Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president was battling a cold – an attempt to explain his raspy voice
Before Thursday evening, many Americans had expressed concerns about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office. To say that this debate did not put those concerns to rest may be one of the greatest understatements of the year.
The president came into the debate with a low bar to clear, and he stumbled. He was flat. He was rambling. He was unclear.
Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president was battling a cold – an attempt to explain his raspy voice. That may be so, but it also sounded like an excuse.
For 90 minutes, more often than not, Joe Biden was on the ropes. Particularly early in the evening, some of his answers were nonsensical. After losing his train of thought he ended one answer by saying, “We finally beat Medicare” – an odd reference to the government run healthcare programme for the elderly.
Mr Biden’s own former communications’ director Kate Bedingfield was on CNN immediately after the debate, and she was clear: “There’s no two ways about it, that was not a good debate for Joe Biden.”
She said his biggest issue was to prove he had the energy and the stamina, and he didn’t do that.
As the debate progressed, like a boxer on the ropes, Mr Biden started to take big swings against his opponent in an attempt to change the momentum. A few of those swings landed, provoking the former president into angry responses
That the first few topics raised by CNN’s moderators were on the top voter issues of economy and immigration – which polls show Americans trust Donald Trump more on – only made the problem worse for the president, however.