US presidential debate: Biden and Trump clashed over their political differences, but did not take advantage of each other

CNN

Atlanta.-Joe Biden and Donald Trump engaged in a tense debate that exposed their deep differences on domestic and foreign policy. Biden and Trump were faithful to their electoral base and their personal ideas, in a public confrontation that did not yield decisive advantages for either of the two candidates seeking presidential reelection.

Biden and Trump are perpetual antagonists, and the first second of the debate revealed what they think of each other: they did not shake hands when they met in the CNN studio. First came the US president, then his predecessor. They looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, and nothing more. They have been engaged in a personal battle from a distance for more than four years.

From the beginning, it was clear how they had prepared for the debate. Biden listed the topics and stuck to his script, trained over and over once more at Camp David. Trump, on the other hand, knew the arguments to deploy but trusted in his ability to improvise.

When Biden spoke, Trump smiled and gestured. And when it was the Republican candidate’s turn, his opponent looked at him from the side and smiled to disapprove of each of his words. Both respected the rules of the game, did not insult journalists Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, and did not drink a drop of water when they were on the air.

The debate began with a question from Tapper to Biden regarding the economy and the president defended his government program, while Trump said that inflation is out of control. They were opposite views, on a key issue that will be repeated until the elections on November 5.

The second exchange between Biden and Trump was on abortion. Each spoke to their constituents, but the Republican candidate was more lenient on this right, which was limited by certain members of the Supreme Court appointed during the Trump administration.

Undocumented migration has ranked first in all public surveys since January 2024. Displaced people from Latin America who are concentrated on the southern border of the United States are a concern for Biden and are a campaign argument for Trump.

It is paradoxical, but Biden used legal arguments already applied by Trump during his mandate to calm the number of migrants who try to cross the Rio Grande without documentation. “The situation at the border has resulted in numerous deaths and crimes committed by illegal immigrants,” Trump said during the debate.

Biden denied that claim and said that migration had dropped by 40 percent since the implementation of his latest measures.

“There is no data to support what he said. Once once more, he is exaggerating,” the US president said.

As with the discussion of abortion and the economy, Biden and Trump deployed their arguments on immigration and neither stumbled. They addressed their electoral audience with a broad tone to try to win over the independent vote.

The math is clear: the Republican candidate is ahead of his Democratic opponent in the polls by a percentage that is technically wrong, and both need to cross that threshold to win the November elections. They have five months to accomplish this goal.

For a moment, the debate put the domestic agenda on hold and moved on to foreign policy issues. Trump was highly critical of the United States’ leading role in the war between Ukraine and Russia and in the conflict in the Middle East following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

The Republican candidate’s view is that Washington has lost influence on the global stage and that this geopolitical failure has led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the terrorist acts carried out by Iran through Hamas.

“I get along well with (Vladimir) Putin, but he didn’t take advantage of me like he did with Obama and Biden,” Trump said.

Biden replied: “If you want a war, let Putin go ahead and take kyiv. You’re going to have a war there.”

This chapter of foreign policy was completed with the views of both candidates on the conflict in the Middle East. Biden defended his agenda with Israel, which includes the ceasefire in Gaza, while Trump disqualified the diplomatic strategy of the Democratic administration.

The US’s international roadmap – above all the war between Israel and Hamas – affects Biden’s electoral aspirations. Thousands of young people who voted for him in 2020 – when he proposed a novel green agenda – have now chosen to distance themselves from the White House’s stance on Gaza.

Trump neither won nor lost votes by talking regarding the Middle East and Ukraine. On the other hand, Biden’s arguments regarding the situation in the Strip and Israel’s offensive would have only served to confirm that this electoral volume will no longer return to Democratic territory.

Political tensions reached a peak when Biden accused Trump of being a criminal and Trump asked him to undergo a cognitive analysis to determine whether age affects his decision-making as head of state.

“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now. And the fact is, what he’s saying is simply not true,” the Democratic president said.

“I took two cognitive tests, and I passed them as you know. He (Biden) didn’t take any. I would like to see him take one, just one, a really easy one, like passing the first five questions. I mightn’t do it,” the former Republican president said.

This part of the debate was key for Biden. His electoral strategy is to demonstrate that Trump is a danger to democracy, claiming that he was linked to the assault on the Capitol and that he was convicted of having committed 34 cases of corruption linked to a porn star.

Trump also benefited from this chapter of the debate. His long-standing goal is to claim that Biden’s age is a ticking time bomb that would be reinstalled in the White House if he wins the November 5 election.

After 90 minutes of constant tension, Biden and Trump made their closing speeches. The former president proposed an agenda for the future, and his predecessor once more questioned the results of the Democratic administration.

And history repeated itself like a political habit: when the studio lights went out for a moment, Biden and Trump avoided the formal greeting and ignored each other.Infobae.