Dismayed Democrats expressed “panic” over the performance by President Joe Biden who hobbled out of the gate stumbling, at the first (and likely his last) 2024 presidential debate with former president Donald Trump Thursday.“I think there was a sense of shock, actually on how he came out at the beginning of the debate, how his voice sounded,” Democratic strategist David Axelrod told CNN. (Axelrod is a former president Barak Obama loyalist and Biden critic.)Shock? Why? What did they expect to see? Exactly what many Democrats hoped for — an abysmal performance to justify getting Biden, who spells disaster for the Democrats in the November election, out to field another candidate. He refuses to go.Some suggest putting him on that stage was a setup by political adversaries in his party. Reaction to his performance was swift and fierce with media and analyst talking points in sync, just like they’ve always been in sync when covering up Biden’s weakness, Biden Crime Family business dealings and policies crippling and endangering America. This time they agreed it’s time for him to step aside, almost as though they too were prepped for the debate.A cognitively impaired Biden has long stumbled through gibberish riddled speeches. The shock isn’t that Biden was lethargic, confused, froze, and lost his train of thought. The mystery is how he managed to get through the debate when he has trouble enduring brief press conferences. What’s with those vacant eyes staring into nowhere?At least Biden, 81, didn’t say “America’s a nation that can be defined in a single word: awdsmfafoothimaaafootafootwhscuseme,” during the debate with Trump, 78. Or “suhlongasuhijeruhhnied.” But he uttered other garbled words in a hoarse voice. His handlers claimed he had a cold. OK. But does anyone know what a “gag gaze” is? When Biden said, “we finally beat Medicare” Trump spoke for everyone: “I really don’t know what he said.”On a humane level, it was painful to watch Biden during the debate co-moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta.“If this were a boxing match, a ref would have stepped in,” said FOX News host Jimmy Failla.However, Biden’s not just some frail senior deserving a pity pass. He’s the leader of the free world. Trump pointed out wars exploded during Biden’s term — Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Hamas. Biden’s enabled Iran — financially crippled into behaving by Trump during his war-free presidency — to amass a fortune. Iran funds proxy wars and arms Yemen’s Houthis to attack ships in the Red Sea, that could ignite more extreme conflict in a flash.Trump’s statement that Biden could start a nuclear World War Three wasn’t a cheap shot to gain points. It’s a reality that should have us all worried about who occupies the White House. “His policies are so bad. His military policies are insane. They’re insane. ... It will never end with him. He will drive us into World War Three and we're closer to World War Three than anybody could imagine,” warned Trump.“This place, the whole world is blowing up under him,” he later added.Trump was accused of being petty and sidestepping questions when he used his allotted time to respond to Biden’s fibs and rehashed debunked accusations.He showed remarkable un-Trump like restraint, which appeared to be difficult at times judging by the clenched jaw and pursed lips. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both contenders for vice-president, prepped him well. Trump will need a rally to roar and purge his system.Immigration, the economy and abortion were main topics. Both candidates veered off into a silly debate about who was better at golf.Larry Kudlow, host of Kudlow on FOX business said Trump “hit a home run.”“Trump nailed it on tax cuts and growth. Absolutely smashed Biden on that issue. He killed it on inflation, absolutely killed it on the border catastrophe. He never took the bait from Biden’s insults. That’s the winning message, that’s the unity voters want.”“Trump also crushed it on Iran, Afghanistan, China, and vowed peace between Russia and Ukraine — something Biden has failed on.”“Trump’s closing argument touched on key issue likes taxes, deregulation, and growth. He reacted forcefully he’ll make America great again.”No debate’s complete without personal insults hurled.Trump called Biden a “criminal.”Biden (who allegedly used to shower with his daughter) said Trump had the “morals of an alley cat” and referred to Trump being held liable in 2023 for sexually abusing a woman in the 1990s. (Which Trump denied.) And the 34 Manhattan felony counts he was convicted of for falsifying records to cover up an alleged affair with a porn star...“I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one,” said Trump. He said he’ll appeal the conviction and win.Biden accused Trump of inciting a mob to storm the Capital Jan. 6, 2020. Trump reminded he urged supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” gather and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused his request for 10,000 National Guard troops. Pelosi recently took responsibility for mishandling the event.Biden gaffed when in confusion he said, “We finally beat Medicare.” He may have meant they succeeded in allowing negotiation of prescription drugs under Medicaid.