‘Unmitigated disaster’ for Biden in TV debate with Trump – as he faces calls from Democrats to step aside
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have faced off in the first debate in the 2024 presidential election campaign.
The format, with each taking turns to speak with their opponent’s microphone muted, was designed to prevent a shouting match with both candidates talking over each other.
In truth, it served to highlight the differences in the performances of the two men.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump during the presidential debate. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump appeared confident, on the front foot and in command, even if his claims sometimes stretched the truth to breaking point.
Mr Biden on the other hand was hesitant, sometimes stumbling over his words and at one point appearing to freeze, less than 10 minutes into the debate.
The only time the US president appeared to land any blows was when he lost his temper and attacked Mr Trump and his “alley cat morals”.
After the debate, political figures and commentators broached the idea of replacing Mr Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.
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Joe Biden appears to stall during debate
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.
Another said: “This was like a champion boxer who gets in the ring past his prime and needs his corner to throw in the towel.” They added he meant Mr Biden should exit the race.
David Axelrod, a senior aide to former President Barack Obama, told CNN: “There is a sense of shock at how he came out at the beginning of this debate. How his voice sounded. He seemed a little disoriented.
“There are going to be discussions about whether he should continue. Only he can decide if he’s going to continue,” Mr Axelrod added.
Sky’s US correspondent Martha Kelner said some Democrats had described Biden’s debate performance as an “unmitigated disaster”, “a meltdown”, and “a slow-motion car crash”.
Read more:
Excruciating Biden debate performance was among worst in presidential history
The presidential debate as it happened
Changing candidates at this stage of the campaign would be difficult and unprecedented. Unless Mr Biden chooses to step aside, delegates at the Democratic National Convention would have to revolt – despite being elected on their pledge to nominate the president.
The debate mediators divided the time in to subjects, beginning with the economy.
Mr Trump claimed under his presidency the US had the “greatest economy in the history of our country”, only stalling when COVID struck.
Mr Biden hit back saying he inherited “an economy that was in freefall”.
“The pandemic was so badly handled… the economy collapsed,” he said.
“What we had to do is try to put things back together again. That’s exactly what we began to do.”
For much of the debate, Mr Trump was forthright while President Biden, his voice hoarse, came across as hesitant.
On the issue of abortion, Mr Biden appeared to have slightly more success, describing the decision to overturn Roe v Wade as horrendous.
Pic: AP
“It’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done,” he told Trump.
For his part the former president said it was right for individual states to decide policy on abortion.
Next came immigration, previously something of a “trump” card for the former president.
Mr Biden was asked about his record.
“The Border Patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position,” he said, before turning on Mr Trump.
“He was separating babies from mothers, putting them in cages, making sure that the families are separated [when he was in office],” he said.
Mr Trump responded: “We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now.”
Pic: Reuters
“That’s simply not true,” Mr Biden said.
“There’s no data to support what he said, once again, he’s exaggerating. He’s lying.”
Asked what he will do to address the crisis, Mr Trump said “we have to get them out” but didn’t specify any particular policy.
On Ukraine, Mr Trump was the first to answer, taking aim at Mr Biden’s handling of it.
“As far as Russia and Ukraine, if we have a real president, a president that was respected by Putin, then he would have never invaded Ukraine.”
Pic: AP
Asked what he thought of Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Biden replied: “I’ve never heard so much malarkey in my whole life.”
He warned that if Mr Putin wins the war there is a risk he will go after other countries like Poland and Belarus. However, the strength of his argument was undermined by appearing to confuse Mr Trump and President Putin at one point.
The Middle East was next, with Mr Biden saying the US had “saved Israel”, referencing the ongoing support from his government and the organised defence against a massive Iranian air attack.
Pic: AP
Trump however slammed his opponent’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East.
“He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,” he said.
Next came topics where Mr Biden genuinely had the chance to land some heavy blows: the Capitol riots and the litany of criminal cases facing Trump.
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The odd punch did hit home but – as throughout the debate – Mr Trump appeared in charge, confident in his own version of the truth. He repeatedly said he did nothing wrong, claiming any action he encouraged was to be carried out “peacefully and patriotically”.
Mr Biden retorted: “He encouraged his folks up on Capitol Hill.
“Now he says if he loses again, [he’s] such a whiner, it is basically [going to be] a bloodbath.”
Joe Biden embraces first lady Dr. Jill Biden after the conclusion of the presidential debate. Pic: Reuters
The only time Mr Trump appeared even slightly uncomfortable was when Mr Biden pointed out his recent criminal charges and called him a convicted felon.
“The only person on this stage that is a convicted felon is this man I’m looking at right now,” he said of the former president.
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The former president denies ‘sex with a porn star’
In one of his most forceful moments of the debate, Mr Biden referred to Mr Trump’s alleged sexual relationship with porn star Stormy Daniels, telling him: “You have the morals of an alley cat.”
The debate continued, covering racial inequality, climate change and the US opioid crisis, but in truth the optics varied little.
People at a watch party for the first presidential debate at Union Pub on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump – a chin-jutting picture of arrogance and self belief. Mr Biden – often seeming to feel his age, only coming into his own when he lost his temper over what he clearly regarded as his opponent’s lies.
The debate revealed little of substance with regard to policy, with podcaster and analyst Tim Miller tweeting that it was “the worst debate in history”.
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Biden and Trump squabble about golf handicaps
The level of the debate was put into sharp relief with the two candidates defending their mental capabilities and squabbling about golf.
