A raspy President Joe Biden delivered rambling answers Thursday in the opening moments of his debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump, who countered Biden’s criticism with energy and at times by leaning into falsehoods about the economy and illegal immigration.
Biden: "We finally beat Medicaid"
6/28/2024
The debate came at a pivotal juncture in their unpopular presidential rematch, as Biden, the 81-year-old Democratic incumbent, entered the debate with the chance to reassure voters that he’s capable of guiding the U.S. through a host of challenges as he moved to sharpen the choice voters will face in November. Trump, 78, had the opening to try to move past his felony conviction in New York and convince an audience of tens of millions that he is temperamentally suited to return to the Oval Office.
Biden began the night with a raspy voice and a halting delivery as he tried to defend his economic record and criticize Trump. Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while giving one answer, drifting from an answer on tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID,” and then saying, “excuse me, with, dealing with,” and he trailed off again.
“Look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said, as his time ran out on his answer.
Trump picked right up on it, saying, “That’s right, he did beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare.”
Trump and Biden entered the night facing stiff headwinds, including a public weary of the tumult of partisan politics and broadly dissatisfied with both, according to polling. But the debate was highlighting how they have sharply different visions on virtually every core issue — abortion, the economy, and foreign policy — and deep hostility toward each other.
The two candidates strode on stage and walked directly to their lecterns, avoiding a handshake. Each man was relatively measured as he defended his record and blamed the other for steering the country off track.
But their personal animosity quickly came to the surface. 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.
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