Biden-Trump debate: President's performance raises questions
The presidential debate in Atlanta brought a historically early spotlight to the contrast between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for voters to consider.
Arizona figures to be one of the few competitive states on the map. CNN moderators asked about immigration and border security, issues of special importance to Arizonans, as well as abortion rights and inflation, matters that have stirred residents here as elsewhere.
Joe Biden's miscues drew the most attention from post-debate analysts, who raised questions about his age and fitness for office.
Read coverage of the CNN Presidential Debate from Arizona Republic and USA TODAY Network reporters.
Biden supporters alarmed after president's debate struggles
Democrats and other opponents of Donald Trump melted down as President Joe Biden struggled during Thursday's debate, with some suggesting he should bow out to allow another Democrat to run instead.
Biden's voice was hoarse and raspy from the start. He stumbled over words and had to correct himself with numbers. He was sometimes hard to follow. On one occasion, the president appeared to lose his train of thought, concluding — confusingly — with the line, "we finally beat Medicare."
"That's a good man. He loves his country. He's doing the best that he can," said Van Jones, a Democratic political analyst for CNN. "But he had a test to meet tonight to restore confidence in the country and of the base, and he failed to do that."
— Joey Garrison and Josh Meyer, USA Today
Debate fact check: Separating lies from truth
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump both strayed repeatedly from the truth as they squared off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season.
Here are the claims the USA TODAY Fact Check Team dug into, from Roe v. Wade to border crossings.
— USA Today Fact Check Team
Arizona viewers post frustration with debate
Social media users in Arizona went online after the debate to express frustration toward the presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as well as CNN.
“The debate officially concludes with more airtime covering Trump and Biden’s golf abilities, their intelligence, their age, their criminal status, and general lies/whining/opinions than we did country infrastructure, growing homelessness and the housing crisis,” wrote Tyler Gzegorek on X.
Braiden Dougherty said on X he observed Biden being lost, confused and hard to understand.
“All these two men are doing is attacking each other, at least Biden is trying to answer the questions, while Trump is just attacking,” wrote Jesse James Jager on Facebook.
Sonia Romaih said on X she believed both the candidates lied on stage, describing the debate as a shameful choice between two evils.
“Unfortunately, this debate pushed me over the edge,” said Barb Johnson on X.
— Reynaldo Covarrubias Jr.
Opioids and the border a late focus
In the last 15 minutes of the debate, moderators asked Biden and Trump to address the opioid crisis, specifically deaths involving fentanyl. But rather than answer what they would do to help Americans struggling with addiction, both candidates used their time to discuss fentanyl smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump claimed the amount of drugs coming across the border was the largest in history. But statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection dispute that. Drug seizures have fallen, especially for marijuana, as more states legalize it.
However, seizures of hard drugs like fentanyl are on the rise, especially at ports of entry. The amount of fentanyl seized at the Arizona border so far this year accounts for nearly two-thirds of all fentanyl seizures border-wide.
Biden used his remarks to criticize Trump for rejecting a bipartisan border deal that would have funded additional border agents and resources like fentanyl scanners at border crossings.
“We need those machines,” Biden said. He added that his administration has been cracking down on precursor chemicals to produce fentanyl, including working with Mexico.
Trump touted how he had negotiated multiple policies with Mexico “for nothing” in exchange, he said, citing the Remain in Mexico program that had asylum seekers waiting in Mexico while their cases were adjudicated. Biden repealed the program when he took office.
— Rafael Carranza
As debate ends, a focus on future vs. failure
Biden’s closing message to viewers was that his second term is about preserving momentum and continued progress on matters ranging from child care access to reducing inflation.
Trump’s closing message focused on Biden as a failed president who has watched the “world exploding because they don’t respect you.”
It capped a night in which much of the second half of the debate featured both men taking turns trying to hang the label of “worst president” on the other.
Biden pointed to presidential historians who rated Trump that way. Trump dismissed that finding and said it is Biden’s poor record that makes him the worst.
Trump went on to accuse Biden of taking money from China and called him a “Manchurian candidate.”
Later in the debate, Biden called Trump a “whiner” unwilling to accept an election defeat.
— Ronald J. Hansen
On climate change, claims of 'clean air' and 'pollution'
The moderators asked Trump how he would address the climate crisis after vowing to end Biden’s environmental initiatives. While Trump spent most of his time addressing the previous topic on police, he did discuss climate briefly after being prompted again.
