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President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Republican rival Donald Trump faced off in the first US presidential debate on Thursday at CNN headquarters in Georgia. There are just 2 debates this election cycle and national polls show the pair locked in the tightest of contests.
The debate had no live studio audience. Before the event, both candidates unleashed fresh attack ads. Trump’s team took out TV spots accusing Biden of mismanaging the economy and encouraging illegal immigration. Biden’s party paid for five billboards trolling Trump.
Biden and Trump did not shake hands as they entered the debate stage. The politicians’ last meeting apparently happened at a debate in 2020. They also did not shake hands at the time due to strict COVID pandemic protocols.
US presidential debate: Biden vs Trump on inflation, jobs
In his opening salvo against Joe Biden at their first debate of the 2024 election cycle on Thursday, Donald Trump stressed: “Inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us,” highlighting that his rival “has not done a good job. He’s done a poor job.”
The Republican candidate claimed that the sizeable job growth during Biden’s presidency is all “bounceback” gains after the lockdowns that temporarily devastated the US economy. Trump’s period recorded nearly 22 million jobs being lost in the beginning of 2020.
The US soon started regaining jobs under Trump and added more than 12 million jobs from May through December 2020. The recovery continued under Biden. The country surpassed its pre-pandemic employment totals in June 2022.
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US presidential debate: Biden vs Trump on Roe v Wade
US President Joe Biden attacked his Republican rival for his role in restricting US abortion access, describing it as “a terrible thing”. It came as Trump boasted about nominating Supreme Court justices that helped overturn Roe v Wade.
“I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favour of killing Roe v Wade, and moving it back to the states,” Trump said. He noted during the Thursday debate that he will not block abortion medication if he was elected.
US presidential debate: Biden vs Trump on immigration, Gaza
Illegal immigration also enjoyed a notable presence during the presidential debate in Georgia. Joe Biden attacked Donald Trump on immigration actions, saying his administration worked very hard to get a bipartisan border agreement with Congress.
“We find ourselves in a situation where when he was president, he was taking – separating – babies from their mothers, putting them in cages, making sure they’re the families were separated. That’s not right way to go,” the incumbent leader noted.
Donald Trump did not directly address questions on if he would support an independent Palestinian state to end the brutal Israel-Hamas conflict. He said: “I’d have to see.” The Gaza crisis has been raging since October 7, putting scores of lives in danger.
