Biden falters in high-stakes debate, Trump spews falsehoods

After a stifled and stumbling opening statement, Biden has had some good replies to Trump when talking about policy -- especially on abortion and Jan. 6. But that will be little comfort for his campaign, which is fighting hard against the impression that Biden is too old to hold office. In a 538/Ipsos poll of Americans released today, 40% of Americans said they rated Biden's mental fitness to be president as "terrible," compared to 35% for Trump -- and fewer Americans rate him positively for his physical fitness to lead, too.

538's election forecasting model currently gives Biden and Trump each a 50-in-100 chance of winning the election. Biden's initial impression could prevent him from making sizable gains over those numbers, despite the rest of his performance.

-538's G. Elliott Morris

When asked point-blank whether he believes the millions of Americans who are likely to vote for Trump will be voting against American democracy -- in reference to the president's past comment that Trump and his MAGA Republicans are "determined to destroy American democracy," Biden responded, "Yes, the more they know about what he's done."

Biden went on to reference Trump's comment that there were "very fine people on both sides" of clashes at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.

"This guy has no sense of American democracy," Biden said.

Trump called his accusation false.

False. During an exchange on the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, Trump pivoted to the quick action he says he took to stop rioting in Minneapolis after George Floyd was killed in the custody of a Minneapolis police officer.

"If I didn’t bring in the National Guard, that city would have been destroyed," Trump claimed.

It was Gov. Tim Walz who activated 500 Minnesota National Guardsmen to provide support to local law enforcement in Minneapolis.

-Analysis by Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact

Amid questioning about democracy and the Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, Biden took a shot at Trump's historic conviction in the hush money case.

2:47

Donald Trump’s felony conviction brought up on debate stage

ABC News chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas details the exchange between the current and former president.

ABCNews.com

"The only convicted felon is the guy standing on the stage with me now," Biden said.

Trump then quickly brought up Hunter Biden's recent conviction on federal gun charges.