“I want absolutely immaculate clean water and I want absolutely clean air, and we had it,” Trump responded. “We were using all forms of energy.”
Biden challenged Trump’s claims and touted the Inflation Reduction Act’s policies to address climate change and transition to renewable energy.
“I passed the most extensive climate change legislation in history,” Biden said. “The only existential threat to humanity is climate change, and he didn’t do a damn thing about it.”
Trump defended withdrawing from the Paris Agreement — an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit atmospheric warming — saying it was “a rip-off” to the United States and “a disaster” for the economy.
“How are we going to do anything if the United States can’t get this under control,” Biden asked, defending America’s participation in the accord. “We’re one of the largest polluters in the world.”
— Hayleigh Evans
Both sides outline plans on Social Security
CNN moderator Jake Tapper asked about Social Security’s future, noting correctly that retirement benefits are likely to be cut in about a decade if Washington doesn’t shore up the program.
In response to potential fixes, Biden said he’d favor lifting the payroll tax, for which up to $168,000 in personal earnings are subject to taxes that support the system. “Make the very wealthy pay their fair share,” Biden said. All wage earners, including the wealthy, pay taxes on income below that threshold.
In response to the question, Trump didn’t offer a potential solution directly, though he suggested that sealing the border would help. Biden is destroying Social Security, Trump asserted, by allowing millions of people to pour over the southern border — immigrants who are being put on Social Security, he said. Trump’s implication is that these immigrants are receiving Social Security retirement benefits without having paid into the system.
Various reports have found that illegal immigrants pay into Social Security, extending the solvency of the trust fund, while rarely receiving support from it.
— Russ Wiles
Fact-checking the exchange over abortion 'after birth'
Trump repeated a line that he's used before — that some states take the life of babies "after birth."
Trump made the comment after Biden said that if he's elected, he'll restore Roe vs. Wade.
"He's willing to, as we say, rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby," Trump said.
Trump said Democrats would take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and "even after birth."
"That is simply not true," Biden responded. "Roe vs. Wade does not provide for that. The woman's life is in danger, she's going to die, that's the only circumstance that can happen but we are not for late-term abortion."
Analysts from several news outlets noted after the debate that taking a baby's life "after birth" is infanticide and not abortion.
Tessa Stuart of Rolling Stone magazine wrote that Biden did not adequately punch back against Trump's allegation and that the moment was a missed opportunity.
"Biden couldn’t have fumbled the exchange more spectacularly, beginning by quibbling over whether or not constitutional scholars agreed that Roe was wrongly decided (honestly, at this point, who cares?), then referencing Georgia’s 6-week abortion ban, before veering inexplicably into a story about Laken Riley, the nursing student allegedly murdered by an undocumented immigrant," Stuart wrote.
"Unfortunately, if you care about access to abortion, birth control, and IVF, there has always been a clear choice between the two ancient men running for president this year — even if it’s not a choice that the supporters of reproductive rights can be enthusiastic about."
— Stephanie Innes
Reaction from Arizonans: Trump started fast, Biden improved
During the halftime mark in the debate, Angela DiLiberto, 51, of Phoenix, said Trump was destroying Biden.
"I want Trump to say to 'Putting him out on a stage like this is cruel,'" she said, commenting on his age.
Her friend, Ann Campbell, 69, of Phoenix, said she is concerned about Biden's age.
"It’s sad to me because I have elderly parents and he needs to be home," she said.
Sheryl Wathier, 61, of Laveen, is among the loudest Trump supporters yelling at the TV to give commentary on Biden's answers in the debate.
"Trump's running away with it," she said. "He’s pointed out many of the lies that Biden has been saying."
She said Biden has trouble thinking on his feet.
Attendees at the Biden rally cheered loudly as Biden accused Trump of his history of disrespecting American veterans. As Trump rebuked Biden’s claim, people in the crowd began to heckle and laugh at Trump's remarks.
At the halfway point of the debate, 75-year-old Harvey Bryan from Tempe had an optimistic view of Biden’s performance.
“It started a little slow, but he’s sort of gotten into his routine now and is doing much better and answering all the questions,” Bryan said.
With age and fitness for office being a large issue for many voters heading into November, Bryan noted some issues with both candidates.
“Both are a little older than I am and I can tell you there’s issues there when you get to my age,” Bryan said.