“He’s right, he did beat Medicaid, beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare because of all these people are coming in, they’re putting them on Medicare, they’re putting them on Social Security,” said Trump referring to millions of illegals that walked into the US and keep coming under Biden’s open border policy. “He will wipe out Medicare. He was right in the way he finished that sentence.”Biden failed to deliver a sound open border policy argument. He lied when he said Border Patrol endorsed him. Border Patrol endorsed Trump. He lied when he said Trump put illegals in cages, “separating babies from their mothers.” Obama did that.“We have the safest border in the history of our country,” he falsely claimed.Trump stood up for Americans who know different and suffer the consequences.“We have a border that's the most dangerous place anywhere in the world. And he opened it up and these killers are coming into our country, and they’re raping and killing women and it's a terrible thing.“He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists with the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in the South America, all over the world, they come from the Middle East, everywhere … pouring in.”“We are living right now in a rat’s nest … because of his ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies…”Trump blasted Biden for putting illegals in “luxury hotels” while veterans sleep in the streets.“Veterans and our soldiers can't stand this guy. They can't stand him. They think he's the worst commander-in-chief, if that's what you call him, that we've ever had.”Biden repeated a debunked claim that Trump called 1,800 marines buried at the World War One cemetery in France “suckers and losers” and refused to visit. He couldn’t fly there because of bad weather.Biden regurgitated the false claim that during COVID-19 Trump told Americans “to put a little bleach in your arm.”Biden attempted to win points by calling Trump a convicted felon.But Trump said Biden could be a convicted felon “as soon as he gets out of office.”“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he's done. He's done horrible things … This man is a criminal.”Trump zeroed in on how inflation is “killing black families and Hispanic families and just about everybody” who “can’t buy groceries anymore.”He skewered Biden for allowing illegals to take jobs from Americans.“And it could be 18, it could be 19 and even 20 million people. They're taking black jobs and they're taking Hispanic jobs, and you haven't seen it yet, but you're going to see something that's going to be the worst in our history.”“I've never seen such anger in our country before.”Trump won the debate.When it ended, Jill Biden appeared to help her husband find his way off the stage. Enough said.
Dismayed Democrats expressed “panic” over the performance by President Joe Biden who hobbled out of the gate stumbling, at the first (and likely his last) 2024 presidential debate with former president Donald Trump Thursday.“I think there was a sense of shock, actually on how he came out at the beginning of the debate, how his voice sounded,” Democratic strategist David Axelrod told CNN. (Axelrod is a former president Barak Obama loyalist and Biden critic.)Shock? Why? What did they expect to see? Exactly what many Democrats hoped for — an abysmal performance to justify getting Biden, who spells disaster for the Democrats in the November election, out to field another candidate. He refuses to go.Some suggest putting him on that stage was a setup by political adversaries in his party. Reaction to his performance was swift and fierce with media and analyst talking points in sync, just like they’ve always been in sync when covering up Biden’s weakness, Biden Crime Family business dealings and policies crippling and endangering America. This time they agreed it’s time for him to step aside, almost as though they too were prepped for the debate.A cognitively impaired Biden has long stumbled through gibberish riddled speeches. The shock isn’t that Biden was lethargic, confused, froze, and lost his train of thought. The mystery is how he managed to get through the debate when he has trouble enduring brief press conferences. What’s with those vacant eyes staring into nowhere?At least Biden, 81, didn’t say “America’s a nation that can be defined in a single word: awdsmfafoothimaaafootafootwhscuseme,” during the debate with Trump, 78. Or “suhlongasuhijeruhhnied.” But he uttered other garbled words in a hoarse voice. His handlers claimed he had a cold. OK. But does anyone know what a “gag gaze” is? When Biden said, “we finally beat Medicare” Trump spoke for everyone: “I really don’t know what he said.”On a humane level, it was painful to watch Biden during the debate co-moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta.“If this were a boxing match, a ref would have stepped in,” said FOX News host Jimmy Failla.However, Biden’s not just some frail senior deserving a pity pass. He’s the leader of the free world. Trump pointed out wars exploded during Biden’s term — Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Hamas. Biden’s enabled Iran — financially crippled into behaving by Trump during his war-free presidency — to amass a fortune. Iran funds proxy wars and arms Yemen’s Houthis to attack ships in the Red Sea, that could ignite more extreme conflict in a flash.Trump’s statement that Biden could start a nuclear World War Three wasn’t a cheap shot to gain points. It’s a reality that should have us all worried about who occupies the White House. “His policies are so bad. His military policies are insane. They’re insane. ... It will never end with him. He will drive us into World War Three and we're closer to World War Three than anybody could imagine,” warned Trump.