The first shot in this hotly-contested presidential rematch has been fired! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most notable exchanges, pressing issues addressed, and significant moments from the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, which could influence who will control the White House in 2024.
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00:00Let's not act like children.
00:02You are a child.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:05and today we're counting down our picks for the most notable exchanges,
00:08pressing issues addressed,
00:10and significant moments from the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump,
00:14which could influence who will win control of the White House in 2024.
00:18Think of all the civil penalties you have.
00:20How many billions of dollars do you own in civil penalties?
00:23Number 10.
00:25The Biden-Trump rematch.
00:27Seeing these two figures battle it out on stage in itself is a monumental moment.
00:31Neither President Biden nor former President Trump has participated in a debate
00:35since they last faced off in the 2020 presidential cycle.
00:38You were a senator, and by the way, you were a vice-
00:40You're the worst president America has ever had. Come on.
00:43Four years later,
00:44this was the first time Americans had the opportunity to see
00:47either of the major candidates debating this election season.
00:50Since neither candidate took the stage during the primary season.
00:53Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here.
00:55Let's begin the debate, and let's start with the issue that voters consistently say
00:59is their top concern, the economy.
01:02Remaining committed to Biden,
01:04the Democratic Party opted not to hold primary debates,
01:07and Trump declined to participate in the crowded Republican primary debates,
01:10arguing his lead over his opponents made it unnecessary for him to join them on stage.
01:15Looking back a few months later, he wasn't wrong.
01:18And they rate me one of the best, okay?
01:21And if I'm given another four years, I will be the best.
01:24I think I'll be the best.
01:28One of the most interesting moments of the debate
01:30came before either candidate stepped on stage.
01:33It really wasn't until 1976,
01:35when after Jerry Ford had pardoned President Nixon,
01:39and he was trailing in the polls,
01:41that we went back to having debates, and we've had them ever since.
01:45This was the first presidential debate in decades
01:48to not be set up by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
01:51Since the 1988 presidential election,
01:54the bipartisan commission has overseen presidential debates.
01:57But in 2022, the Republican National Committee withdrew from the commission,
02:01voicing concerns that the debate moderation had grown overly biased and poorly managed.
02:06The two candidates, Trump and Biden, the two main candidates,
02:11made their own agreement,
02:12and kind of cut you guys out of the process.
02:14Is that correct?
02:15Well, they're trying to.
02:17I see. Why would they do that?
02:19Because we're not nice people, I guess.
02:21This created uncertainty over whether the major candidates would debate at all.
02:26But when CNN offered to host a debate, both Biden and Trump accepted.
02:30This change signified a major shift in how elections operate,
02:33with the candidates gaining greater power over the rules imposed on debates
02:37by negotiating directly with TV networks.
02:39By accepting our invitation to debate,
02:42both candidates and their campaigns agreed to accept these rules.
02:49While neither candidate unveiled groundbreaking policy proposals
02:52during the 90-minute debate,
02:53they did touch on a number of topics that Americans, young and old, are concerned about.
02:58So every day, millions of Americans struggle just to make ends meet.
03:02For many older Americans, Social Security provides a critical lifeline.
03:06One key issue in particular is Social Security and Medicare,
03:09which are both in danger of running out of money in the near future
03:12if lawmakers don't address funding shortfalls.
03:15This is one of the few issues that both Republicans and Democrats alike want addressed.
03:19But lawmakers have so far been unable to find a solution.
03:23I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000.
03:27After that, I began to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share
03:31by increasing from 1% beyond to be able to guarantee the program for life.
03:36If you pay income taxes in the United States,
03:39part of your paycheck goes to these programs.
03:41But they might not be around long enough for you to begin taking money from the program in old age.
03:47But Social Security, he's destroying it
03:50because millions of people are pouring into our country
03:52and they're putting them onto Social Security,
03:54they're putting them onto Medicare, Medicaid,
03:56they're putting them in our hospitals,
03:58they're taking the place of our citizens.
04:04Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify for the debate.
04:0870% of Americans said they wanted me on that stage.
