Contrary to the legitimate fears expressed by respondents in our recent I&I/TIPP poll published on Wednesday about the fairness of the CNN presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden, the matchup in Atlanta was extraordinarily professional.
Contrary to the legitimate fears expressed by respondents in our recent I&I/TIPP poll published on Wednesday about the fairness of the CNN presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden, the matchup in Atlanta was extraordinarily professional.
Despite their prior open hostility towards Trump expressed repeatedly over the years, the two anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash conducted the debate fairly and accurately, aware of the millions of viewers who would instantly write CNN off as a platform if they had continued their partisan approach.
There were no gotcha questions to trip the candidates. The anchors were respectful of two people who had graced the Oval Office by gently nudging them along when they missed answering questions. The muted microphone approach worked just fine, and only once did the two candidates directly confront each other—curiously, during the only light moment of the debate, when discussing each other's golf handicaps. This forced camaraderie was a far cry from the two 2020 debates when there were marred by numerous interruptions that greatly put off the viewing audience.
There was also no physical audience cheering or jeering the candidates' responses. The biggest winner of the night was CNN, which has now shown that presidential debates can be civil events at which a thoughtful exchange can happen if the two candidates are willing and able.
President Biden fell woefully short on the ability scale. During the first 15 minutes, he seemed dazed and lost, unable to either comprehend the questions or only blabbering away illegibly with only a few words making sense.
For just about every question, Biden resorted to the three debate responses that have characterized his public appearances—which ultimately became an annoyance.
The idea that ...: As usual, Biden abused the "The idea that..." phrase repeatedly. On a Dana Bash question about abortion, Biden said, "He went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by an immigrant. But here's the deal, a lot of young women are being raped by their inlaws. By their spouses. By their brothers and sisters. It's just ridiculous." It was pure gibberish.
On a redirect, Biden continued his gibberish: "I support Roe v Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state."
No one knows what he meant.
The fact of the matter is...: Biden repeatedly resorted to this phrase, mainly as a filler to go on. To a question on taxes, Biden replied, "The fact of the matter is … he's dead wrong about taxes. He (Trump) has increased taxes on the middle class. … The lower class has been devastated by you."
The annoying rattling of numbered points. President Biden continued his style of annoyingly rattling off numbered items, such as "Number 1....." and "Number 2 ...." It is a terrible habit because items lower down the numbered list often have little relevance to the first item.
There were other fillers as well - "By the way," "Here's the deal" - which added no value to his statements. If Biden couldn't respond adequately, he just rejected Trump's assertions with a simple retort, "That's a lie," but provided no details as to why Biden thought that. Even in middle school, such a performance would get an F from the debate coach.
In contrast, Trump was sharp, energetic, and to the point. He bashed Biden time and again as the worst president in America's history for having brought America harm through 18 million illegal immigrants, inflation, wars in multiple theaters, an unwillingness to fire his team, and even getting us closer to the prospect of World War III. Trump missed out on nothing and demonstrated that his mental faculties are far better than Biden's, a reassuring factor for voters.
Trump's strategy was to repeatedly harp on these Biden policy failures, even when asked about a different topic. Three times, the moderators attempted to ask Trump to respond to a question about what he would do to help address the childcare crisis in America. All three times, Trump punted, never answered, and went after Biden's record. Trump followed the same approach when asked about his age - and only on a redirect did he respond.
In politics, it is much easier to attack than to defend. Many voters have forgotten the negative aspects of the Trump presidency and are horrified by how the country has taken a series of wrong turns during the last few years. It was a privilege that Biden had when he attacked Trump's performance in 2020, a privilege that Trump embraced and successfully took the fight to Biden, making the President look weak, incoherent, and incompetent.
As we go to press, the liberal media is shocked at how terribly Biden did. Peter Baker, a reliable voice for the Democrats who reports for the New York Times, wrote:
President Biden hoped to build fresh momentum for his re-election bid by agreeing to debate two months before he is formally nominated. Instead, his halting and disjointed performance on Thursday night prompted a wave of panic among Democrats and reopened discussion of whether he should be the nominee at all.
Andrew Young, a 2020 presidential candidate, commented on X:
What's Joe Biden's superpower? That he's a good guy who will do the right thing for the country. In this case, that's stepping aside and letting the DNC choose another nominee.
Nicholas Kristoff, the former NY Times journalist, posted on X:
I wish Biden would reflect on this debate performance and then announce his decision to withdraw from the race, throwing the choice of Democratic nominee to the convention.
Trump took a big gamble by appearing on CNN before the Republican nominating convention, and like many of his political moves, he was richly rewarded. If Biden's lawfare or some health crisis doesn't prevent Trump from contesting the election, it is increasingly likely that Trump will return to the White House as America's 47th president.
