By: Amy Qian

On Thursday evening, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump participated in a debate as the country prepares for the upcoming US election in November.

Many people worry about President Biden’s age and energy. He is 81 years old, the oldest president in US history. During the debate, Biden sometimes struggled. He stumbled over words, and his voice was raspy because he had a cold.

Throughout the discussion, they talked about important things, like immigration and the economy. Trump said the US had the best economy when he was president. Biden talked about Trump’s criminal conviction. Earlier this year, Trump was the first former president to be convicted of a crime. He hid a payment to a woman to keep quiet while he ran for president.

Reporters said Trump seemed confident but made many claims that were not true. Biden had trouble responding quickly. Some Democrats worried about Biden’s performance at the beginning of the debate. Vice-President Kamala Harris said he had a slow start but finished strong.

The debate was earlier in the election cycle than usual, which Biden’s team wanted. They hoped to remind people about Trump’s problems during and after his presidency. Instead, many people ended up focusing on Biden’s performance. Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s former communications director, said, “There’s no two ways about it, that was not a good debate for Joe Biden.”