Trump probably satisfied, Biden less so after brutal Atlanta debate

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – In the wake of what could be the only debate between the two men who want to lead the United States for the next four years, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump likely have very different feelings Friday Morning.

The 46th and 45th presidents of the United States traded brutal criticism of their respective administrations Thursday night in Atlanta as they faced off in the first general election presidential debate in U.S. history.

“As far as the tenor of the debate and the way it was conducted, I think the Trump campaign can be very pleased,” said Dr. Ben Taylor, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University and Atlanta News First political analyst. “Maybe the Biden campaign isn’t so happy.

“But on the substance, as to what was actually said, what the candidates’ arguments were and what the policies were discussed, both campaigns will have a lot to gain from this debate and both can take pleasure in that,” he said.

Thursday night’s historic debate in Atlanta was marked by personal attacks from both men, halting responses from a raspy Biden and Trump’s continued pursuit of claims of a stolen 2020 presidential election.

“They were trying to speak to the American people and to both candidates — kind of because of the format, because it was just a studio and there was no audience — they sort of talked more to each other and more to the moderators than they would have liked in the best of all possible worlds,” Taylor said.

“The main thing that both candidates are thinking about now is what this person said during the debate that we can use to frame them in the future,” he said.

Biden’s uneven performance, particularly at the start of the debate, crystallized the concerns of many Americans who, at 81, consider him too old to serve as president. It sparked a new wave of calls for the Democrat to consider dropping himself from the party’s slate as members of his party fear a Trump return to the White House.

Biden has repeatedly criticized Trump in an apparent effort to provoke him, bringing up everything from the former president’s recent felony conviction to his alleged insult to World War I veterans to his weight. Trump, 78, has refused to clearly state that he would accept the results of November’s election, four years after promoting conspiracy theories about his defeat that culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection, and has misrepresented on several occasions the results of his mandate.

But it was Biden’s speech at the start of the debate that drew the most attention afterward. Trump allies immediately declared victory while leading Democrats publicly questioned whether Biden could move forward.

“If you are a Trump supporter, you have many reasons to continue to support former President Trump,” Taylor said. “If you are a Biden supporter, you have many reasons to continue to support President Biden. The question is what moderate and independent voters will see from this debate. And the thing is, it’s not much different than what they would have seen four years ago.

“That’s the point of these televised debates,” Taylor said. “Since Kennedy-Nixon, it has always been as much about the presentation of the candidates as it is about what they say.”

Trump is expected to appear at a rally in Virginia on Friday, while the president is in North Carolina for a campaign appearance.

“If you knew anything about Donald Trump and Joe Biden, I don’t think your opinion would change much about their policies or their agenda,” Taylor said. “So the question is, which of these people is best able to implement the policies that voters prefer?”

Thursday evening also saw the first ever televised debate between a sitting president and his predecessor; the first-ever presidential debate in which one of the candidates is a convicted felon; and the first general election presidential debate held in Atlanta (in 2020, Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta hosted a Democratic primary debate between several candidates, including Biden and his eventual running mate, Kamala Harris).

Among undecided voters, Taylor said: “We know they care about the economy, we know they care about these kitchen table issues, you could look at it that way. And they talked about that a lot throughout the night.

“The question is: Have either candidate presented a positive agenda, a kind of forward-looking agenda that voters often look for in these situations? Taylor said. “And I’m really not sure.” I haven’t really seen either candidate present this kind of positive, forward-looking agenda, but sometimes candidates want you to think because actually both of these candidates have track records. And it’s a very, honestly, unprecedented situation.

Here are the other historical firsts in the debate:

• First general election debate owned and controlled by a for-profit corporation.
• It was the first time since the 1960 inaugural presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon that no voters were present.
• First general election presidential debate before the Democratic and Republican national nominating conventions.
• First presidential debate since 1988 not sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
• A clash between the two oldest candidates in American history.

Biden and Trump also agreed to an entirely new debate format presented by CNN. The rules were apparently designed to avoid a repeat of their 2020 debacle, during which they relentlessly interrupted and heckled each other and ignored calls for decorum from Fox News moderator Chris Wallace.

First, the debate featured two commercial breaks during the 90-minute broadcast; previous televised debates did not allow television commercials.

Neither man was allowed to make an opening statement. The candidates placed themselves in front of identical desks; both gave a two-minute closing statement and, by coin toss, Trump got the closing argument.

The debate began with a question, and Trump and Biden were given two minutes to respond. This was followed by one-minute rebuttals and responses to the rebuttals. Their microphones were muted except when it was their turn to speak. The two candidates received a pen, a notepad and a bottle of water on stage; no pre-written notes were allowed.

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