During one of the most crucial moments of his political career, President Joe Biden faced significant challenges in a debate against former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s performance, marked by a raspy voice, wandering eyes, pale complexion and halting delivery, has ignited widespread concerns about his fitness as a candidate. Despite Trump’s own issues with falsehoods and bluster, it was Biden’s age that became the defining issue of the night. (Related: Biden campaign calls for CENSORSHIP of “disinfo” after video clip of president “wandering off” at G7 summit goes viral.)

The debate, pushed by Biden’s team to shift focus onto Trump, seemed to backfire.

Observers noted that Biden struggled to reassure voters about his capability, with his performance often becoming unintelligible. The first debate has concluded, with the second one not scheduled until September 10, leaving Democrats reeling and concerned about the campaign’s trajectory.

Political commentators from POLITICO provided their takeaways:

Sam Stein: Biden failed to calm concerns about his age, which was the main objective of scheduling this early debate. His performance ranged from debilitating to ephemeral but is expected to prompt a difficult news cycle for his campaign.

Steven Shepard: Biden’s repeated stumbles reinforced voters’ concerns about his ability to serve another term. Although Trump had his own flaws on display, Biden’s issues were more pronounced. Significant shares of Biden’s own voters were already uneasy about his candidacy and the president did little to reassure them. In a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in the run-up to Thursday’s debate, only 51 percent of likely voters who picked Biden over Trump said they wanted Biden to be the Democratic nominee. Nearly as many, 45 percent, said there should be a different nominee. And 53 percent of Biden voters said they “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that Biden is “just too old to be an effective president.”

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Adam Wren: Democratic aides expressed frustration over CNN’s handling of the debate, but Biden’s performance was poor regardless. Even on critical topics, he missed opportunities to make effective arguments. Near the end of the debate, when he had an opportunity to address concerns about his age, he started talking about microchips instead, which was baffling.

Natalie Allison: Trump summarized the general perception by pointing out that Biden often seemed unclear even to himself. Biden had moments of clarity, particularly when discussing Trump’s actions on January 6, but these were exceptions. Trump’s pre-debate policy refreshers with friends and advisers clearly served him well and he came across as decisive and energetic. The mic-muting rule certainly helped him. He won by all measures. Biden’s unclear and softly spoken responses made it difficult to follow his points.

Elena Schneider: Biden lost the debate within the first 15 minutes, which is likely when the highest number of viewers were watching. While he did land some strong rebuttals later on, many voters may have missed them.

Impact on the campaign

The debate’s outcome has led to serious Democratic concerns about Biden’s campaign. Some anticipate significant polling dips for Biden and calls for him to reconsider his candidacy. While there is still time before the election, the debate has intensified scrutiny on Biden.

Democratic sources began expressing concern within the first few minutes of the debate, indicating widespread worry about Biden’s performance. The reaction ranged from disappointment to suggestions that this was one of the worst nights of Biden’s presidency, comparable to the fallout from the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Several moments stood out as particularly damaging for Biden, such as his confusing statements on Medicare and abortion. These missteps are expected to be highlighted in future Republican attacks.

The clip of Biden inexplicably saying “We finally beat Medicare” is one that will almost certainly be used by Republicans in ads. Democrats have tried to hit Trump over some GOP officials wanting to cut entitlement programs – an attack that already doesn’t stick, because Trump has maintained he is against doing so – but Biden’s nonsensical comment now gives them a way to try to go after Biden on it. While also mocking his cognitive condition.

The latest news about the 2024 presidential election can be found at BigGovernment.news.

Watch this video of the presidential debate between Trump and Biden.

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Sources include:

Politico.com