A shaky debate performance from Joe Biden has Democrats panicking

Good morning.

Despite being a rematch, it was a night of many firsts for Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who took part in the earliest presidential debate in modern US history. It was the first debate since John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 that took place without an audience. It was the first time two US presidents have debated each other for the presidency and the first time, reportedly, that Biden and Trump have been in the same room since their last debate in October 2020. And we all remember how well that went – with Trump turning up with Covid and Biden seen as a clear winner.

That was not the case this time. The evening was a disaster for the president whose shaky performance has sent Democrats into a tailspin – a CNN snap poll afterwards said 67% thought that Trump had won. Biden appeared hoarse and exhausted – aids said he had a cold – providing meandering answers that often did not quite land, especially in contrast to Trump’s sharp, albeit deeply misleading, blows.

Though the debate began on policy, towards the end it became incredibly personal with Trump coming for Biden’s son and his age, and Biden hitting back with his own unsparing retorts, accusing the former president of having the morals of an “alley cat” and bringing up lawsuits that accused him of molesting a woman and having sex with a pornstar while his wife was pregnant.

Today’s newsletter is a rundown of what happened last night (or in the early hours of the morning if you are also in the UK), with the help of David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief who was reporting live from the debate in Atlanta. That’s right after the headlines.

Five big stories

In depth: ‘Trump’s falsehoods appeared to be given as much weight as Biden’s facts’

First impressions count for a lot, especially in politics, and Joe Biden’s performance in the first half of the debate did not impress anyone, even those in his own camp. Vice-president Kamala Harris admitted to CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the president had a “slow start”.

“The conventional wisdom had become that expectations were so low for Biden that all he had to do was show up and not die and people would say that was a great performance,” David says. “Somehow he fell short of those expectations, certainly at the beginning of the debate at least.”

Biden rattled through the first few questions too quickly, verging on incoherent at points and trailing off at the end of sentence. This was all amplified by the “frog on his throat” David says – whether it was due to acid reflux or a cold he could not shake off, Biden’s raspy voice made it even more difficult to follow what he was saying, even though the points he was making were more truthful, substantial and policy based.

It was a sentiment shared by our panel of experts and Moira Donegan, who wrote: “when the cameras cut to Biden, he was often slack-jawed, his eyes unfocused, seeming to stare into the middle distance with a look of vacant horror”.

There is a caveat though – Biden’s performance picked up as the debate went on. He became stronger, his voice became marginally clearer, as did his arguments and ideas. It is unlikely however that this will offset the initial image.

Trump benefited greatly from CNN’s hands-off approach of “facilitating” not “participating” in the debate. The broadcaster said ahead of time that it would not be factchecking either president, a wise decision for the flow of a television show perhaps, but less wise when one of the debaters reportedly lied at least 30,573 times in four years. This meant that Trump’s false claims about the economy, immigration, January 6 and abortion received no pushback or correction. “It created a false equivalence” David says, as “Donald Trump’s falsehoods appeared to be given just as much weight as Joe Biden’s facts and I think for viewers tuning in to the election for the first time in some cases, it would be very hard for them to know when Trump is lying”.

Trump lied (surprise surprise)

While much attention has been, and will continue to be paid, to Joe Biden’s performance and the political upset it has caused in the Democratic party, it is important to take a look at the substance of the debate.

Though he was more restrained than he has been in previous debates, Trump’s exaggerations, misleading claims and outright falsehoods were many. On immigration he claimed that Biden’s policies have meant that “people are coming in and killing our citizens” at high levels – he said he calls it “Biden-migrant crime”. There is no evidence that immigrants are more likely to commit violent crimes or push up crime rates. He also said that the president will destroy Social Security and Medicare by giving migrants entering the US these welfare benefits – which there is also no evidence to support. He said the only jobs that Biden created were for illegal immigrants – also patently false.

Trump also made the claim that Democrats support abortion until birth: “They will take the life of a child in the eighth month, ninth month, even after birth.” This is also not true – an abortion “after birth” is infanticide and late term abortions are exceedingly rare.

The former president also bizarrely added, when asked about the climate crisis, that “he had the best environmental numbers ever” during his time in office. No one knows what numbers he is referring to here but this Guardian investigation highlights 75 ways that Trump made America dirtier during his time in office.

For a comprehensive fact check of Trump and Biden’s presidential debate claims, read this helpful explainer by Guardian US reporters.

The low moments

The contrast between the images presented by Biden and Trump about what America looks like right now could not be starker.

To Trump, America is collapsing. It is not respected. It has become “stupid” and lost global standing. To Biden, America is “the most admired country in the world” and there is nothing beyond its capacity.

The end of the debate perhaps offered us the most insight into what we can expect to come: a frustrated, bemused Biden who is barely able to conceal his contempt at his opponent who lies frequently and easily. And Trump, who when asked whether he would respect the election results in November three times, reluctantly accepted that he would but only “if it’s a fair and legal and good election”, before repeating the widely debunked claims of voter fraud in 2020, making it clear that “if” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

The mood

In the minutes after the debate ended, it was clear which side thought they had won.

David says the spin room was flooded by Trump supporters soon after the broadcast ended, eager to talk, spinning a message that Donald Trump won spectacularly and how they felt sorry for Joe Biden because he’s so old, feeble and unable to run a campaign.

“It was only about 10 minutes later that the Democrats finally emerged,” he adds. On social media, Democrats panicked at Biden’s faltering performance, with some calling into question something that, up to this point, felt very settled: his nomination. Frenzied discussion has started to emerge about the prospects of replacing Biden before the Democratic National Convention. Three strategists close to potential presidential candidates spoke to Politico anonymously, saying that they had received calls from major sponsors and donors expressing their desire for Biden to step aside. “Obviously that would be hugely dramatic,” David says, but the biggest contenders, however, remain vocal supporters of Joe Biden and ultimately it is the presidents decision whether or not he steps aside.

