Washington (Agencies)
The curtain has fallen on one of the most contentious presidential debates in the United States, which gave voters a rare opportunity to assess the performance of the older candidates in the November elections.
Biden, 81, had called for this confrontation with his Republican predecessor Trump at such an early stage of the campaign.
The first questions focused on the economy, at a time when opinion polls show that Americans are dissatisfied with Biden’s performance despite wage growth and low unemployment, and the two opponents discussed at length core issues such as inflation, immigration and support for Ukraine.
Trump said, “Inflation is killing our country,” considering that Biden “did not do a good job,” and said, “Inflation is killing our country, it is killing us.”
Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Trump said that “Russian President Vladimir Putin would never attack Ukraine if the United States had a real president.”
Trump claimed that he would be able to end the war if he were re-elected, even before January 20, when he would be inaugurated if he wins the presidency.
Trump also called on Biden to pressure European allies to spend more on supporting Ukraine.
When asked if Russia’s terms for ending the war were acceptable, Trump said they were not.
Regarding the war waged by Israel on Gaza, Biden sought to promote the ceasefire plan and stressed that “there is no one in the world who supports Israel more than the United States.”
Trump repeated his claim that “Palestinian factions would not have attacked Israel, not even in a million years, if he were president,” he said.
Asked by a CNN reporter if he could say that political violence “in any form” is unacceptable, the Republican candidate replied: “Well, I shouldn’t say that, but of course I believe it, it’s absolutely unacceptable.”
Biden, for his part, said, “Now he says that if he loses again, there will be a bloodbath. This man does not understand at all the meaning of American democracy.”
Trump defended his country’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement during his presidency.
He said, “The international climate agreement was a disaster.” Biden rejected these allegations, stressing that “America will not be able to combat climate change unless it is a party to the agreement.”
“There is no indication that Trump is concerned about pollution and climate,” he added.
US President Joe Biden accused his predecessor, Donald Trump, of “exaggerating” the immigration crisis in the United States, saying: “There is no data to support what Trump is saying. He is exaggerating again.”
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