Taking a shot at Mr Biden, Mr Trump said the US president “can’t hit a ball 50 yards”.
Mr Biden replied, saying: “I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris says Biden had a ‘slow start’
The hour and a half of to-and-fro is unlikely to have done Mr Trump any harm, but it may well have damaged President Biden.
As one observer pointed out, the problem for Joe Biden and the Democratic Party is “that Trump lies so well and Biden tells the truth so badly”.
For decades, trade and trade policy has been an economic and political backwater – decidedly boring, seemingly uncontroversial.Â
Trade was mostly free and getting freer, tariffs were getting lower and lower, and the world was becoming more, not less, globalised.
But alongside those long-term trends, there were some serious consequences.
Trump latest: US president announces sweeping global trade tariffs
Mature, developed economies like the UK and US became ever more reliant on cheap imports from China and, in the process, saw their manufacturing sectors shrink.
Large swathes of the rust belt in the US – and much of the Midlands and North of England – were hollowed out.
And to some extent that’s where the story of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” really began – with the notion that free trade and globalisation had a darker side, a side he wants to remedy via tariffs.
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Trump’s tariffs: Ed Conway analysis
He imposed a set of tariffs in his first term, some on China, some on specific materials like steel and aluminium. But the height and the breadth of those tariffs were as nothing compared with the ones we have just heard about.
Not since the 1930s has the US so radically increased the level of tariffs on all nations across the world. Back then, those tariffs exacerbated the Great Depression.
It’s anyone’s guess as to what the consequences of these ones will be. But there will be consequences.
Consequences for the nature of globalisation, consequences for the US economy (tariffs are exceptionally inflationary), consequences for geopolitics.
Imports from the UK will face a 10% tariff, while EU goods will see 20% rates. Pic: Reuters
And to some extent, merely knowing that little bit more about the White House’s plans will deliver a bit of relief to financial markets, which have fretted for months about the imposition of tariffs. That uncertainty recently reached unprecedented levels.
But don’t for a moment assume that this saga is over. Nothing of the sort. In the coming days, we will learn more – more about the nuts and bolts of these policies, more about the retaliatory measures coming from other countries.
We will, possibly, get more of a sense about whether some countries – including the UK – will enjoy reprieves from the tariffs.
To paraphrase Churchill, this isn’t the end of the trade war, or even the beginning of the end – perhaps just the end of the beginning.
Actors, directors and celebrity friends have paid tribute to Val Kilmer, after he died aged 65.
The California-born star of Top Gun, Batman and Heat died of pneumonia on Tuesday night in Los Angeles, his daughter Mercedes told the Associated Press.
She said Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered.
Tributes flooded in after reports broke of the actor’s death, with No Country For Old Men star Josh Brolin among the first to share their memories.
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Watch: Val Kilmer in his most iconic roles
He wrote on Instagram: “See ya, pal. I’m going to miss you. You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those.
“I hope to see you up there in the heavens when I eventually get there. Until then, amazing memories, lovely thoughts.”
Kyle Maclachlan, who co-starred with Kilmer in the 1991 biopic The Doors, wrote on social media: “You’ll always be my Jim. See you on the other side my friend.”
Michael Mann, who directed Kilmer in 1995’s Heat, also paid tribute in a statement, saying: “I always marvelled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character.
“After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”
Heat co-star Danny Trejo also called Kilmer “a great actor, a wonderful person, and a dear friend of mine” on Instagram.
Cher, who once dated the actor, said on X that “U Were Funny, crazy, pain in the ass, GREAT FRIEND… BRILLIANT as Mark Twain, BRAVE here during ur sickness”.
Lifelong friend and director of Twixt, Francis Ford Coppola said: “Val Kilmer was the most talented actor when in his High School, and that talent only grew greater throughout his life.
“He was a wonderful person to work with and a joy to know – I will always remember him.”
The Top Gun account on X also said it was remembering Kilmer, who starred as Iceman in both the 1986 original and 2022 sequel, and “whose indelible cinematic mark spanned genres and generations”.
Nicolas Cage added that “I always liked Val and am sad to hear of his passing”.
“I thought he was a genius actor,” he said. “I enjoyed working with him on Bad Lieutenant and I admired his commitment and sense of humor.
“He should have won the Oscar for The Doors.”
Elon Musk has called reports that he will leave his government role in the coming months “fake news”.
A senior White House official previously told NBC News, Sky’s US partner network, that Donald Trump had discussed the Tesla and X boss transitioning back to the private sector at a cabinet meeting last month.
The Tesla boss has headed DOGE since 20 January. File pic: Reuters
After reports emerged of the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was “garbage” and added: “Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.”
Mr Musk added in response on X: “Yeah, fake news.”
NBC News reported that the official said Mr Musk would leave at the end of his 130 days as a special government employee.
That would be 30 May, but it is unclear if the billionaire businessman will indeed leave on that date.
Previously, the White House said that as a temporary organisation, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) would be terminated on 4 July next year – the 250th anniversary of the US.
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It comes days after Mr Musk said some members of his DOGE team were getting death threats on a daily basis.
Mr Musk had drawn criticism over his efforts to downsize the US federal government.
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‘Elon Musk has got to go’
In just weeks, entire agencies were dismantled, and tens of thousands of workers from the 2.3 million federal workforce have been fired or have agreed to leave their jobs.
A number of lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts over cuts recommended by DOGE.
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