‘I really don’t know what he said – and I don’t think he does either’: Trump pulls no punches as Biden struggles in debate

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Former president Donald Trump pulled no punches in his debate against President Joe Biden during their first debate in Atlanta, attacking him as incoherent as Biden spluttered and stumbled over his words.

The president, his voice hoarse, regularly tripped over his own words and interrupted his own sentences.

“I’m going to continue to move until we get the total ban, the total initiative relative to what we can do with more border patrol and more asylum officers,” he said.

As Biden defended his executive actions to curb immigration, Trump said: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence – and I don’t think he knows what he said either.”

The debate is the first showdown between the two presidential candidates since the presidential contest began.

Prior to the debate, Trump and his allies floated conspiracy theories that Biden would be using amphetamines, pounding Mountain Dew or wearing an earpiece during the debate. None of these allegations have been substantiated and there is no evidence for them.

Conversely, Biden retorted that he would be “jacked up” on his “secret sauce,” that had the likeness of “Dark Brandon,” the internet meme that also had the tagline “zero malarkey.” But the can is actually water.

Occasionally, Biden was able to make a few hits on Trump as the twice-impeached former president repeatedly lied. At one point, Biden attacked Trump for reportedly calling veterans “losers” and “suckers.”

“My son was not a loser, was not a sucker,” he said in reference to his son Beau Biden, who served in the US military and who died of glioblastoma. “You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”

Similarly, Biden also hit Trump for multiple lawsuits, including being held liable for sexually assaulting writer E Jean Carroll and being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence 2016 presidential election by to cover having an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

“ How many billions do you owe for molesting a woman in public,” Biden asked Trump. “Of having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant? What are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.”

But Trump also occasionally stumbled his words, specifically attacking Biden for his policy toward Israel’s war against Hamas.

“He's become like a Palestinian,” he said. “But they don't like him because he's a very bad Palestinian. He's a weak one.”

Similarly, Trump regularly refused to directly answer questions, instead regularly pivoting to talk about the US-Mexico border and immigration, a topic in which Trump polls stronger than Biden.

Later in the debate debate, moderator Dana Bash asked Biden about his capacity to continue to do the job despite his advanced ages.

“First of all, I spent half my career being criticized being the youngest person in politics,” he said. “Now I’m the oldest. This guy is three years younger an a lot less competent. Look at the record.”