04:13Between 70% and 80%, depending on what poll you read,
04:16do not want to have to choose between President Biden and President Trump.
04:20But that didn't stop the controversial descendant of one of America's most famous political families
04:24from giving his own answers to the questions asked by the debate moderators,
04:28just on his own stage and streamed on X.
04:31This is existential.
04:33This is one of the problems that neither of these two will talk about.
04:37This is the reason that they need me on stage
04:41because I would confront them with what they did.
04:44Kennedy's live stream garnered millions of views,
04:46perhaps showing that some Americans are interested in looking beyond the conventional two-party system.
04:51Will it be enough to propel Kennedy to the White House?
04:54Probably not, but if there were ever an election where voters would consider voting for a third-party candidate,
05:00it would be this one.
05:01I'm the only one who can beat President Trump.
05:04When I head-to-head with President Trump, I beat him.
05:06When I head-to-head with President Biden, I beat him in a landslide.
05:12The job responsibilities of the President of the United States extend far beyond the nation's borders,
05:17and the importance of global issues was evident during the debate.
05:20I want to begin with Russia's war against Ukraine, which is now in its third year.
05:25The candidates were asked multiple questions about global conflicts,
05:28such as Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine,
05:31the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip,
05:34and the U.S. military's 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
05:38I'll tell you what happened. He was so bad with Afghanistan.
05:41It was such a horrible embarrassment, most embarrassing moment in the history of our country,
05:46that when Putin watched that and he saw the incompetence,
05:49that he should have fired those generals like I fired the one that you mentioned.
05:53The person sitting in the Oval Office represents Americans on the world stage,
05:57decides where American troops are deployed, and builds and breaks alliances.
06:02If you or a loved one serves in the armed forces, or even if you just enjoy traveling abroad,
06:07the events occurring far beyond America's shores can have a major impact on voters' lives.
06:12We found ourselves in a situation where, if you take a look at what Trump did in Ukraine,
06:18this guy told Trump, do whatever you want, and do whatever you want.
06:24And that's exactly what Trump did to Putin, encourage him, do whatever you want.
06:32Assuming historical trends continue, the most remembered moments from the debate
06:36will not be impassioned arguments over policies and legislation,
06:40but instead name-calling, personal attacks, and jabs.
06:43The idea that you have a right to seek retribution against any American
06:47just because you're president is wrong, is simply wrong.
06:50No president's ever spoken like that before.
06:52This debate provided plenty of insults and barbs designed to be clipped
06:55and turned into viral memes across the internet.
06:58The most memorable exchange was perhaps President Biden saying former President Trump
07:02has the, quote, morals of an alley cat.
07:05What are you talking about?
07:07You have the morals of an alley cat.
07:10Do you have a minute, sir?
07:11I didn't have sex with a porn star, number one.
07:13Trump then retorted by pointing to Biden's son, Hunter,
07:16who was recently convicted of three felony gun-related charges.
07:20Trump also predicted that the president himself would become a convicted felon
07:24over his alleged foreign business dealings.
07:26But he could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office.
07:29Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he's done.
07:32He's done horrible things.
07:34Number four, Roe v. Wade.
07:36For the past few years, the issue of abortion has been a key motivator for voters.
07:41This is the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
07:46This morning, the court ruled on yet another abortion case,
07:50temporarily allowing emergency abortions to continue in Idaho,
07:55despite that state's restrictive ban.
07:57When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022,
08:01medical termination of pregnancies ceased to be considered
08:03a constitutional right at the national level.
08:06This gives states greater power to restrict the divisive operation
08:10and makes its future legality uncertain.
08:12The idea that the politicians, that the founders wanted the politicians
08:17to be the ones making decisions about women's health is ridiculous.
08:20That's the last. No politician should be making that decision.
08:23A doctor should be making those decisions.
08:25That's how it should be run.
08:26That's what you're going to do.
08:28During the debate, the candidates were asked about their stance on this matter.
