President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have carried out the first 2024 presidential debate.
Biden and Trump levied personal attacks against each other as they argued about a wide range of topics from immigration to abortion to democracy.
The candidates traded blame over inflation, with Biden saying the economy he inherited was partly responsible.
Trump, in response, said that Biden inherited “almost no inflation.”
Trump claimed that the job growth during Biden’s presidency is all “bounceback” gains after the pandemic lockdowns.
Also, Trump stated that he would not block access to abortion medication, reiterating his stance that abortion regulations should be decided by states.
Biden shot back, saying that putting abortion up to state discretion is like leaving civil rights protections to the states.
Biden rebutted Trump’s claims that Roe v. Wade allowed doctors to kill babies “in the ninth month,” saying “that is simply not true.”
On the issue of Immigration, Biden touted a bipartisan border deal that he negotiated that was killed in the Senate.
He also called out Trump’s family separation policy. Trump repeated claims blaming Biden’s immigration policies for violent crime in the US.
Trump fired back, claiming that toward the end of his administration, the country had the “safest border in history in that final couple of months.”
He also repeated claims that the “the largest number of terrorists” from all over the world are “coming into our country right now.”
“Now we have the worst border in history. There’s never been anything like it, and people are dying all over the place.”
Donald Trump
At first, Trump tried to deflect when asked about January 6 by pointing to other areas where he wanted to attack Biden.
He then remarked, “I could see — I had virtually nothing to do. They asked me to go make a speech.”
Biden pointed out that Trump encouraged the people to go to Capitol Hill, and sat in the Oval Office for three hours “watching, being begged by his vice president and a number of his colleagues on the Republican side as well to do something, to call for a stop, to end it.”
“Instead, he talked about these people being great patriots of America. In fact, he says he’ll now forgive them for what they have done.
“And now, he says, if he loses again — such a whiner that he is — that there could be a bloodbath.”
Joe Biden
Additionally, Biden brought up Trump’s criminal felony convictions.
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is this man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said to Trump.
On the issue of age, Biden pointed out that his opponent is only a few years younger than him, but said he is “a lot less competent.” He urged voters to look at his record.
In his response, Trump challenged Biden to a cognitive test. The pair then argued about golf skills.
Moreover, Biden said that he will “make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share” to keep Social Security solvent.
He noted that he will not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody making less than $400,000 annually.
However, he claimed that the biggest thing that would keep Social Security solvent is defeating former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election.
“He wants to get rid of Social Security,” Biden added.
In response, Trump blamed Biden for “destroying” Social Security and said the current President “doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
He claimed that “millions of people” are immigrating into the US and are taking services such as Social Security and Medicaid away from other Americans.
Statements On Ongoing Wars
The candidates discussed the war in Gaza as well as Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump did not directly answer if he would support the creation of an independent Palestinian state to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
“I’d have to see,” Trump answered, before switching to talk about trade deals with European countries.
Meanwhile, Biden touted a proposal he has backed to trade hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a continued “ceasefire with additional conditions.”
Also, Trump admitted that the terms Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forward to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are “not acceptable.”
As he regularly does on the campaign trail, Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine if reelected, and again did not provide any specifics about how he would end the war.
In closing statements, Trump touted his record during his first term as President and called Biden a “complainer.”
In his statement, Biden focused on taxes and promised to bring down inflation.
READ ALSO: World Bank: Remittances Slowed in 2023, Expected to Grow Faster in 2024
