- America saw a head to head re-battle debate between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden before the awaited November Polls, termed as one of the most important elections in American history.
- Key issues discussed during the debate included the Russia-Ukraine war, Roe VS Wade, Immigration, the Opioid crisis and Climate change.
- This comes as Americans continue to display their frustration over what they term as failed leadership, citing high cost of living and a broken healthcare system.
As the United States of America awaits one of the most important elections in American history, a head to head re-battle between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden rocked the screens on June 27, 2024.
The debate, first of a series, took place in Atlanta Georgia, a key state for both candidates given its position on the red-state, blue-state voting lines. It was broadcasted on CNN and co-moderated by Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.
Key questions during the debate included the rate of inflation and the current position of America’s economy compared to when Trump was president. Biden responding, blamed the situation on how Trump handled the COVID crisis, saying he led to an economic collapse forcing him(Biden), to put things back together.
He also claimed that his government has created 15,000 new jobs in the last four years.
Trump hit back at Biden saying that the only jobs he had created were for immigrants and bounce-back jobs from the COVID crisis.
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Trump who introduced tax cuts during the COVID crisis claimed that they helped the economy soar, with companies paying less but returning more into the American economy through profits.
Biden, responding, claimed that the tax cuts only benefited the wealthy and that Trump was the cause of the biggest debt crisis in America, having borrowed over $8 trillion within a four-year period.
On Roe VS Wade, Trump declared his stand on it’s overturning, saying what he did by sending it back to the states, was giving each state the power to decide and giving the vote back to the people. Biden called him out by stating that it was a terrible thing and likening it to taking back civil rights to the states.
On immigration, Trump accused Biden of turning the ‘safest’ border in history into the most dangerous by opening it up to immigrants and terrorists.
“People don’t respect the United States anymore, we have become like a third world country. Between the weaponisation of his election, trying to go after his political opponent, all of the things he has done it’s a shame. The damage he has done to our country, and I’d love to ask him and will, why he allowed millions of people from prisons, jails and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy it?” Trump lamented.
Biden responded by saying he had signed a bipartisan agreement that prevented separation of immigrant families which happened under trump’s rule, and as a result he had lowered the immigration rate to less than 40%.
On Russia and Ukraine Trump said that it wouldn’t have happened if a respected president was ruling America in the first place.
“We are spending so much money on Ukraine, a war that would have never happened in the first place. I will have the war between Putin and Zelenskyy settled as president-elect before I take office on January 20,” Trump said.
On climate change, Trump claimed he had the best environmental numbers during his term in office, while Biden hit back with saying that he had passed the most extensive climate change legislation in history.
The debate, which turned personal, saw both candidates go at each other with words, causing Americans online to make fun of the two candidates, with foreigners terming it as 'pure entertainment'.
Some Americans online displayed their frustration that the two candidates were the best their country could offer.
Majority of Americans have expressed fear over Biden’s age and how it will affect his ability to carry out his presidential duties if re-elected and Trump’s ability to accept the outcome of the elections following the events of January 6, 2021 at Capitol hill.