“It feels like despite the nuances and the caveats, ultimately, it all falls into a narrative and it’s clear what the narrative is shaping up to be about Biden in particular,” David says.

What else we’ve been reading

• Born nearly 200 years ago, Josephine Butler imagined a world where women were more than just their husbands’ possessions and – in a remarkable life – fought the police and campaigned for suffrage. Susanna Rustin looks at how this forgotten feminist took on the patriarchy, despite knowing how much it would cost her. Raphael Boyd, newsletters team

• For the low, low price of $50,000 you can clone your pet through the services of a biotech company – but should you? For the New Yorker (£), Alexandra Horowitz delves into an ethically dubious world. Nimo

• With much of the world’s “discovery” done by white men, the role that adventurers of different races played in exploring is often overlooked. David Smith looks at how these contributions are being acknowledged in a new book. Raphael

• Miscommunication during a general election campaign is inevitable – one voter in East Yorkshire thought Labour was whacking a tax on condoms, only to realise he had misheard “non-doms”. Daniel Boffey’s report highlights the gap between the polls, which show huge margins for the party, and the disaffection and lack of enthusiasm that some campaigners are finding on doorsteps. Nimo

• As large parts of the country lay underwater and half a million people found themselves displaced, it would have been safe to assume that the consequences of the floods that have hit Brazil were a loss of life and land. What has unexpectedly come to the surface, though, is a conversation about Brazil’s history. Tiago Rogero looks at how the effects of German migration 200 years ago still linger in Brazilian society today. Raphael

Sport

Football | Ezri Konsa has revealed England’s players had to check on family members who were drenched with beer thrown by supporters at the end of the team’s goalless draw with Slovenia. Konsa, who said that the atmosphere in that part of the stadium was “not nice”, said his brother was among those showered with drinks.

Cricket | A dominant India ended England’s title defence by handing them a 68-run thumping in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup on Thursday, securing their place in the final against South Africa. Put into bat in the rain-hit match, India posted a strong 171-7 with skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav scoring the bulk of the runs on a slow track at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

Cycling | The Tour de France begins tomorrow – and the Guardian will be covering every twist and turn. To get up to speed here are the complete stage and team-by-team guides.

The front pages

The Guardian leads on “Labour pledge to ban managers who silence NHS whistleblowers”. The i reports “Private school fees VAT in Reeves’ first Budget but delayed until 2025 – and loophole closed”. The Mail looks at a poll of undecided voters, under the headline “Poll that shows it’s not too late to stop Starmer supermajority”. The Mirror reports from inside a “crumbling hospital”, with the headline “This is why we need to vote Labour”.

The Times has “Shoot illegal migrants, said Reform campaigner”, while the Telegraph says “Farage is a Putin appeaser, says Sunak”. The Financial Times reports “Top-rate taxpayer numbers to exceed 1mn as threshold freezes swell coffers”.

Something for the weekend

Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read and listen to right now

TV
Supacell (Netflix)
Rapman’s sprawling sci-fi drama is an absolute riot, following five Black Londoners reeling from gaining sudden supernatural abilities. The vast majority of the show is dedicated to the plight of our central misfits (pun intended, as Supacell seems to share DNA with the beloved Channel 4 show). Even so, it still feels wholly distinct, with characters’ lives realised in a way that rivals the best of contemporary prestige television. Leila Latif

Film
Kinds of Kindness (In cinemas today)
Yorgos Lanthimos’s unnerving and amusing new film arrives shortly after the release of his Oscar-winning Poor Things. It is a macabre, absurdist triptych set in and around modern-day New Orleans, with Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mamoudou Athie, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Joe Alwyn each given a trio of roles. It feels heavier and longer than I expected, yet absence and loss is perhaps the whole point. Peter Bradshaw

Podcast
Was Justice Served? (Widely available, episodes weekly)
Jen Baldwin and David Wilson boast that they’ll be looking at gory, heartbreaking and sensational cases in this new podcast, which is true-crime catnip. In the opening case, historian David Olusoga brings sensitivity when he tells the story of his great-great-grandfather, who was convicted of murder in the 1890s, and the impact it had on his family. Hannah Verdier

Book
Only Here, Only Now
The prose in Tom Newlands’ debut novel is glorious. But it is first and foremost the landscape that he stakes out that grabs you by the throat. Only Here, Only Now is set amid the “brambles and bins” of a gritty, grotty post-industrial town on Scotland’s Firth of Forth. Against a backdrop of phone boxes, fast-food outlets and Space Raiders, 14-year-old Cora wants out – cue a late-90s coming-of-age tale. Sarah Crown

Today in Focus

Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings

Discover and buy the latest cartoons now in The Guardian Print Shop.

The Upside

A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad

On a 100-mile stretch of the Sussex coast, a small group is trying to protect a shoreline that is under threat. Karen McVeigh met Eric Smith, who – along with his fellow conservationists – is attempting to restore not only the shore, but also the seabed, rivers and land through a combination of rewilding and rejuvenation. For decades, Smith was a lone voice in his community, battling to stop trawlers further destroying the seabed that hosted the kelp forest, a nursery and spawning ground for fish and other marine life and one of the country’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Now, he is part of a team who have been awarded £100,000 to help fight the pollution overtaking our lands and waters, working over an area that contains a million people and a vast, but dwindling, array of wildlife and plants. “Just give nature a bit of space and it will come back,” says Smith.

Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday

Bored at work?

And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until Monday.

• Quick crossword

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