Democrat pundits almost immediately began to soften concerns over President Biden’s poor debate performance.
Writer Dan Flynn observed that “Generally speaking, candidates do not win debates, they lose them. As President Joe Biden and former President Trump took the stage, much of the chatter on X and other forums focused more on who would lose rather than who would win. Roughly 67 percent of viewers believe Joe Biden lost.
The stakes for yesterday’s debate were high for both campaigns. With Trump beginning to take the lead in key battleground states and waning support for Biden in key voting demographics, last night offered both candidates to redefine who they are, shore up their base, and speak to the roughly 25% of American voters who view both candidates unfavorably.
Trump began attacks early, emphasizing immigration and border policy and Biden’s mental health, while Biden fought back, scoring 72 unique attacks against the former President. Biden’s team almost immediately announced he “has a cold,” fending off criticism of the President’s vocal struggles.
Democrat pundits almost immediately began sounding concerns about Biden’s performance including what MSNBC’s Joy Reid called “somewhere approaching panic.”
While pundits for both Democrats and Republicans and news analysts provided live tweets and running commentary, the New York Times and other news outlets spent energy collecting and processing data in real time counting the time each candidate spoke, what issues were addressed, and other metrics. Van Jones said of President Biden, “He had a test to meet tonight…and he failed.”
The unique rules for yesterday’s Georgia debate were put in place after both candidates opted to jettison the Commission on Presidential Debates and instead negotiate their own plans.
While an estimated 61 million Americans tuned into yesterday’s debate, more than 618,000 people watched John Stossel host independent Presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy “debate” with the CNN live stream. Georgia became only the 12th state to host a Presidential debate thanks to the Atlanta based CNN. Next, attention turns to ABC News to host the second and final debate September 10. The details of the Vice Presidential debate have not been set yet, while agencies wait for Trump to announce his running mate.
