By: Jerry Zhang
On Thursday, June 17th, the first presidential debate of the 2024 election between former U.S. President Donald Trump and current U.S. President Joe Biden took place in Atlantaresulting in a significant loss of popularity for Joe Biden due to his less-than-stellar performance.
Since the 2020 presidential elections, there have been concerns about Biden’s health. Observers have noted changes in his physical appearance, vocal range, and mental performance. In contrast to his previous analytical and concise demeanor, Biden has appeared to struggle in effectively communicating his ideas. During the debate, Joe Biden addressed Trump, saying he “is the only president other than Herbert Hoover, who had lost more jobs than he had when he began since Herbert Hoover.”
The recent events have sparked a debate about whether Biden should step down as the Democratic presidential nominee. There is growing pressure from within the Democratic party for him to consider stepping down. If he does choose to do so, it would potentially pave the way for other influential party members to take his place. Some key figures that have been mentioned as potential replacements include Kamala Harris, the current Vice President; Gavin Newsom, the governor of California; Jay Robert Pritzker, the governor of Illinois and several others.
Even if he does not choose to step down voluntarily, the Democratic Party’s delegates have the authority to replace him. This can happen if over half of the 4,000 delegates vote for someone else during the nomination convention on August 19th.
Not only has Joe Biden changed since the previous presidential debate, but so has Donald Trump. Unlike his previous regular attacks on Joe Biden, he acted quite passively in this instance. However, he did still quip back, saying, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he does either.”
Former President Donald Trump voiced his complaints about how Biden is tackling national issues. He has blamed Biden for Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th saying that it would have “never happened” if he were in office. Another major issue Trump has with Biden’s administration has been foreign policy. Trump has blamed Biden for the increasing number of crimes committed by illegal immigrants as well as encouraging Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine after the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan.
Even though the election is months away, this debate has had an enormous impact on the public perception of both candidates, changing the public’s perspective on certain issues, and possibly deciding the victor of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. However, there are two more upcoming debates between the presidential candidates. Perhaps one of these future events will sway popular favor towards one side or the other.