The first general election presidential debate has wrapped, and it was, in a word, awful. For the American people, they learned very little from either man and the night often waded into personalities even more so than the debates four years ago. The most important takeaway, however, was President Biden’s fitness. Much of the night and much of the online discourse about the debate centered on Mr. Biden’s age, and for good reason. Even the president’s former communications director, Kate Bedingfield, said on CNN immediately after the debate that his performance was “really disappointing” and displayed no “energy or stamina.” So, here are the seven most painful moments from the debate:Biden’s Immediate, Obvious FrailtyAhead of the debate, Mr. Biden’s mental faculties were a point of concern for many Democrats, both in elected office and among the consultant and donor class. Within seconds, Mr. Biden was visibly not well. His voice was raspy and hoarse and he sounded just like he did when he was diagnosed with Covid in 2022. Coughing and whispering surely didn’t help as Democrats were already concerned about his fitness going into the debate. On top of the physical limitations, it was clear from the start that the president could not even remember basic facts despite being holed up at Camp David with his advisers for an entire week. During his opening statement, Mr. Biden said he had created “15,000 jobs,” when he really meant 15 million. The Blank Stares From BidenAt multiple points throughout the debate, Mr. Biden stared directly into the camera, directly at his opponent, and directly at the debate moderators with his eyes wide and his mouth agape. Unlike Trump, who famously tries to interrupt in debates whenever he can, Mr. Biden treated a “thank you” from Jake Tapper or Dana Bash as an immediate shut-off, leaving him standing feebly behind his podium without clarifying his point. When one of the moderators hit Mr. Biden with a “thank you,” he ended a rambling statement with the simple statement: “We beat Medicare.”Apparently, no one — not even the president — knows what he meant by that. “I really don’t know what said at the end of the last sentence, I don’t think he knows what he said either,” Trump shot back in a devastating rebuttal. Biden Mixing Up Trump and PutinIn a more embarrassing moment that it seems few online paid attention to given the ongoing crises that seemed to come every other minute, Mr. Biden seemed to confuse Trump with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. As he was talking about how he cobbled together a coalition of western countries to fight back against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr. Biden said that Mr. Putin had told Trump to “do whatever you want” in Ukraine. The mix-up is just another one of those little things — like confusing the presidents of Mexico and Egypt — that help reinforce that Mr. Biden just doesn’t have it together. The Legal Troubles and the Ensuing ChaosIt got heated between the two presidents when Mr. Biden hammered Trump on his recent felony convictions. “The only person who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Mr. Biden said after Trump brought up jailing those who investigated him after the January 6 riot. “The fact is, there was no effort on his part to stop what was going on” at the Capitol, Mr. Biden said of his predecessor.CNN moderators then pivoted to Trump to ask him about his comments about “retribution” against political enemies, prompting the former president to say that the only form of “retribution” during his second term would be “success” for America. Trump then turned to the “convicted felon” issue to say that Mr. Biden’s son, Hunter, is also a convicted felon. Trump went further to say that the first son would likely be a convicted felon again following his tax trial in September. Trump and Mr. Biden got into a short back-and-forth about the 2019 impeachment for the former president, leading Trump to say that he “did nothing wrong” in asking Ukraine to investigate the Biden family, which seemingly enraged Mr. Biden. “Think of all the civil penalties you have. How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public? For doing a whole range of things? For having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about?” Mr. Biden said. “You have the morals of an alley cat.”Trump quickly shot back: “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”Biden Campaign’s Weak ExcuseA moment that caused a collective groan to echo through the group chats of every Washington reporter was when the Biden campaign whispered to the president of the White House Correspondents Association, Kelly O’Donnell, that the president actually was feeling a little under the weather. During the debate, Ms. O’Donnell posted on X that someone from the Biden camp had told her that the president had “a cold.”The only problem is that the admission came more than halfway through the debate, and came off as a shoddy attempt to justify the president’s painful performance. If the president had a cold that would affect his performance, then one would think that the debate could have been postponed. CNN and the Trump campaign surely would’ve been happy to oblige for the ratings and the attention. Who’s a Better Golfer?Mr. Biden says his best handicap was a six. Trump says he recently won two club championships — not senior championships, just regular ones! Who’s the better golfer? Hopefully, we’ll never know. Closing Statements That Went NowhereMr. Biden mumbled about some kind of tax credit for children, and Trump decided to talk about Communist China and some kind of space minerals that could cure diseases. At least it ended calmly.
