Biden falters in high-stakes debate, Trump spews falsehoods
The contest was seen as a test of each man's fitness for office.
In a historic clash of personality and policy, Joe Biden and Donald Trump took the stage for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election.
The showdown provided a rare opportunity for both candidates to move the needle in what has been a stubbornly tight race for the White House, but at the end of the night, Biden's halting performance raised new concerns among Democrats and cause Republicans to celebrate.
The debate was a rematch for Biden and Trump, who faced each other twice in 2020, but a first-of-its-kind format and a vastly different political landscape presented new challenges for the two rivals.
Top headlines:
Trump says he will not block abortion pills
Trump, who had yet to clarify his stance on abortion medication, said he would not block access to the drug if elected.
Trump's not wrong about the inflation rate Biden inherited
Biden said he inherited 9% inflation. This is false. In January 2021, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%. It peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. It's now down to 3.3%. During Trump's time in office, inflation rose by 7.76% from January 2017 to January 2021, and year-over-year inflation peaked at 2.9% in July 2018.
-538's Kaleigh Rogers
Biden opens debate with misleading 'bleach' talking point
Biden accused Trump of not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously, saying Trump told Americans, "It's not that serious. Just inject a little bleach in your arm." That's Mostly False.
Trump's 2020 comments about treatments were criticized, but he didn't tell people to inject bleach. At a 2020 White House press briefing, Trump asked William Bryan, an undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security, to study whether ultraviolet light could be effective "inside the body" to treat COVID-19 or whether disinfectants could combat the virus "by injection inside."
After Bryan said his lab did not study disinfectant injection, Trump clarified that using disinfectants "would not be through injection." Trump later told reporters he was being "sarcastic" when referring to injections.
-Analysis by Aaron Sharockman, PolitiFact
Trump asked about plan to impose 10% tariff on goods coming to US
Asked how he would ensure that his plan to impose a 10% tariff on all goods coming to the U.S. wouldn't drive prices higher Trump said it won't drive them higher but will force countries like China to "pay us a lot of money" and "give us a lot of power for other things," though didn't elaborate.
Incumbent presidents have often had a tough first debate
Biden had a poor start to this debate, and if he ends up being viewed as the "loser" tonight, he'd be just the latest incumbent president to go through this. Incumbent presidents like Ronald Reagan in 1984, George W. Bush in 2004, Barack Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2020 all lost 2 to 3 points in the polls after their first debate.
Reagan, the last president to face real questions about his age -- he was 73 in 1984 -- had a meandering performance that prompted questions about whether he had gotten too old for the job. Reagan shot back in the second debate against Democratic nominee Walter Mondale, who was in his mid-50s, with the famous line: "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Reagan, however, also had a roaring economy, which helped him win a landslide reelection victory.
-Geoffrey Skelley, 538