— Sabine Martin, Fernando Cervantes, Kerria Weaver and Christina Avery
The debate turns personal and ugly
Forty-five minutes into the debate, the event became decidedly personal.
Biden for the first time called Trump a convicted felon. He went on to castigate Trump for again defending those who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The idea that those people are patriots? Come on,” Biden said.
Trump fired back that Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, “is a convicted felon.”
“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the horrible things he’s done,” Trump said.
Trump left open seeking retribution against people if he is reelected. Biden immediately ripped Trump, saying no president in history talked about using power that way if elected.
Extending the scathing segment, Biden reminded viewers that Trump had sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant. Trump went on to deny that happened, even though it was at the heart of the criminal trial in New York in which Trump was convicted.
— Ronald J. Hansen
On international matters, a weakened or stronger America?
As the debate turned to international conflicts, Trump continued to aggressively attack Biden’s record.
“The whole world is blowing up under him,” Trump said.
Biden seemed to show more spark at that point, accusing Trump of having been derelict when Iran lobbed a bomb onto American troops and undermining NATO.
Biden defended the withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying 100,000 people were evacuated from that country when the U.S. military left.
Trump said he made NATO member countries meet their financial obligations. He promised he would end the war between Ukraine and Russia before taking office.
— Ronald J. Hansen
The economy was first question
The debate started off with a question that moderator Jack Tapper said tops voter priority lists: the economy.
Trump and Biden then bickered over whose administration created more jobs and which was most responsible for COVID-19 damage.
“What Trump left me was an economy in free fall,” Biden said, without citing the COVID-19 pandemic at that point.
The economy collapsed, unemployment surged and “I had to put things back together,” Biden said.
In reference to an inflation question, Biden said he’d want to reduce prices of housing and cap rents to combat corporate greed.
Trump countered that the economy was in excellent shape during his administration before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, then he complained that his administration didn’t get proper credit for lifting the economy out of the pandemic-created slump. Trump also asserted that the only jobs Biden created were for illegal immigrants and from the pandemic “bounce back.”
Biden responded that Trump was one of the few presidents ever to leave office with lower national employment than when he started, citing another Republican president, Herbert Hoover, in the early days of the Great Depression as another example.
— Russ Wiles
Trump on the attack while Biden is subdued
Former President Donald Trump came out on the attack, hitting President Joe Biden on his stewardship of the economy and claiming he had presided over the nation’s strongest economy ever.
He accused a subdued Biden of squandering the momentum, which he said was disrupted by the pandemic.
Biden said Trump blew up the national debt and mismanaged the pandemic.
When the subject turned to abortion rights, Biden vowed to return America to the standards outlined in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case.
Trump said Biden and Democrats are willing to rip babies out of the womb in the final days of pregnancy.
At one point, Trump took a broadside at Biden over his low-key demeanor, saying, "I don't think he knows what he said, either."
Biden seemed to perk up and repeated the reporting from 2020 that Trump called members of the military "suckers and losers." "You're the sucker and the loser," Biden said.
— Ronald J. Hansen
In Arizona, Republicans and Democrats take their sides
Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump were gathered in Chandler on Thursday night.
U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake spoke to the crowd ahead of the debate.
“(Trump) already knows how to fix the economy because he fixed the economy before,” she said.
Former UFC fighter Tito Ortiz joined Lake on stage.
"Don't be afraid to speak up, don't be afraid to wear your Trump hat," Ortiz said. "We need to speak up together and be we the people. The government doesn't run us, we run the government."
Meanwhile, Democrats looked ahead to the debate as well.
Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Ylenia Aguilar said she hoped to see a different positive message coming from President Joe Biden.
“My expectation is to see Biden do a good job, he usually who is speaking to the facts versus reacting or instilling fear in people like Trump does,” Aguilar said.
With age being a concern for many voters believing both Trump and Biden being too old for office, Aguilar thinks that the most qualified candidate should be elected in November. For her immigration and the environment are two of the biggest issues heading into November.
— Sabine Martin and Fernando Cervantes
The candidates take the stage
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump appeared at their respective podiums as CNN began its coverage.
The men went to their place onstage without pleasantries beforehand. Their 2020 debates were historic for the putdowns, cross talk and apparent enmity.
It’s a record many hope not to break in 2024.
For his part, Trump in recent days acknowledged his interruptions of Biden didn’t help him.
— Ronald J. Hansen
5:55 p.m.: RFK holding a parallel debate
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t make the debate stage, but he’ll answer questions anyway.
