what everyone was thinking, and it all happened in the first 25 minutes of the debate, the most-watched segment of the debate, the one both candidates were supposed to be appealing to.
As the debate went on, there were moments when Biden had a slight lead, but that didn’t matter: I’m hard pressed to remember a single time when Biden threw a punch at Trump, even on a topic as simple as January 6th.
On issues like the future of democracy and abortion, the one issue on which Biden consistently leads voters and which should be the basis of his entire campaign, Biden has left him alone.
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It was Biden, not Trump, who gave the most offensive answer on the abortion issue, causing pro-life activists to scratch their heads when he spoke about a woman who had been raped by her in-laws.
“Look, there’s a young woman who’s just been murdered, and I went to her funeral, and the idea is that she was murdered by an immigrant, and people are talking about it. But the thing is, there are a lot of young women out there who are being raped by their in-laws, their spouses, their brothers and sisters. It’s just ridiculous. And they can’t do anything about it.”
Not being the topic of the debate was a major win for Trump, as Biden was the only talking point of the night in what even his ally, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, called “the worst debate performance in modern history.”
Trump then deployed his best skills — comedic timing and a flair for entertaining television — to deliver the line of the night. After Biden gave a somewhat incoherent and mumbled response on immigration, the host asked Trump, “I have no idea what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said.”
Many Democrats and media outlets have understandably panicked in the aftermath of Biden’s night, suddenly realizing that the 81-year-old Biden may not be able to do his job. The word “panic” may be used more times on MSNBC than there have been border crossings today.
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But Democrats are in real trouble if they want to realize their barely hidden dream of replacing Biden as the nominee come election summer. Biden has been running for president since I was a kid. It seems unlikely he’ll step down without a fight. His wife, the person closest to him, was congratulating him at the afterparty. “He answered every question. You had all the facts,” Biden said, smiling deadpan at an audience that seemed to turn a blind eye to what was right in front of them.
But turning a blind eye to what was right in front of their eyes is what got the Democrats so far. Today, our elites are surprised by Biden’s drop in approval ratings, but they’re just trying to catch up with the voters. A NYT/Siena poll this week found that 69% of voters say Biden is too old to serve another four years as president. These numbers aren’t new. This information isn’t new. What’s new is the realization that they may not be able to get away with lying to us all.
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