Biden's performance in the debate, which was widely considered by media and political experts to be the poorest of any major party nominee in modern American history, raised substantial concerns about whether hewould be capable of serving a second term as president. During the days and weeks following the debate, Biden declined in the polls and faced pressure from within his own party to end his presidential campaign. On July 21, Bidenformally withdrew from the race and endorsed Vice PresidentKamala Harris to stand in his place as theparty's presidential nominee. Harris went on to lose the general election to Trump.
As the 2024 campaign developed, there was a serious possibility of no televised debates. Neither campaign favored use of the Commission on Presidential Debates that had brokered national debates since 1987. An agreement to debate was announced on May 15. Both campaigns agreed to two debates, with the first in June to be hosted by CNN.
A Biden campaign internal memorandum from April 15 outlined its logic for an early debate along with plans for debate preparation. The document noted that the Commission's earliest proposed date was afterpostal voting in the United States began, so proposed to schedule it to occur within a few weeks. "By holding the first debate in the spring, YOU will be able to reach the widest audience possible", the memo told Biden:[3]
before we are deep in the summer months with the conventions,Olympics and family vacations taking precedence. In addition, the earlier YOU are able to debate the better, so that the American people can see YOU standing next to Trump and showing the strength of YOUR leadership, compared to Trump’s weakness and chaos.
Another advantage of an early debate, the memo said, was that if Biden performed poorly the campaign would have time to recover.[4] Not all of Biden's advisors wanted an early debate, and some did not want him to debate Trump at all.[3]Jen O'Malley Dillon andRon Klain were very supportive of an early debate;Anita Dunn andSteve Ricchetti were against it, but Dunn became supportive after theHur special counsel investigation questioned Biden's memory.[4] The campaign rejected a suggestion to prevent the president from debating from an unnamed donor, who became alarmed by thehealth of Joe Biden after attending a fundraiser with him.[3]
Although Trump claimed to have no objection to the independent candidateRobert F. Kennedy Jr. participating in the debate,[5] the Biden campaign opposed Kennedy's inclusion.[5] On May 29, Kennedy filed a complaint with theFederal Election Commission alleging that the Biden and Trump campaigns colluded to prevent him from appearing at the debate.[6]
The qualification criteria that were adopted for the June 27 CNN debate required participants to:[7]
Appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical possibility of winning a majority vote in theElectoral College;
Agree to the rules of the debate; and
Reach at least 15% support in four national public opinionpolls selected by CNN between March 13 and June 20, 2024.
Seventeen polls met CNN's criteria, with Biden and Trump meeting the 15% threshold in every poll. Kennedy met the threshold in three, peaking at 16%. Both Justice For All Party candidateCornel West andGreen Party candidateJill Stein peaked at 4% support, andLibertarian candidateChase Oliver peaked at 1% support. No other candidate was included in any qualifying polls.[8] Kennedy also did not meet the ballot requirement, having been confirmed in only five states at the time of the debate.[9]
The April 15 Biden campaign memo recommended that the president hold many informal question-and-answer sessions with the media, atown hall event, and prepare for at least five days before the debate.[4] The Biden campaign hired Klain, Biden's former chief of staff, to assist him in debating Trump; Klain helped Biden during the2020 presidential debates.[38] White House deputy chief of staffBruce Reed collected material on policy contrasts with Trump.[39] FilmmakerSteven Spielberg reportedly had helped coach Biden in preparation for the debate.[40] Biden engaged in preparations atCamp David, arriving on the night of June 20 and remaining there nearly until the debate.[41] Biden was exhausted from traveling before the debate, needed to take naps during the debate preparations,[42] and performed poorly during practice debates.[4]Hunter Biden additionally suggested that President Biden's performance was hindered by usingAmbien as a sleeping aid in the run-up to the debate.[43]
According to political advisorMarc Lotter, Trump "views his rallies as debate prep" and engaged with limited debate preparation. The Trump campaign did not appoint a Biden stand-in for Trump to debate.[39] At a rally inRacine, Wisconsin, Trump suggested Biden would be a formidable opponent, alleging Biden would be on cocaine and that the moderators would assist him.[44]
The debate was streamed or broadcast by most major U.S. news organizations.[45][46] The debate ran for 90 minutes,[1] with no audience members present. Trump's and Biden's microphones were only turned on when it was their turn to speak (in response to the events of theSeptember 29, 2020 presidential debate).[47] Debate rules written by CNN allocated two minutes for answering the question posed by the moderators,Dana Bash andJake Tapper, and one minute for rebuttals and responses to the rebuttals.[39] The primary issues addressed in the debate were immigration, the economy and inflation,abortion, foreign policy and the wars inUkraine andGaza, legal issues of the participants,Social Security,the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the participants' ages.[48]
Excluding the closing, the debate moderators asked 20 questions. Four questions centered on the economy, four on democracy, three onforeign policy, two onimmigration, two onabortion, and one each onclimate change, age,opioids, race, and tax reform.[49]
ModeratorJake Tapper began the debate withinflation figures.[50] Biden attributed the state of the economy toTrump's presidency.[51][52] Trump rebutted by claiming he built the "greatest economy in the history of our country" before theCOVID-19 pandemic.[53] Trump claimed that Biden supported the job growth of illegal immigrants,[54] defending his ten percent tariff,[55] and criticized the2020–2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.[56] He argued that Biden began his term with successes from the Trump presidency, but chose to implement negative reform.[57]
Viewers were immediately chagrined by Biden's struggling delivery.[58] In the assessment ofPolitico,
The alarm bells for Democrats started ringing the second Biden started speaking in a haltingly hoarse voice. Minutes into the debate, he struggled to mount an effective defense of the economy on his watch and flubbed the description of key health initiatives he's made central to his reelection bid... He repeatedly mixed up “billion” and “million,” and found himself stuck for long stretches of the 90-minute debate playing defense.
