Donald Trump and Joe Biden: The key moments in the first US presidential election debate

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2 days ago

June 28, 2024

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Joe Biden and Donald Trump have held the first presidential debate, where the president struggled to speak and the Republican was dogged by his criminal trials.

Held in Atlanta, Georgia, the CNN-hosted debate marked a rematch four years in the making.

With one candidate’s microphone turned off while the other was speaking, Mr Trump and Mr Biden slugged at each other’s record in office for 90 minutes.

Read the Trump v Biden debate as it happened live here

The mediators divided the debate in to subjects, but both candidates evaded questions and stuck to their favoured topics.

Here’s the key topics Mr Biden and Mr Trump clashed on….

Economy

With a hoarse voice – which his aides later briefed was because of a cold – Mr Biden started the debate by blaming Mr Trump for the state he left the economy in when he left office.

Mr Trump, however, praised his own record, saying: “We have the greatest economy in the history of our country, and we have never done so well.”

He claimed he ran a higher deficit to stop another Great Depression during the COVID pandemic, before accusing Mr Biden of doing a “poor job,” saying inflation is “killing” the country, and adding: “It’s probably the worst administration in history.”

Moderators noted Mr Trump’s administration approved $8.4tn in new debt, while so far Mr Biden has approved $4.3 trillion in new debt.

When asked about tax cuts he passed that are set to expire in 2025, Mr Trump said they “spurred the greatest economy we’ve ever seen just prior to COVID,” and added: “The country was going like never before, and we were ready to start paying down debt”.

Mr Biden then attacked Mr Trump over having the largest national debt of any president and insisted he would fix the tax system. But while saying his administration was “making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I was able to do with the COVID,” Mr Biden stumbled.

He continued to say “excuse me – with dealing with everything we have to do with – look – if we finally beat Medicare,” before pausing until the end of his allotted time.

Mr Trump picked right up on it and fired back: “That’s right, he did beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare.”

Abortion & Roe v Wade

Mr Trump has taken credit for appointing Supreme Court judges who revoked the Roe v Wade ruling in 2022. It underpinned federal protections for the rights to abortions, and has been a fixture of Mr Biden’s re-election campaign.

When asked about a recent Supreme Court ruling decision to approve abortion medication despite state bans, Mr Trump supported it and insisted returning power on abortion to state governments was what “everyone wanted”.

After discussing how “the states are working it out”, Mr Trump added: “I believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes, and frankly, I think it’s important to believe in the exceptions.”

Mr Biden then told Mr Trump “it’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done” in overturning Roe v Wade, and said he was making it harder for women in large swathes of the country to get access to basic health care.

The president also said he supported abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy and that “no politician should be making that decision” on when one should take place.

“A doctor should be making those decisions,” he added. “That’s how it should be run. That’s what you’re going to do. And if I’m elected, I’m going to restore Roe v Wade.”

Watch a special programme with reaction to the US presidential debate on The World with Yalda Hakim on Sky News from 6pm

Immigration

While time was allotted for immigration as a topic on its own, Mr Trump hammered Mr Biden on the issue throughout the debate, including after the Democrat’s first answer on abortion.

“There have been many young women murdered by the same people,” the former president said. “He allows to come across our border.”

Later on, Mr Biden was asked why he should be trusted on immigration after a record number of illegal migrants have crossed the border from Mexico under his current administration.

He pointed to how he brought in “significant increased number of asylum officers”, and attacked Mr Trump’s record in office

After another rambling answer, Mr Trump said: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

He then claimed that under his administration, the US “had the safest border in the history of our country.” In a terse moment, Mr Biden spoke about Mr Trump’s previous comments on veterans, where he was alleged to have called those who died in war “suckers and losers”.

The president got personal in evoking his son, Beau Biden, who served in Iraq before dying of brain cancer, and told Mr Trump: “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”

Foreign policy

Another topic Mr Trump returned to often was the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

After 20 years in the Middle Eastern country, the Taliban seized control almost immediately after American troops withdrew.

Near the start of the debate, he said: “It was the most embarrassing day in the history of this country’s life.”

Later, Mr Trump attempted to link Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the fall of Kabul, claiming that Vladimir Putin “watched” the US withdrawal.