08:31President Biden expressed his desire to reinstate national protections on the procedure,
08:36while former President Trump celebrated the court's decision
08:38and his role in appointing three judges to the court
08:41and reiterated his position that the issue should be decided at the state level.
08:45What I did is I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court
08:49and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade
08:53and moving it back to the states.
08:55This is something that everybody wanted.
08:59The Biden administration has faced frequent criticism over its federal immigration policies
09:04and the resulting influx of unauthorized migration
09:07across the United States' southern border with Mexico.
09:09President Biden, a record number of migrants have illegally crossed the southern border on your watch,
09:15overwhelming border states and overburdening cities such as New York and Chicago
09:19and in some cases causing real safety and security concerns.
09:22During the debate, Trump attacked Biden over immigration and border security,
09:27stating that unauthorized migrants were committing crimes throughout the country
09:30and living in luxury hotels paid for by taxpayers in New York City.
09:34They're living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places.
09:39Our veterans are on the street.
09:40They're dying because he doesn't care about our veterans.
09:42He doesn't care. He doesn't like the military at all.
09:45And he doesn't care about our veterans.
09:47Biden pushed back on these claims, stating that during Trump's time as president,
09:51he allowed families to be separated at the border and put in cages.
09:54Voters rank immigration as a key issue that influences their vote,
09:58and the candidates' answers to these questions may have won over or lost pivotal support.
10:03We find ourselves in a situation where when he was president,
10:06he was separating babies from their mothers, putting them in cages,
10:10making sure the families were separated.
10:13That's not the right way to go.
10:15Number two, Biden's struggles versus Trump's lies.
10:18In a media landscape where different news sources often draw completely different conclusions
10:23from highly charged political events, two things were clear from the first debate.
10:27President Biden struggled, and former President Trump repeated a number of misleading statements
10:32and dangerous falsehoods.
10:33It's just like when you have a hostage.
10:35We always pay $6 billion for every time we say there's a hostage.
10:39Now we have a hostage, a Wall Street Journal reporter, I think a good guy,
10:44and he's over there because Putin is laughing at this guy,
10:47probably asking for billions of dollars for the reporter.
10:51And these issues were the focal point of debate coverage around the world,
10:54in both liberal and conservative news outlets.
10:57Biden often appeared confused and struggled to articulate his answers,
11:01doing little to alleviate concerns that he is too old to serve an additional four years in office.
11:06Dealing with everything we have to do with,
11:11look, if we finally beat Medicare.
11:16Thank you, President Biden. President Trump?
11:19Well, he's right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.
11:22Trump lied unchecked about topics as widespread as abortion,
11:25the Mexico-U.S. border, drugs, and accepting election results.
11:30Regardless of how you feel about either candidate,
11:32this debate did little to encourage the electorate about their options,
11:36with the U.K.'s newspaper The Guardian saying,
11:39The true losers of this presidential debate were the American people.
11:42That was painful. I love Joe Biden. I work for Joe Biden. He didn't do well at all.
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12:04Number one, who's the better golfer?
12:07The top moment from the night was also the most baffling
12:10and perhaps the least relevant to voters,
12:12unless the election ends up being decided by the nation's most avid golfers.
12:16Just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships.
12:21To do that, you have to be quite smart
12:24and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it.
12:27Faced with a question about each candidate's mental and physical strength,
12:30Biden and Trump instead chose to bicker about who was the better golfer.
12:34Biden bragged about his gold handicap and challenged Trump to a game,
12:38which elicited a laugh from Trump.
12:40Look, I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him.
12:42I got my handicap when I was vice president down to a six.
12:47How does this relate to politics?
12:50It's anyone's guess, but the exchange proved to be an accurate encapsulation
12:54of a confusing and at times unintentionally funny night.
12:58I told you before, I'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag.
13:02Think you can do it?
13:03That's the biggest lie that he's a six handicap of all.
13:06Did you watch the debate?
13:08Let us know in the comments what you thought about the night.
13:10Please keep it civil.
13:12And they liked me more than just about any of them.
13:14And that's based on every single bit of information.
13:18Did you enjoy this video?
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