And when he wasn't speaking, he stood frozen behind his podium, mouth agape, his eyes wide and unblinking for long stretches of time.[59]
About an hour into the debate, Democratic operatives informed the media that Biden's hoarse voice was explained by a cold.[60] According to theColumbia Journalism Review, "Some journalists wondered aloud why Biden’s campaign hadn’t leaked his cold beforehand as an expectation-management measure, though others weren’t buying it as an explanation for his verbal shortcomings."[61]
At one point, after a question on the national debt, Biden trailed off, saying: "Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to deal with ... theCOVID ... Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with ... look ... if... we finally beatMedicare."[62][63] Trump retorted, "Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death."[64]
On illegal border crossings, Biden said, "I'm going to continue to move until we get to total ban — on the total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers." with Biden seeming to mumble at the end of his sentence. Trump responded, "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."[65][66] At one point, Trump and Biden briefly had an argument overgolfing abilities during a question regarding their fitness as president due to age.[67]
Responding to a question on theGaza war, Trump used the word "Palestinian" as aslur to attack Biden, calling him a "very bad Palestinian."[68]
According to Tapper, he and Bash felt that Biden didn't understand how bad his performance was after the debate ended.[69]
Trump spoke more than Biden in the debate, with CNN reporting the former to have spoken 40 minutes and 12 seconds, and the latter 35 minutes and 41 seconds.[70] Trump went off topic about 50% of the time, while Biden went off topic about 30% of the time during the debate.[49]
During the debate, Trump and Biden used personal attacks against each other.[71] NBC News found that Trump made 106 attacks during the debate, while Biden made 72.[49]
The moderators did notfact check the candidates.[72] News organizations published articles after the debate documenting the truthfulness of the candidates' claims, finding that Trump made more exaggerated and false statements, while Biden had incorrectly cited information.The New York Times called Trump's statements "often fact-free and absurdly hyperbolic."[73] However, some fact-checkers also noted that Trump's dishonesty was likely to be overshadowed by Biden's poor performance.[72] Numerous news outlets also mentioned lies and falsehoods[j] and fact-checked the candidates.[79]
Glenn Kessler, fact-checker forThe Washington Post, summarized "35 of the most noteworthy claims that initially caught our interest", claims which he analyzed in depth.[79]FactCheck.org summarized its coverage of the many false and inaccurate claims made by the candidates, which were also analyzed.[80] TheAssociated Press also analyzed a number of false claims.[81]
CNN reported that 47.9 million people watched the first debate, down from 73 million viewers during the first 2020 presidential debate.Nielsen Media Research later reported the number of viewers at 51.3 million;[82] this does not include individuals who watched the debate through social media, streaming services, or listened through radio.[83]
In the aftermath of the debate, the Biden campaign was flooded with requests for comment. The Trump campaign received only a few media requests the next morning, as reporters continued focusing on Biden.[84] "No one was more shocked at Biden's performance than Donald Trump", an advisor told theWashington Post. Trump reportedly told aides that he could not even look at Biden.[85] Several political analysts, includingSusan Glasser,[77]Tim Miller[86] andJeff Greenfield,[87] described it as the worsttelevised presidential debate ever, with Biden's weak performance overshadowing Trump'sfalsehoods. Several congressional Democrats thought that Biden "didn't even clear the lowest bar".[88]
Polls from CNN,[99]YouGov[100] andIpsos andFiveThirtyEight found that most viewers thought Trump had won the debate, although it did not significantly change support for either candidate, with Biden only losing a small amount of support.[101]Amy Walter, the editor ofThe Cook Political Report, said that while Biden's poor performance stunned "Democratic elite types", many voters had already "priced this in".[96] According to Crowdtangle, "most of the top 10 most-liked posts onInstagram about the debate were either pretty neutral or emphasized how bad it was for both campaigns....And onTikTok, there was also a universal vibe that both candidates, not just Biden, were less than ideal for the moment."[102] Nevertheless, a poll byMorning Consult released on June 28 indicated that 60% of voters were in favor of replacing Biden as the Democratic nominee.[103]
Debate winner
Outlet
Trump
Biden
Not sure
CNN
67%
33%
YouGov
43%
22%
35%
Ipsos/538
60%
21%
19%
The debate reinforced concerns about Biden's age.[104]
"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious. I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done. And I know like millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up."
