WASHINGTON: Joe Biden and Donald Trump square off this week for a historic US presidential debate, in what could be the most important moment of the 2024 race, with the stage set for millions of potential voters to tune in.
The battle promises to be a summer where the main weapon can be fired on the campaign trail, in a polarized and tense United States that is still reeling from the chaos and violence surrounding the 2020 election.
With only two contests in this cycle, Thursday’s high-profile showdown is even more important as both candidates step up their personal attacks, showing the pair neck and neck in national polls.
“The debate is important because it’s an opportunity for two well-known candidates to reintroduce themselves to a public they know but ignore,” said Donald Nieman, a political analyst and history professor at Binghamton University. New York State.
“The big question is how much the public — outside of political aficionados — will pay attention to such an early controversy.”
For Trump, the 90-minute event was an opportunity to air concerns at home about the mental health of Biden, 81 – while the 78-year-old Republican faces age issues.
For Biden, the first debate between a sitting and former president will be an opportunity to highlight Trump’s legal problems and paint him as unfit for office.
The president also wants to avoid a major setback in the November election.
The debate follows a criminal investigation that has drawn Trump’s attention for months, with the sentencing of 34 people accused of falsifying employment records scheduled for July 11.
Both candidates have left the bipartisan commission that has been in contention since 1988 and have decided to go with CNN for the first extraordinary appearance at the beginning of the year and another on ABC on September 10.
Abortion, the state of US democracy, and foreign conflicts are more likely to be on voters’ minds than inflation and border security.
The two men have had plenty of recent spats in 2020, with Bayden once asking, “Are you gonna shut up, man?” Trump has shared many times.
This time, the moderator has more tools than usual to maintain order, and the microphone is turned off except for the next candidate.
But the debate is as much about audio tapes as policy arguments about social arguments, where both candidates will find explosive viral moments.
“I will look at whether President Trump is trying to be more ‘presidential’ in some ways,” said Syracuse University political science professor Grant Reher.
The Biden campaign last week released an ad accusing Trump of wrongdoing as he retreated to a mountain retreat at Camp David to align his attack line with the president’s objections.
Distracted by the massive policy debate, Trump met with aides and the vice presidential candidate at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the focus was more on tone and substance than detail.
Sticking to one script, Nieman, the Binghamton analyst, said Biden will take advantage of the blowout by showing his weakness on inflation and immigration.
