WASHINGTON (AP) – The first sign of trouble came before the debate even began.
“How are you guys?” President Joe Biden said as he took the stage. His voice was raspy and thin, his movements stiff. “Good to be here. Thank you.”
It was an inauspicious glimpse of what would become a historic night. The first and last conversation between Biden and Donald Trump started a chain reaction that led to Vice President Kamala Harris replacing Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. She will get her chance in the spotlight on Tuesday when she meets Trump in another debate. He has been busy preparing with his team in order to maintain the momentum that has breathed new life into the Democratic chances this year.
In a recent interview with a New Hampshire radio host, Trump said he was ready to face Harris after his meeting with Biden.
“He was not good,” Trump said. “I hope he won’t be good either.”
A look back at the June 27 debate holds lessons for Harris and warnings for Trump, whose faltering and occasional incoherence were overshadowed by Biden’s stumbles.
The first hurdle is understanding the optics of the event.
Optics is an important issue in discussions
Ever since Richard Nixon lost the first televised presidential debate to John F. Kennedy in 1960, political pundits have treated them like spectacles. Biden looked pale on stage and appeared flustered, his mouth slightly open as Trump spoke.
“This is an Instagram, Facebook and TikTok society,” said Michael LaRosa, a former spokesman for first lady Jill Biden. “Visuals matter.”
LaRosa said Harris needs to be ready at all times because the footage of her reacting to Trump’s comments can be just as powerful as when it’s her turn to speak. His performance will be scrutinized because he is less well-known than Trump’s, which means that the American people will still make up his mind about him.
Biden also struggled to make a clear case for his platform or mount serious attacks on Trump.
For example, in a question about the economy, Biden started talking about how the country could invest in education and social services if taxes on the wealthy were raised. But he lost his train of thought and looked down at his lectern. When he looked up, he inexplicably said, “Look, we finally beat Medicare.”
He was late. “Thank you, President Biden,” said Jake Tapper, one of the moderators.
When the camera made Biden look confused by his own answer, Trump pounced. “He beat it to death. And he’s going to destroy Medicare.”
Biden mumbled his answer
The next topic was abortion, a hot topic for Democrats after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Trump spoke first, insisting that removing national abortion rights was “something that everybody wanted.”
“Every legal scholar all over the world, the most respected, wanted it brought back to the states. I did,” he said. “Now the states are figuring it out.”
The response was false and evasive, as Trump tried to simultaneously take credit for the historic victory of the anti-abortion movement and dodge anger at the outcome.
Biden’s response began succinctly.
“It’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done,” he said, adding that it was “ridiculous” to suggest there was a consensus on getting rid of Roe v. Wade. Biden said Trump’s view was like saying “we’re going to turn civil rights back to the states, give each state a different rule.”
Then Biden veered in an unexpected direction, perhaps due to Trump’s support for exceptions to abortion bans if a woman is raped. He brought up Trump’s concern about crimes committed by immigrants, then said that “there are a lot of young women who are being raped by their in-laws, their spouses, their brothers and sisters.”
“And when those women get pregnant, there’s nothing they can do about it,” Biden said. “And they try to arrest them when they cross state lines.”
Veteran Democratic strategist Paul Begala described Biden’s answer as strange.
“He took his strongest issue,” meaning abortion, “and talked about his weakest issue,” border security.
The Democratic panic started early
They had 15 minutes of a 90-minute conversation, and Begala said, “My phone was blowing up with text messages from other Democratic strategists saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s over.'”
When Biden stumbled on an answer about immigration, Trump responded with mockery.
“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” she said. “I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
While the debate was still underway, the White House said Biden was suffering from a cold. And in the days that followed, Biden said he was dealing with a delay in foreign travel.
But the damage was done. Biden had already tried to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86, which is how old he would be at the end of his second term. Now he had seemingly confirmed the country’s worst fears about his fitness for office.
Begala said Harris’ relative youth — he turns 60 next month — is a huge advantage, especially since Trump is 78.
“Every day he wakes up and isn’t 81, he’s on a break with Biden,” he said.
Trump has no shortage of vulnerabilities in debates. He is powerful, but hyperbolic and often dishonest. Sometimes he rambles on about grievances that might entertain his loyal fans at political rallies, but don’t lend themselves to personal conversation.
Former President Bill Clinton had his own advice for facing Trump — show he only cares about himself.
“The next time you hear him, don’t count lies, I will,” he said at the Democratic National Convention.
