Biden stumbles early, Trump fires out falsehoods at first debate

Democrat candidate, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Republican candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump, stand at their podiums at the start of a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By Helen Coster, Steve Holland, Joseph Ax

ATLANTA (Reuters) -Democratic President Joe Biden endured a shaky start at Thursday's debate, while his Republican rival Donald Trump rattled off a series of attacks that included numerous falsehoods, as the two oldest presidential candidates ever clashed on stage ahead of November's U.S. election.

The two men traded attacks on abortion, immigration, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and their handling of the economy as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.

Media crews work at the press room in the McCamish Pavilion on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus ahead of the first 2024 presidential debate between Democratic presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

A hoarse-sounding Biden stumbled over his words on several occasions during the debate's first half-hour, but he found his footing at the halfway mark when he attacked Trump for his conviction for covering up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, calling him a "felon."

In response, Trump brought up the recent conviction of Biden's son, Hunter, for lying about his drug use to buy a gun.

Moments later, Biden noted that almost all of Trump's former cabinet members, including former Vice President Mike Pence, have not endorsed his campaign.

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for the first 2024 presidential debate with U.S. President Joe Biden, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner

"They know him well, they served with him," he said. "Why are they not endorsing him?"

Two White House officials said Biden had a cold. But his uneven performance could deepen voter concerns that the 81-year-old is too old to serve another four-year term.

Trump, meanwhile, unleashed a barrage of criticisms, some of which were well-worn falsehoods he has repeated on the campaign trial, including claims that migrants have carried out a crime wave and that Democrats support infanticide.

Biden and Trump, 78, were under pressure to display their command of issues and avoid verbal gaffes as they sought a breakout moment in a race that opinion polls show has been deadlocked for months. Biden, in particular, has been dogged by questions about his age and sharpness, while Trump's incendiary rhetoric and sprawling legal woes remain a vulnerability.

U.S. President Joe Biden walks to greet supporters outside the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, ahead of a presidential debate, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Asked about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, the former president refused to accept any responsibility and claimed that many of those arrested were innocent.

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump poses as he awaits his arrival for the first 2024 presidential debate with U.S. President Joe Biden, hosted by CNN in Atlanta, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner

"This guy has no sense of American democracy," Biden scoffed in response.

Biden also blamed Trump for enabling the elimination of a nationwide right to abortion by appointing conservatives to the U.S. Supreme Court, an issue that has bedeviled Republicans since 2022.

Trump retorted that Biden would not support any limits on abortions and said that returning the issue to the states was the right course of action.

Trump said Biden had failed to secure the southern U.S. border, ushering in scores of criminals.

People walk past Biden-Harris and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign signs ahead of the first 2024 presidential debate between Democratic presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Marco Bello

"I call it Biden migrant crime," he said.

Biden replied, "Once again, he's exaggerating, he's lying."

Studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.

The televised clash on CNN was taking place far earlier than any modern presidential debate, more than four months before the Nov. 5 Election Day.

The two candidates appeared with no live audience, and their microphones automatically cut off when it was not their turn to speak - both atypical rules imposed to avoid the chaos that derailed their first debate in 2020, when Trump interrupted Biden repeatedly.

As the debate began, the two men - who have made little secret of their mutual dislike - did not shake hands or acknowledge one another.

The first questions focused on the economy, as polls show Americans are dissatisfied with Biden's performance despite wage growth and low unemployment.

Biden acknowledged that inflation had driven prices substantially higher than at the start of his term but said he deserves credit for putting "things back together again" following the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump asserted that he had overseen "the greatest economy in the history of our country" before the pandemic struck and said he took action to prevent the economic freefall from deepening even further.

POLARIZED NATION

The debate takes place at a time of profound polarization and deep-seated anxiety among voters about the state of American politics. Two-thirds of voters said in a May Reuters/Ipsos poll that they were concerned violence could follow the election, nearly four years after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Trump took the stage as a felon who still faces a trio of criminal cases, including to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The former president, who persists in falsely claiming his defeat was the result of fraud, has suggested he will punish his political enemies if returned to power, but he will need to convince undecided voters that he does not pose a mortal threat to democracy, as Biden asserts.

Biden's challenge was to deliver a forceful performance after months of Republican assertions that his faculties have dulled with age.

While national polls show a tied race, Biden has trailed Trump in polls of most battleground states that traditionally decide presidential elections. Just this month he lost his financial edge over Trump, whose fundraising surged after he was criminally convicted of trying to cover up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Neither Biden nor Trump is popular and many Americans remain deeply ambivalent about their choices. About a fifth of voters say they have not picked a candidate, are leaning toward a third-party candidate or may sit the election out, the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Trump's niece Mary Trump, who has been critical of her uncle, will join Biden's campaign in its media spin room following the debate, a campaign official said.

Several contenders to be Trump's vice presidential pick - North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and U.S. senators J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio - traveled to Atlanta and were expected to make Trump's case in the post-debate spin room.

The second and final debate in this year's campaign is scheduled for September.

See a Reuters photo slide show of previous debates.

(Reporting by Helen Coster and Steve Holland, additional reporting by James Oliphant, Doina Chiacu, Stephanie Kelly and Nathan Layne; Writing by Joseph Ax and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Ross Colvin, Kieran Murray, Alistair Bell and Howard Goller)