Kennedy will answer CNN’s debate questions on his own livestream on X livestream and the website therealdebate.com to stand up his debate show on Thursday evening.
“The folks in Washington don't trust you to make up your own mind,” Kennedy wrote on his website.
“They limit the names you're permitted to choose on your ballot, and the voices you're allowed to hear during an electoral debate. They aren't just keeping a candidate off the debate stage. They are keeping ideas outside your awareness.”
Kennedy has so far struggled to make the ballot in many states, a costly and time-intensive endeavor for a candidate not connected to a major party. The independent presidential hopeful’s debate counterprogramming will be moderated by TV personality John Stossel.
— Stephanie Murray
5:50 p.m.: Second 2020 debate a guide?
The debate in Atlanta notably includes rules changes that may make the event a calmer discussion between the presidential candidates.
Microphones can be turned off for the man not speaking. The CNN studio will not include an audience.
If that sounds unfair to former President Donald Trump, it’s worth noting that the second debate between him and then-former Vice President Joe Biden was also a more subdued affair.
Many voters can’t forget the first 2020 debate, which stood out for its incivility and interruptions.
After Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden, a frustrated Biden memorably said, “Will you shut up, man?”
The second scheduled debate was canceled because Trump caught COVID-19. That left a final debate in Nashville that included a similar silent mic provision.
The New York Times called it “a more restrained affair than the first encounter.”
— Ronald J. Hansen
5:35 p.m.: Abortion in Arizona an evolving issue
Abortion rights loom over the presidential debate subject with Arizona as a swing state directly affected by the changing legislative landscape.
A proposed Arizona initiative would enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. That measure is expected to appear on the November election ballot.
That has been a worrisome prospect for Republicans.
Voters in six states — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Vermont — have already gone to the polls and voted in favor of abortion rights in their states.
Democrats blame former President Donald Trump for the evolving rules on abortion rights. It is a subject likely to come up in the debate on Thursday.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Phoenix on June 20 to promote President Joe Biden’s commitment to reproductive rights.
“President Biden wants you to have the rights to access the health care you need, whatever that health care is, including reproductive rights, including abortion rights, so we’re going to continue to fight,” Becerra said.
— Stephanie Innes
5 p.m.: What about wages and inflation?
As shown below, job growth nationally and in Arizona has been better under President Joe Biden than it was under former President Donald Trump.
But what about wage growth and inflation?
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a division of the Fed, has what it calls a Wage Growth Tracker tool. It measures median wage growth in three-month moving averages.
According to its data, at their fastest, median wages grew 3.9% under Trump. It hit that point several times, the last of which was the Fed’s June 2019 reading.
During Biden’s presidency, wages have grown at that pace or faster every month since August 2021.
This suggests that wages have grown significantly better for something close to the average worker under Biden than under Trump.
Inflation has been a major political liability for Biden, but the data isn’t what people usually presume.
The Fed’s St. Louis Bank shows that average hourly earnings of nonsupervisory workers have consistently outpaced the Consumer Price Index, one broad measure of inflation, since late 2020. The CPI includes the volatile food and energy prices that many economists usually set aside because they tend to move around more quickly.
Together, they show that for many wage gains have outpaced inflation.
But in perhaps the only measure that really matters, public opinion paints a very different picture of inflation.
Gallup found that 3% of those polled cited inflation as a top financial problem in April 2020. By April this year, 41% viewed inflation that way.
— Ronald J. Hansen
4:45 p.m.: Professor: It's about mobilizing the base
Stella Rouse, director of the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University, will watch the debate with an eye on which candidate can better speak to their base and motivate them to vote in the November election.
Because the race is a polarizing rematch between Biden and Trump, most voters already know who they prefer, she said.
“Most of the electorate has already made up their mind, and I think regardless of what happens tonight, unless it’s just a huge, huge flub by either of the candidates, that’s not going to move the needle a whole lot,” Rouse said.
Making an impression on voters who dislike Trump but are unmotivated to vote is particularly important for Biden, who is slightly behind Trump in Arizona polls and has been dogged by questions about his mental acuity. Trump, 78, often questions the mental sharpness of the 81-year-old president.
“If Biden does well, he might be able to sort of assuage the concerns of many in the Republican Party and the base about his age, about his ability to sort of carry this through,” Rouse said.
