Since the 2020 election, both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, have given voters reasons to rethink whether to support them. Biden's detractors say he has slowed and point to moments where it seems he's being helped or handled by others. Trump's actions in the wake of his 2020 defeat, including his role in the subsequent attack on the U.S. Capitol, have cast doubt on his suitability for the presidency. Trump also now is a felon after being found guilty in the Stormy Daniels hush money trial last month.
Reuters spoke to 15 undecided voters for a story this week to find out what they hope to learn from the debate. Biden's age and fitness emerged as dominant concerns, as well as Trump's legal troubles and his penchant for chaos. "Biden has got to show that he can take on Trump again," Pennsylvania resident Rich Liebig told my colleagues, Helen Coster and Alexandra Ulmer.
Experts tell me Biden can't afford to take the first one lightly, something other incumbents have done in the past. In 1984, Ronald Reagan, who at 73 was also facing questions about his age and fitness, fumbled during his first debate against Democrat Walter Mondale, forgetting which city he was in, referring to the military's uniforms as "wardrobe" and at times delivering rambling answers. Mondale was viewed to have solidly won the debate. (I didn't cover that one either.)
Of course, Reagan came back to win the 1984 election handily, in part because of a well-received joke he made in the second debate about not exploiting his opponent's "youth and inexperience" that effectively neutralized the age issue.
Certainly, there will be other serious issues at play in the debate, chiefly inflation and border security, that are of grave concern to voters. Expect abortion, democracy and foreign conflicts also to come up.
Biden and Trump are prepping in the days to come on how to discuss those matters on stage – and how to take on each other. Biden will be hunkered down at Camp David with advisers while Trump is taking a less conventional approach, relying instead on his campaign events to keep him sharp. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn't make the cut, so the two major party candidates won't have to worry about him.
One thing Trump will have to adjust to: CNN, the network staging the debate, says his microphone will be shut off while Biden speaks. It's an attempt to ensure that Trump doesn't continually try to interrupt Biden as he did in their first debate back in 2020. It will mean Trump has to show patience and take his turn, skills he's not particularly known for.
The good news for both Biden and Trump is that this debate is in June so there is plenty of time to recover if either has a bad night, and there is another debate scheduled for Sept. 10, two months before the Nov. 5 election. But that doesn't mean they can afford many slipups. The race is too close for that.
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