In a sprawling answer, he claimed: “When Putin saw that, he said: ‘You know what? I think we’re going to go in and maybe take my’ – this was his dream. I talked to him about it, his dream.

“The difference is he never would have invaded Ukraine. Never. Just like Israel would have never been invaded in a million years by Hamas.”

Mr Biden said, “I never heard so much malarkey in my whole life” before defending his record on foreign policy, pointing to how “we got over 100,000 Americans and others out” of Afghanistan and to Mr Trump’s comments on NATO.

On Israel, both candidates vowed support. Mr Biden touted his May ceasefire offer, while Mr Trump said of the president: “He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian.”

Democracy and January 6

When asked about what he would say to voters who were concerned about a possible second term for Mr Trump after the January 6th riots, the former president again touted his economic and immigration records.

When asked the question again by the moderators, Mr Trump then made false claims about former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and about an offer of sending the National Guard.

Mr Biden said Mr Trump “didn’t do a damn thing” to stop his supporters marching on Capitol Hill while the 2020 election results were being certified, saying the rioters “should be in jail… and he wants to let them all out”.

He then called Mr Trump a “convicted felon” over being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Mr Biden added: “Think of all the civil penalties you have. How many billions of dollars do you own civil penalties for? For molesting a woman in public?

“For doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night and while your wife is pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.”

Mr Trump repeated false claims the 2020 election was “rigged and disgusting” and added: “I did not have sex with a porn star.”

Moderators directly asked the former president towards the end of the debate whether he would condemn any form of political violence and whether he would accept the result of the upcoming election.

“The answer is, if the election is fair, free… and I want that more than anybody,” he said, before changing the subject mid-sentence – stopping just short of saying outright that he would accept the result.

World

Jay Slater: Search for missing British teenager in area of Tenerife called off by police

Published

9 hours ago

June 30, 2024

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Jay Slater: Search for missing British teenager in area of Tenerife called off by police

The search for Jay Slater in an area of Tenerife has been called off, police have said, nearly two weeks after his disappearance.

The British teenager, from Oswaldtwistle, near Blackburn in Lancashire, has been missing in Tenerife since 17 June, when he vanished the morning after a rave.

The Civil Guard called for volunteers to join a new search in the Masca area – near his last-known location – on Saturday.

It has now confirmed to Sky News that the search has ended. Police are keeping the investigation open and could yet open up searches in the south of the island, but have not provided an update.

A handful of volunteers turned up to help rescue teams on Saturday, forming a total group of 30 to 40 people scouring a huge area of rugged and hilly terrain.

Mr Slater, 19, had been on holiday with friends on the Spanish island and was last pictured at Papayago, a nightclub hosting the end of the NRG festival, late on 16 June.

After the event ended, he got in a car travelling to a small Airbnb in Masca with two men, who police said on Saturday are “not relevant” to the case.

His last known location was the Rural de Teno Park in the north of the island – which is about an 11-hour walk from his accommodation.

A local cafe owner told Sky News he tried to catch a bus back to Los Cristianos, where he was staying.

Ofelia Medina Hernandez said she spoke to the teenager at 8am on 17 June, telling him a bus was due at 10am – but he set off walking and she said she later drove past him “walking fast”.

The apprentice bricklayer called a friend holidaying with him at around 8.30am on 17 June and said he was going to walk back after missing the bus.

He also told his friend he was lost and in need of water, with only 1% charge on his phone.

On Friday, Mr Slater’s friend Brad Hargreaves told ITV’s This Morning he had been on a video call with him before his disappearance when he heard him go off the road.

He said he could see his friend’s feet “sliding” down the hill and hear he was walking on gravel.

Meanwhile, Mr Slater’s family shared a blurry image of what they believe could be the missing teenager captured on CCTV in a nearby town 10 hours after he was first reported missing.

Local police and the Civil Guard, along with Mr Slater’s family, have been involved in the search.

Since his disappearance, rumours and conspiracy theories have emerged amid online speculation on social media.

Some social media sleuths have even travelled to Tenerife to try and find him.

World

Polls open in French election that could see far-right in government

Published

12 hours ago

June 30, 2024

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Polls open in French election that could see far-right in government

Voters in France are heading to the polls today for a parliamentary election that could usher in the country’s first far-right government since the Second World War.