“That may not change a whole lot of minds, but it could reinvigorate people who might otherwise have said, ‘Well, you know what, I’m gonna stay home. I’m not excited about either one of these candidates.’”
— Stephanie Murray
4:30 p.m.: Climate views, records for Biden, Trump
Moderators could ask how the candidates will address environmental issues during tonight’s debate, as Americans are increasingly concerned about climate change.
An April Associated Press poll found that 45% of American adults have become more worried about climate change in the past year, though it has a decided partisan split.
About six in 10 Democrats have such concerns and one in four Republicans do.
But President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump had vastly different stances on climate change during their respective presidencies.
Trump rolled back regulations addressing climate change, saying they diminish economic growth. He withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, an international pledge for participating countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit global temperature increase in the coming decades.
“It’s a hoax,” Trump said about climate change during a 2015 rally. “It’s a money-making industry.”
During his campaign, Trump has pledged to reverse the Biden administration’s regulations that decrease greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy.
He previously wanted to plant 1 trillion trees nationwide while reducing wildfire risk through preventative forest treatments. Trump also eased water pollution restrictions to allegedly expand farmers’ and businesses’ access to America's waterways.
The Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 to accelerate America’s transition to renewable energy.
The law provided tax credits and rebates to help consumers and schools afford electric vehicles and school buses and lower energy costs for businesses and institutions.
These policies are expected to decrease America’s emissions by 40% by 2030 from 2005 levels.
The U.S. reentered the Paris Agreement under Biden, one of his first acts as president. He also launched the America the Beautiful initiative to conserve at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030.
But the U.S. also became the biggest crude oil producer in the world during his presidency, surpassing Russia and Saudi Arabia. Significant oil and gas projects have been approved, like the Willow project in Alaska and the Mountain Valley pipeline.
— Hayleigh Evans
4:15 p.m.: The candidates are in Atlanta
After speculation for weeks that the debate would not proceed as scheduled, both candidates arrived in Atlanta without suspense.
President Joe Biden shared photos of voters cheering in Atlanta a few hours before the first 2024 presidential debate.
“I met some incredible supporters who are fired up ahead of tonight’s debate. Let’s finish the job,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Former President Donald Trump’s personal jet arrived, and his motorcade made its way into downtown Atlanta ahead of the debate.
— Marina Pitofsky and David Jackson
3:45 p.m.: Job growth under Biden, Trump
The economy always looms large in presidential debates and Thursday’s event in Atlanta figures to be no different.
Job creation is usually regarded as the bedrock measure of the economy under any administration.
By that measure, the nation has done significantly better during Biden’s term than during Trump’s, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Through May, the U.S. has added 15.6 million jobs since January 2021, when Biden took office. That’s 10.9% growth.
At the same point in Trump’s presidency, the nation had lost 12.6 million jobs, or 8.6%.
But Trump’s numbers were severely affected just months earlier by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judging Trump by growth through only February 2020 — the last month before the nation went into quarantine and instant recession — employment grew by 6.7 million, or 4.6%.
Making the same adjustment to Biden’s record, employment as of February 2024 had grown by 14.9 million, or 10.4%.
Either way, growth was notably better during Biden’s tenure.
It’s a closer call when looking at Arizona only.
Under Trump and before the pandemic, Arizona employment grew by 268,000, or 8.8%.
Under Biden through February, Arizona added 296,000 jobs, or 9%.
— Ronald J. Hansen
1 p.m.: June is the new September
Thursday’s debate, the 47th since the dawn of television, is the earliest in modern presidential history.
Some see it as a way to dispense with one of the events at a time when people may be less focused on the election, or at least leave plenty of time for the candidates to recover from a poor performance.
Mitchell McKinney, a professor of communication at the University of Akron who has advised on previous presidential debates, said the timing also reflects the growing irrelevance of national conventions.
In the past, debates had to come after both major parties had nominated their candidates, he said. This year in particular there is little suspense around who will top the ticket for each side.
Paul Levinson, a communications professor at Fordham University who specializes in debates, said both Biden and Trump may be familiar to the office and debating, but they cannot take the event for granted.
“If anybody makes any serious mistakes, those are going to be jumped on,” Levinson said. “One thing that I’m sure of is the debate is going to stir up what’s been happening to an even greater intensity. It might seem like that’s impossible, but I think it is what is going to happen.”
— Ronald J. Hansen
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Biden-Trump CNN Presidential Debate: Biden's bad night stokes worries