For the most part, tonight's debate revealed nothing new about what Biden and Trump think on major issues from the economy, immigration, foreign policy and reproductive rights.

Each candidate reiterated positions they've already touted countless times on the campaign stump.

Instead, they largely focused on criticizing each other's past records and lobbing personal attacks.

In his two-minute closing argument, Trump went after Biden's record abroad in a personal attack.

"They don't respect you throughout the world," he said.

Trump said he had the largest tax cut and the largest regulation cuts in history, but the country is now "exploding."

"We're a failing nation, but it's not going to be failing anymore," he said. "We're going to make it great again."

Trump went to other topics when asked if he would accept the results of the 2024 election and had to be asked the question several times.

The former president finally responded, "If it's a fair and legal and good election absolutely," before adding that he would have accepted the last election if not for "the fraud." There was no evidence of widespread election fraud in the 2020 election.

Biden pushed back that Trump's fraud claims were debunked by courts, telling him, "You can't stand the loss."

"I doubt you'll accept it because you're a whiner," he said.

"We have made significant progress from the debacle that was left by President Trump in his last term," Biden said.

Biden then went on to summarize some of his signature policies. On the economy, he vowed he will not raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year and to continue his work to reduce health care costs, child care costs and give families financial breathing room.

"We're going to continue to fight to bring down inflation and give people a break," Biden said in closing.

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