— Trump blames Biden's immigration policies for violent crime in the US
— President Biden criticizes the state of economy at the end of Trump's presidency
— Putin's terms to end war in Ukraine war not acceptable, says Trump
— Biden touts proposed ceasefire deal for Gaza
Washington: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump went head-to-head on the CNN Presidential debate stage, covering a range of topics from immigration to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump attacked Biden over his immigration policy saying the country has become an “uncivilized country” due to Biden’s border policies and crimes committed by immigrants. However, data shows that immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than US citizens.
Biden highlighted his success in lowering prescription drug prices, stating, "We finally beat Medicare". During the debate, Trump raised concerns about violence by undocumented migrants and asylum seekers entering the US. He claimed the US had closed borders, Biden opened the borders and “allowing terrorists who are killing our people”.
Biden countered by highlighting the experiences of young women who have suffered violence domestically. Trump reiterated his claims, accusing Biden of allowing murderers into the country who commit acts of violence against women.
Trump claimed that the job growth during Biden’s presidency is all “bounceback” gains after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. But the jobs gained were not all “bounceback” positions — people did not all simply return to their former roles, reports CNN.
The presidential candidates also traded blame over inflation. Biden said the economy he inherited was partly responsible. Trump, in response, said Biden inherited “almost no inflation”.
President Biden criticized the state of the economy at the end of Trump's presidency, attributing it to chaos and emphasizing his efforts to stabilize and rebuild. Trump called Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”
The former President said the terms Russian President Vladimir Putin has put forward to end Russia’s war in Ukraine are “not acceptable". Asked about his actions and inactions on January 6, Trump tried to deflect the question and then said, “I had virtually nothing to do. They asked me to go make a speech”.
For the first time, a presidential debate took place without a live audience to cheer or boo the debaters. Biden and Trump went into the debate with tied poll numbers, with the latter ahead by a very thin difference that is within the statistical margin of error.
Trump is at 41 per cent and Biden at 40.9 percent in the weighted average of national polls computed by FiveThirtyEight, a leading poll tracker. They are separated by 1.5 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, with Trump ahead 46.6 percent to Biden’s 45.1 per cent.
Trump goes into the debate as a felon convicted of 34 criminal charges, with at least three more cases inching towards trial. While Republican voters don’t view his conviction as a reason for not supporting him, it’s the independent voters who will determine the race that he will try to appeal to.