French President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise vote after his centrist alliance was soundly beaten in the European elections by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally earlier this month.

Voting began at 8am (7am UK time), closing at 4pm in smaller towns and 6pm in bigger cities. A winner may be apparent on Sunday night.

France has a semi-presidential system, which means it has both a president and a prime minister.

The voting taking place today will determine who is prime minister but not president, with Mr Macron already set on remaining in his role until the end of his term in 2027.

If Ms Le Pen’s party wins an absolute majority, France would have a government and president from opposing political camps for only the fourth time in post-war history.

How does the election work?

There are 577 constituency contests, one for each seat in the National Assembly, which is the lower house of parliament.

Candidates with an absolute majority of votes in their constituency are elected in the first round.

In most cases, no candidate meets this criteria and a second round is held, which will be next Sunday – 7 July – when the final outcome will be confirmed.

To qualify for the run-off, candidates need first-round votes amounting to at least 12.5% of registered voters.

The top scorer wins the second round.

When will we have a result?

Voting ends at 8pm (7pm UK time), when pollsters publish nationwide projections based on a partial vote count.

Official results start trickling in, with counting usually fast and efficient and the winners of almost all seats likely to be known by the end of the evening.

World

New York Times calls on Biden to quit race after disastrous debate

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2024

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New York Times calls on Biden to quit race after disastrous debate

A defiant Joe Biden has attacked Donald Trump at a rally a day after the president’s “shocking” performance in a head-to-head debate.

His showing in the debate against Trump on Thursday night was described as an “unmitigated disaster” by some in his own party after he paused and stumbled his way through, prompting calls for him to step down.

Adding to those calls, The New York Times urged the president to quit the race to give another candidate a better chance at defeating Trump.

“Mr Biden has been an admirable president,” the newspaper said in a piece by its editorial board.

“But the greatest public service Mr Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.”

It added: “As it stands, the president is engaged in a reckless gamble. There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency.

“There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr Biden.”

‘I can do this job’

Mr Biden has tried to quell anxieties since his performance. At a rally in North Carolina, he appeared to acknowledge the criticism, but struck a defiant tone.

“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know,” said Mr Biden. “I know how to tell the truth.”

“I give you my word as a Biden, I wouldn’t be running again if I did not believe, with all my heart and soul, I can do this job,” he told the rally.

Mr Biden attacked the former president’s criminal record, calling Trump a “one-man crimewave”.

“My guess is he set a new record for the most lies told in a single debate,” he added, telling the crowd he spent “90 minutes on the stage debating a guy with the morals of an alley cat”.

Hours later, Donald Trump was jubilant at a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia.

“Never mind that crooked Joe Biden spent a week at Camp David, resting, working, studying – he studied so hard he didn’t know what the hell he was doing,” Mr Trump told the crowd.

“Biden’s problem is not his age, […] he’s got no problem other than his competence. He’s grossly incompetent,” he added.

Bad debate nights happen

Barack Obama tweeted his support for President Biden on Friday evening, saying: “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know.”

Joe Biden had a cold and sore throat during last night’s debate, the White House said.

But others remained unconvinced he should run for president.

“I do not think President Joe Biden can be the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer in 2024,” former White House director of global engagement Brett Bruen told Sky News’ Yalda Hakim.

“Last night’s performance was astonishingly bad. You cannot just be strong on the teleprompter,” he said.

But Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, blamed the president’s poor performance on his preparation.

“He wasn’t prepped right for that debate. He’s an older man,” Mr Scaramucci told Yalda Hakim.

“You don’t fill his head with facts and figures he’s never going to remember.”

There have been repeated calls for President Biden to step down.

It’s “time to talk about an open convention and a new Democratic nominee,” one Democratic politician told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

However, while Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that President Joe Biden had a “slow start” in the debate, she insisted that he finished “strong”.

President Biden’s campaign spokesperson said there are no conversations taking place about the president stepping aside from his re-election bid.

He also still plans to take part in the next debate against Donald Trump, which is slated for 10 September, said the spokesperson. They added that last night’s debate has not changed the campaign strategy.

At a Waffle House restaurant in Atlanta after the debate, Biden told reporters he did not have concerns about his performance. “It’s hard to debate a liar,” he said.