Last night, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election. Here are three takes on the much-scrutinized matchup:
What Biden and Trump said about Israel — and Hitler — during the first presidential debate: In a series of clashes, Biden proudly touted the U.S.’s role in defending Israel against April airstrikes from Iran, while Trump accused him of being insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state, at one point describing him as having “become like a Palestinian.” Biden also struck at Trump over his record on the far-right, saying “This is a guy who says Hitler has done good things.” Here are the top takeaways from a night that saw issues dear to the Jewish community — although, crucially, not rising antisemitism — take center stage. Read the story ➤
Opinion | Trump used the debate to court a major Israeli-American donor. Palestinians will pay the price. Trump’s responses to questions about Israel and Palestine had an intended audience of one, writes senior columnist Rob Eshman: Dr. Miriam Adelson, the Republican megadonor who has promised his campaign a donation of $90 million, but not yet handed over most of the funds. Adelson, the Israeli-born widow of the GOP kingmaker Sheldon Adelson, is ideologically aligned with the Israeli right, and in the debate, Trump made it clear he was ready to fulfill the right’s wishlist. The result was “a clear message to Adelson,” Eshman writes: “Trump will support Israel in taking whatever course of action it likes in the war, no questions asked.”Read his essay ➤
Moses had Aaron to help him communicate. Biden needed such a surrogate in disastrous debate. “There is a famous leader who, while humble and compassionate, struggled with a stammer,” writes culture reporter PJ Grisar. “Tasked with leading a nation, he answered that he was slow of speech. Thankfully, he had an interpreter. I speak of Moses, whose older brother, Aaron, often served the role of proxy orator.”
As Biden delivered a “wooden and at times incoherent” performance in Thursday’s debate, that biblical collaboration came to mind. “According to the Bible, Moses was 80, a year younger than Biden, when he came back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, with Aaron (83) by his side as spokesperson,” Grisar writes. “In a way, all presidents do have Aarons — they call them speechwriters, chiefs of staff, cabinet secretaries. But the debate format — a flawed barometer for leadership — favors those who think quickly on their feet, are telegenic and, of course, do not have a speech disability,” as Biden does. Read the story ➤
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