Biden-Trump debate: An optics 'own goal' for Joe Biden?
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00:00For more, we can speak to our international affairs commentator, Douglas Herbert.
00:03Hello to you, Doug.
00:04How are you, Will?
00:05It was at times difficult to watch the debate.
00:09Joe Biden seemed to have one job, reassure the American people of his health, and that
00:15didn't seem to come out.
00:16Yeah.
00:17The emerging, I have to call it the emerging media narrative the morning after, barely
00:21because the U.S. is just waking up early, is that Biden missed, failed a golden opportunity
00:29to do what was his principal objective here, which is to reassure tens of millions of Americans,
00:35but most specifically, the key crucial votes in the so-called battleground states.
00:40There's maybe 100,000 of them that will decide the outcome of this election, to convince
00:45those voters that he is vital, that he is healthy, that he is dynamic, that he is mentally
00:50acute and that he is ready to go.
00:53And the problem is, it's all about optics, right?
00:56We talked about this debate going in, you know, in this digital age, in the media age,
01:00the cyber age, everything is about not just the pre-debate spin, as you will, but the
01:05post-debate spin.
01:07Less important than the actual substance of the debate is how it's perceived, how it is
01:11spun, the optics that emerge in the minutes and hours following the debate.
01:15So we're in the thick of that right now.
01:17And that narrative is that, no, he did not live up to that task.
01:20He did not prove to the skeptical Americans, the Americans who wanted to take him at his
01:26word when he told reporters, you don't think I'm up to a second term?
01:30He said, watch me.
01:31Those were his words.
01:32Watch me.
01:33So they were literally doing that tonight, right?
01:35Last night in the US, they were riveted to the screens and they were watching him.
01:39And he did not convince many, at least according to sort of the snap polls, the snap opinion
01:44surveys being taken, that he was up to the task.
01:47It doesn't mean that Donald Trump did a tremendous job.
01:50A lot of people are of the mind that, in a sense, Biden scored an own goal because they
01:54see Trump as a relatively easy target.
01:56I think The New York Times counted 26 lies by Donald Trump during this debate.
02:01Outright lies, exaggerations, falsehoods, if you will, misleading claims.
02:06Biden was seen as not being able to exploit those, not being able to counterpunch in an
02:12aggressive enough manner, basically letting Trump get away with the equivalent of debate
02:17murder, if you will.
02:20And the debate itself devolved into a lot of issues where even if Biden did show that,
02:25you know, he wanted to devote concentrate on issues, there was a point which had devolved
02:29into a skirmish over their golfing handicaps, who could beat who in a golfing tournament.
02:34So there was there was, you know, the mundane in this debate as well.
02:37But Biden, it was not a good night.
02:40And whether you're a Biden supporter or not a Biden supporter, you've got to sort of be
02:43brutally honest.
02:44And a lot of Democrats right now are being brutally honest by saying we like Biden.
02:48We like his policies.
02:49We think he's been a very good president for America.
02:52He had a bad night.
02:53In fact, he had a very bad night and he has to do something about that.
02:55Yeah.
02:56And some people are even saying they're doing second guessing.
02:59What are the chances that he could step aside as some Democrats are suggesting?
03:03Well, you're bringing up the 64 million dollar question there, Will.
03:07What are the chances?
03:08There's always a chance, right?
03:11There's been talk for many months of what's called an open convention.
03:14You know as well as I, an open convention used to be the norm in U.S. presidential politics.
03:19It was literally that, a convention at which all of the delegates from all the 50 states
03:23arrive, not knowing who the party's candidate is going to be.
03:27Why?
03:28Because the whole point of the convention is to have floor debates and speeches that
03:31give the delegates then sort of their grist to make their decision.
03:35Who's our best candidate?
03:36There's been talk.
03:37Should that be the case this year?
03:39Let's be very clear.
03:40Even if the Democratic National Committee and all of it, the king's horses and all the
03:44king's men were to march into the Oval Office tomorrow, and I'm not saying this is about
03:47to happen and say, Mr. President, we love you.
03:50We support you.
03:51You've been great for the country.
03:53We really think you need to step aside in favor of someone who has the vitality and
03:56the vigor to lead a campaign because the ultimate objective is beating Trump.
04:01You can't wage your policies and help the country if you don't beat your rival in November.
04:05We need someone who can do that.
04:06We don't believe it's you.
04:07Even if he were dead, that line tomorrow, it's ultimately his decision.
04:12So the question becomes, and I'm not a fly on the wall in any of these places, wish I
04:16were, who behind the scenes is bringing what kinds of pressure perhaps to bear on the president
04:21at this hour?
04:22We hear a lot of official people going out there, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom,
04:26Kamala Harris, even Joe Biden's wife.
04:28They've been trying to spin it favorably, essentially saying he had a bad night, but
04:32he's a good president.
04:33Let's not forget that he was up against a man who ultimately is a lying narcissist who
04:38would be extremely dangerous for American democracy.
04:40But those people aside, the question is, are there other voices in the party who Biden
04:44does listen to, that he does respect, who might be the so-called Biden whisperers right
04:48now telling him you got to step aside?
04:51That is an open question.
04:53If you had to, if I were a betting man and you asked me, I would say he probably is not
04:57going to have his own volition because I believe he honestly and earnestly believes he still
05:01is the best person to be Donald Trump, despite what the optics are suggesting from last night's
05:07debate.