US Presidential debate recap: President Joe Biden and Donald Trump face off
They’ve been exchanging jibes on the campaign trail for months but on Friday Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off for their first presidential debate of the 2024 US election.
It was the first time they had confronted each other in person since 2020 - after Trump tried to overturn the election result and after the storming of the Capitol.
Trump was expected to try to put Biden on the ropes over immigration and the economy, while Biden attacked Trump over abortion and democracy.
There was no in-person audience for the 90-minute debate, hosted by CNN at its Atlanta studios, which came four months before voters are set to head to the polls on November 5.
It was the first of two debates the old foes have agreed to. The next will be in September.
The debate was moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash who are hosts of the network’s Sunday political talk show State of the Union.
Tapper is CNN’s chief Washington correspondent and Bash is the network’s chief political correspondent.
Past debates have always been later in the year, in September and October, but Biden pushed for an earlier start.
Biden and Trump had two debates in the run-up to the 2020 election. During the first, Trump was called out for his constant interjections, with moderator Fox News’ Chris Wallace saying he was “sad” the way it turned out.
“I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did,” he said.
The debacle prompted the introduction of mute buttons for the candidate’s microphones which were in place for Friday’s debate.
What to look out for
The candidates are the same. The circumstances are very different. Here’s what to watch for in the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
The animosity is expected to be palpable.
READ MORE: What to watch for at the first Trump-Biden debate
Trump on Black vote
Trump blames migrants for Black disadvantage.
“The fact is his big kill on the black people is millions of people that he’s allowed to come in through the border and they’re taking black jobs now and it could be 18, 19 or even 20 million people that are taking Black jobs and Hispanic jobs.
“You haven’t seen it yet but you’ll see something that will be the worst in our history.”
Plea to Black voters
Biden is grilled on progress for the Black population.
Unemployment dropped to a record low under Biden’s presidency, but black families still earn far less than white families. And, black mothers are still three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes, and black Americans are imprisoned at five times the rate of white Americans.
Biden says he doesn’t blame voters for wanting more progress with inflation still bad.
“I provided any black family first-time home buyers should get a $10,000 tax credit to now able to buy their first home.
“I made sure we’re in a situation where all those black families and black individuals who have to take out student loans, and if they were in... And anything happy to do with this F. They paid their bills for 10 years, their tudent debt, all the rest was given after 10 years. Millions have benefited from that and we’ll do a whole lot more for black families.”
Will Trump destroy democracy?
Biden highlights Trump’s legal woes and some of the more disturbing things he has said in the past.
“Could you ever think you could hear a President say I’m going to seek retribution?
“He said Hitler has done good things. I’d like to know what they are. This guy has no sense of American democracy.”
‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star’
Trump denies he had sex with Stormy Daniels and says the court case was rigged.
“I didn’t have sex with a porn star. That case was started and moved and they moved a high-ranking official into the Manhattan DA’s office to start that case.
“That case will be appealed and won. We had a very terrible judge, horrible judge, Democrat, the prosecutor were all high ranking Democrats, appointed people, and both the civil and the criminal, he basically went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me. “
Trump claims in the wake of his court troubles his poll numbers and political donations have gone “way” up.
“The public knows it’s a scam and a guy that’s after his political opponent because he can’t win fair and square.”
Things get Stormy
It’s getting ugly. Now the door is open to the many court proceedings involving Trump, Biden makes the most of it. And, denies he’s done anything wrong.
“The idea that I did anything wrong relative to what you’re talking about is outrageous. It is simply a lie.
“Number two, the idea that you have a right to seek retribution against any American, just because you’re President is simply wrong.
“No President has ever poken like that before.
“No President in our history has spoken like that before.
Number three, the crimes you are still charged with and all the civil penalties you have.
How many billions of dollars in civil penalties do you have, for molesting a woman, having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant? What are you talking about..
‘Biden’s the criminal’: Trump
Stung by Biden raising his criminal record, Trump says it is Biden and his son who are the criminals.
“When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level and will now convicted probably numerous other times and should have been before but his Justice Department let the statute of limitations lapse on the most important things.
“He could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office, with all the things he’s done.
“He’s done horrible things. All the death caused at the border, telling the Ukrainian people that we’re going to want a billion dollars if you change the prosecutor, otherwise you’re not getting a billion dollars.
“...this man is a criminal. You’re lucky, I did nothing wrong.
“We had a system that was rigged and disgusting.”
X users call for Biden to close his mouth
Biden cites Trump’s criminal record
Biden has raised Trump’s criminal record after the former president gave him an opening by saying that if a Republican had deleted records - as he claims Biden’s government did in relation to the Capitol riots - they’d be put in jail.
“The only person on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at now.
“What he’s telling you is not true. The fact is there is no effort on his part to stop what was going on up on Capitol Hill. And every one of those convicted deserves to be convicted.”
Biden on Capitol ‘bloodbath’
Biden is not having Trump’s wishy-washy response on what was a dark day for the US.
He says Trump encouraged the rioters.
“He sat there for three hours watching, begging, being begged by his Vice-President and a number of his colleagues and on the Republican side as well, to do something, to call for a stop and end it.
“He talked about these people being patriots and great - patrons of America.
“He wants to commute their sentences and say, and he went to every single court in the nation. I don’t know how many cases. Scores of cases, including the Supreme Court, and they said, “No, no, this guy is responsible for doing what was done.”
“He didn’t do a damn thing. These people should now be in jail and should be the ones being held accountable and he wants to let them all out and he said if he loses it again, that it will be a bloodbath.”
Trump grilled on storming of Capitol
Trump denies he violated his constitutional oath on January 6 when he rallied supporters who went on to storm the Capitol building.
“I didn’t say that to anybody. I said peacefully and patriotically,” he said.
“I offered (Nancy Pelosi) 10,000 soldiers or National Guard and she turned them down. And the mayor in writing turned it down, the mayor of DC. They turned it down. I offered 10,000 because I could see and everybody was saying they’re going to be there on January 6.
“I said, ‘that’s a lot of people coming. You could feel it too and you could feel. I said, ‘They ought to have some National Guard or whatever.”
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