“This place, the whole world is blowing up under him,” he later added.Trump was accused of being petty and sidestepping questions when he used his allotted time to respond to Biden’s fibs and rehashed debunked accusations.He showed remarkable un-Trump like restraint, which appeared to be difficult at times judging by the clenched jaw and pursed lips. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both contenders for vice-president, prepped him well. Trump will need a rally to roar and purge his system.Immigration, the economy and abortion were main topics. Both candidates veered off into a silly debate about who was better at golf.Larry Kudlow, host of Kudlow on FOX business said Trump “hit a home run.”“Trump nailed it on tax cuts and growth. Absolutely smashed Biden on that issue. He killed it on inflation, absolutely killed it on the border catastrophe. He never took the bait from Biden’s insults. That’s the winning message, that’s the unity voters want.”“Trump also crushed it on Iran, Afghanistan, China, and vowed peace between Russia and Ukraine — something Biden has failed on.”“Trump’s closing argument touched on key issue likes taxes, deregulation, and growth. He reacted forcefully he’ll make America great again.”No debate’s complete without personal insults hurled.Trump called Biden a “criminal.”Biden (who allegedly used to shower with his daughter) said Trump had the “morals of an alley cat” and referred to Trump being held liable in 2023 for sexually abusing a woman in the 1990s. (Which Trump denied.) And the 34 Manhattan felony counts he was convicted of for falsifying records to cover up an alleged affair with a porn star...“I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one,” said Trump. He said he’ll appeal the conviction and win.Biden accused Trump of inciting a mob to storm the Capital Jan. 6, 2020. Trump reminded he urged supporters to “peacefully and patriotically” gather and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused his request for 10,000 National Guard troops. Pelosi recently took responsibility for mishandling the event.Biden gaffed when in confusion he said, “We finally beat Medicare.” He may have meant they succeeded in allowing negotiation of prescription drugs under Medicaid.“He’s right, he did beat Medicaid, beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare because of all these people are coming in, they’re putting them on Medicare, they’re putting them on Social Security,” said Trump referring to millions of illegals that walked into the US and keep coming under Biden’s open border policy. “He will wipe out Medicare. He was right in the way he finished that sentence.”Biden failed to deliver a sound open border policy argument. He lied when he said Border Patrol endorsed him. Border Patrol endorsed Trump. He lied when he said Trump put illegals in cages, “separating babies from their mothers.” Obama did that.“We have the safest border in the history of our country,” he falsely claimed.Trump stood up for Americans who know different and suffer the consequences.“We have a border that's the most dangerous place anywhere in the world. And he opened it up and these killers are coming into our country, and they’re raping and killing women and it's a terrible thing.“He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists with the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now. All terrorists all over the world, not just in the South America, all over the world, they come from the Middle East, everywhere … pouring in.”“We are living right now in a rat’s nest … because of his ridiculous, insane and very stupid policies…”Trump blasted Biden for putting illegals in “luxury hotels” while veterans sleep in the streets.“Veterans and our soldiers can't stand this guy. They can't stand him. They think he's the worst commander-in-chief, if that's what you call him, that we've ever had.”Biden repeated a debunked claim that Trump called 1,800 marines buried at the World War One cemetery in France “suckers and losers” and refused to visit. He couldn’t fly there because of bad weather.Biden regurgitated the false claim that during COVID-19 Trump told Americans “to put a little bleach in your arm.”Biden attempted to win points by calling Trump a convicted felon.But Trump said Biden could be a convicted felon “as soon as he gets out of office.”“Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he's done. He's done horrible things … This man is a criminal.”Trump zeroed in on how inflation is “killing black families and Hispanic families and just about everybody” who “can’t buy groceries anymore.”He skewered Biden for allowing illegals to take jobs from Americans.“And it could be 18, it could be 19 and even 20 million people. They're taking black jobs and they're taking Hispanic jobs, and you haven't seen it yet, but you're going to see something that's going to be the worst in our history.”“I've never seen such anger in our country before.”Trump won the debate.When it ended, Jill Biden appeared to help her husband find his way off the stage. Enough said.
