By: Kyle Xu

We all know of President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, who have been battling for presidency for many years. It is no longer a war between democrats and republicans, but a more personal battle fueled by mutual hatred. The debate this week on Thursday is a chance for both to gain supporters and attempt to overrun the other. It is unquestionable that the nation will explode as a result.

The debate balances both success and failure for the two candidates, and it will be a “big inflection point,” as Karl Rove, republican President Bush’s campaign strategist, states. Biden needs to uphold the fact that he has the ability to support the nation even at his age, while Trump needs to convince the public that his criminal record does not clash with his future as a president.

Trump’s approach to the debate is expected to be to attack the issues that had occurred during President Biden’s reign: immigration and inflation. Another goal is to convince the public to give him a second chance. Biden, however, will likely focus on Trump’s previous reign of chaos. Whoever will win, we must acknowledge that both sides will definitely show improvements from 2020.

The sides of the coins are flipped. In 2020, Trump was faced with the deaths of the COVID-19 pandemic that occurred over the course of his presidency. Now, Biden must defend his own presidency and against accusations of the struggling economy.

Bob Flaherty, a campaign manager for Mr. Biden, describes Trump as “dangerous” and “out for revenge,” even “unhinged.” Trump’s many previous mistakes will be a hotspot for Biden’s argument. Biden plans to inform the public that Mr. Trump will remove American freedoms that separate the US from any other country, and that Trump would help only businesses and billionaires instead of average Americans.

Republican Juan Ciscomani, one of Trump’s campaign managers, explains that voters will support Trump. This, he says, is because people will “tune out the news,” such as Trump’s criminal record, but not “tune out not being able to afford groceries,” a result from Biden’s heavy inflating. Ciscomani says that “people feel like they’re worse off today than they were three, four years ago,” which may act in Trump’s favor.

The debate will be different from previous debates. Hosted by CNN, it will be on more than five networks—unlike previous debates. Each candidate has two minutes to answer questions, followed by one-minute rebuttals and responses, and their microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak(think 2020) so as to prevent outbursts.
However, no matter the tactics of the candidates, one thing is for sure: the debate will decide the future of America.