Takeaways from the Biden-Trump presidential debate

Republican candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks as he attends a presidential debate with Democrat candidate, U.S. President Joe Biden, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By Trevor Hunnicutt and James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump took the stage on Thursday night for a debate that offers voters a rare side-by-side look at the two oldest candidates ever to seek the U.S. presidency.

Here are some of the major takeaways from the debate:

NO HANDSHAKE, HOARSE VOICE

The two men, who make no secret of their disdain for each other, did not shake hands as they walked to their podiums at the start of the debate. Biden frequently referred to Trump as "this guy" during his remarks.

Biden, noticeably hoarse, accused Trump of leaving him a "terrible" economy in response to the moderators' first question about the rising prices paid by consumers.

Trump replied that Biden's handling of COVID was a "disaster" and said inflation was "absolutely killing us."

He blamed the pandemic for wrecking the economy and his shot at re-election. "Everything was rocking good," he said.

Voters, right now, seem to be agreeing more with Trump than Biden, with polls showing they favor Trump's handling of the economy. Biden's challenge on Thursday was to make clear to viewers that his administration is the one that dug the country out of the pandemic-induced hole.

LOSING HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Biden, 81, seemed to lose his train of thought while responding to a question about the national debt.

His voice trailing off several times, Biden first referred to "billionaires" as "trillionaires" before correcting himself.

Then, while arguing that the wealthy should pay more tax, he seemed unable to complete his sentence, pausing for an extended awkward moment, before ending his thought in a way that sounded nonsensical. Tax reform would create money to help "strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I was able to do with the, with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we had to do with," Biden said before pausing.

"We finally beat Medicare," Biden said, likely referring to COVID-19.

Trump, 78, pounced.

"He's right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death."

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and James Oliphant; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)