Supporters of U.S. President Joe Biden had hoped that Thursday night’s debate would quell concerns about the 81-year-old’s ability to serve another term. However, Biden’s hoarse voice and at times tentative performance against his 78-year-old Republican rival, Donald Trump, only intensified those worries.
Both Biden and Trump have faced questions about their age and fitness in the lead-up to the November 5 election, but these concerns have weighed more heavily on Biden. During the debate, Biden, suffering from a cold, hurried through some of his talking points, stumbled over answers, and trailed off during others. About halfway through the debate, a Democratic strategist who worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign called it a “disaster.”
Trump launched a series of criticisms, including false claims about migrants causing a crime wave and Democrats supporting infanticide. Early in the debate, Biden paused while discussing Medicare and tax reform and seemed to lose his train of thought. “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, pausing. “We finally beat Medicare.” Trump seized the moment, saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said.”
“Biden’s not talking in a measured way, and looks like he’s searching for words,” said Ray La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Before the debate, Biden spent nearly a week at “debate camp” with top advisers at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, highlighting the importance his campaign placed on Thursday night. Despite this preparation, critics were not impressed with his performance. Joe Walsh, a former 2020 Republican presidential candidate who has been critical of Trump, expressed his disappointment on X, saying, “Trump is Trump, every word out of his mouth is bullshit. But Biden sounds old. And lost. And that’s going to matter more than anything. So far, this is an absolute nightmare for Biden.”