—Joe Biden, responding to criticism of his debate performance during a speech in North Carolina the following day (June 28, 2024).[105]
After the debate, Biden remarked to reporters at aWaffle House that he thought he had done well. He added that he did not have any concerns about his performance, stating that it was difficult to debate "a liar."[74] Biden's running mate, Vice PresidentKamala Harris and Biden's campaign managerJen O'Malley Dillon both defended Biden.[106][107]
The day after the debate, Biden admitted that his debate performance had been weak.[108][109] The Biden campaign attempted to explain Biden's debate performance by saying he had a cold.[110] He had been administered a COVID-19 test during his stay atCamp David, which was negative.[78] Biden spoke about his debate performance on July 2, blaming it on fatigue from "foreign travel,"[111] alluding to his five back-to-back trips--to Europe twice and returning via Los Angeles, totalling thirty time-zone crossings--in eleven days earlier in June.
Democratic Party's response and Biden's withdrawal from the race
In the days following the debate, Democrats serving in Congress or as governors mostly refrained from explicitly calling for Biden to withdraw, fearing to harm Biden's chances of winning the election if he ended up remaining the nominee.[112] Several prominent Democrats, including former PresidentsBarack Obama andBill Clinton, initially rallied behind Biden, and resisted calls for him to step down due to one "bad debate."[113] Pennsylvania Democratic SenatorJohn Fetterman, who had a similarly weak debate performance in his2022 election, told fellow Democrats to "Chill the fuck out", stating that he refused to join the "Democratic vultures on Biden's shoulder".[114]
However, there were almost immediate calls from Democratic party strategists, commentators and donors for Biden to step aside.[115] Theeditorial boards of several newspapers, includingThe New York Times andThe Economist, also published editorials urging him to do so.[116][117] Biden's 2020 campaign manager,Kate Bedingfield, said that there was no way to interpret his debate performance as good, while political consultantDavid Axelrod noted that it "confirmed people's fears" about Biden's age.[118] Democratic strategistVan Jones said that Biden had failed a test to restore the confidence of the country, and that the reaction for many supporters was "not just panic, it's pain".[76]
Biden stated in anABC News interview withGeorge Stephanopoulos on July 5 that he would not end his candidacy[119] unless "the Lord Almighty came down and said, 'Joe, get out of the race'". He added, "The Lord Almighty's not coming down."[120]
By July 19, 2024, more than 30 congressional Democrats had publicly called on Biden to end his presidential campaign. Many more had communicated the same message privately. On July 19,The Guardian reported that "after weeks of defiantly stating that he will remain the Democratic nominee, despite concerns about his age and mental acuity in the wake of last month's disastrous debate against Donald Trump", Biden was reportedly "reconsidering his position".[121]
Bidensuspended his re-election campaign on July 21, 2024 and endorsed Vice PresidentKamala Harris for president.[122] Biden stated that he would continue serving as president for the remainder of his term.[123] After securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Harris went on to lose the general election to Trump.[124]
^Both Biden and Trump were participating in the debate as presumptive nominees for their parties. Biden would withdraw his candidacy following the debate.
^Some news outlets included the following four states in Oliver's total which are not included here for the following reasons:Two state party affiliates rejected Oliver as the party's nominee
^The Kennedy campaign also claimed they were certified for the ballot in two other states, but these claims were not verified by independent media outlets:[18]
^Rogers, Katie (June 27, 2024)."Six Takeaways From the First Biden-Trump Presidential Debate".The New York Times.Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. RetrievedJune 27, 2024.President Biden has clearly been practicing at condensing his message. He is very hoarse and is answering a question on the economy very quickly, essentially blaming the state of the economy on Trump's tenure.
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