Biden, at times hesitant, tries to confront Trump in Atlanta debate, who responds with lies – WABE

A raucous President Joe Biden repeatedly sought to take on Donald Trump in his first debate before the November election, as his Republican rival countered Biden’s criticism with lies about the economy, illegal immigration and its role in the January 6 Capitol insurrection.

The Atlanta debate took place at a crucial moment in their unpopular presidential rematch, a crucial time to make their case to a national television audience. Biden’s uneven performance risked crystallizing voters’ concerns that, at 81, he is too old to serve as president, while Trump’s rhetoric offered a perhaps unwelcome reminder of the grandiloquence he spouted daily during his four tumultuous years in power.

Biden entered the debate with the intention of making clear the choice voters will face in November. Trump, 78, sought an opportunity to move beyond his felony conviction in New York and convince an audience of tens of millions that he is fit to return to the Oval Office.

Trump was questioned about his actions on January 6, 2021, when a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to Biden.

“On January 6th, we were respected around the world, we were respected around the world. And then he comes along and now we’re being laughed at,” Trump said.

After being asked by a moderator to answer whether he violated his oath of office that day by rallying his supporters seeking to block the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory and not doing enough to overturn them then as they stormed the Capitol, Trump sought to blame then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Biden said Trump encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol and sat in the White House without acting as they fought with police.

“He did absolutely nothing and these people should be in jail,” Biden said. “They are the ones who should be held responsible. And he wants to free them all. And now he’s saying that if he loses again, whiner that he is, it could be a “bloodbath”? »

Trump then defended those convicted and imprisoned for their roles in the insurrection, telling Biden: “What they did to such innocent people, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Biden began the evening with a raspy voice and faltering delivery as he tried to defend his economic record and criticize Trump. Biden seemed to lose his train of thought as he gave a response, switching from an answer about tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID” and then saying, “excuse me, with , dealing with,” and he interrupted himself again.

“Look, we finally defeated Medicare,” Biden said, as his time ran out.

Trump immediately responded by declaring: “It’s true, he beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he is destroying Medicare. »

Trump falsely suggested that Biden was weakening the social services program because of migrants entering the country illegally.

Trump and Biden entered the evening facing headwinds, including a public opinion weary of the tumult of partisan politics and generally dissatisfied with both candidates, according to polls. But the debate highlighted how sharply their views diverge on virtually every core issue — abortion, the economy and foreign policy — and their deep hostility toward each other.

Their personal animosities quickly surfaced. Biden made a personal remark when referring to his son, Beau, who served in Iraq before dying of brain cancer. The president criticized Trump for calling Americans killed in combat “suckers and losers.” Biden told Trump: “My son was not a loser, he was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.”

Trump said he never said that and criticized Biden for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Biden directly mentioned Trump’s conviction in the secret New York trial, saying, “You have the morals of an alley cat” and referring to allegations in the case that Trump had sex with a porn actress.

“I didn’t sleep with a porn star,” responded Trump, who chose not to testify at his trial.

Trump countered that Biden could be prosecuted “when he leaves office.” Trump said that while there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, “Joe could be a convicted felon with all the things he’s done.” He added of the president: “The man is a criminal.”

Biden insisted Trump was more concerned about “retaliation” against his political rivals than the direction of the country.

Pressed to defend rising inflation since taking office, Biden blamed it on the situation he inherited from Trump amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden said that when Trump left office, “things were in chaos.” Trump disagreed, saying that during his tenure in the White House, “everything was fine.”

By the time Trump left office, America was still grappling with the pandemic, and during his final hours in office, the death toll had passed 400,000. The virus continued to ravage the country, and the death toll reached 1 million more than a year later.

Trump has repeatedly insisted that the three conservative justices he appointed to the Supreme Court helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and deferred the issue of abortion restrictions to individual states, something “everybody wanted.” Biden has countered that abortion access has been settled for 50 years and that Trump is making it harder for women in large swaths of the country to access basic health care.

At one point, Trump defended his foreign policy record and blamed Biden for the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, suggesting that the conflicts erupted when aggressors felt free to attack because they perceived Biden as weak.

“This place, the whole world, is exploding under his blows,” Trump said.

“I’ve never heard so much nonsense in my life,” Biden retorted.

The current president and his predecessor had not spoken since their last debate just weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration after leading an unprecedented and unsuccessful effort to overturn his defeat that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection by his supporters.

Trump has promised ambitious plans to overhaul the US government if he returns to the White House and Biden argues that his opponent would pose an existential threat to the country’s democracy.

In an effort to avoid a repeat of their chaotic 2020 clashes, Biden insisted — and Trump agreed — on holding the debate without an audience and allowing the network to mute candidates’ microphones when it was not their turn to speak. The debate’s two commercial breaks were another departure from modern practice, as the candidates agreed not to consult with staff or others when the cameras were off.

After the debate, Biden and Trump will travel to states they hope to carry this fall. Trump is headed to Virginia, a former battleground that has shifted to the Democrats in recent years.

Biden is expected to fly to North Carolina, where he is expected to hold the largest rally of his campaign in a state Trump narrowly won in 2020.

Miller, Price and Weissert reported from Washington.