TV duel between Biden and Trump – for the first time during the debate, the current and former US presidents collided (video)

US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump met in a historic debate on Thursday evening, June 27, early morning of June 28, European time.

The first TV duel before the presidential elections in November lasted 90 minutes. Politicians performed at the CNN studio in Atlanta, Georgia. After discussing the US economy, Trump and Biden exchanged views on inflation, jobs and tax policy.

Both candidates laid out their visions for the presidency in debates in which they sought to persuade voters ahead of the November election. The debate, held in Atlanta, began in a frosty atmosphere as the candidates did not shake hands before walking to their podiums. Both candidates are well known to voters and generally unpopular, offering radically different views on nearly every major issue.

Biden began by listing what he sees as the economic successes of his presidency, adding that “there's still a lot to do.” Inflation is “killing” the United States, Trump countered.

After exchanging views on immigration and abortion bans, the rivals moved on to the foreign policy agenda, starting with Ukraine. The question was raised about Do the debate participants consider the ceasefire conditions put forward by Russian President Vladimir Putin acceptable?.

Trump blames Biden for war in Ukraine, saying the full-scale invasion would never have happened “if we had a leader.” “This is a war that should never have started,” he said, claiming that “$200 billion or more” had been allocated to Kyiv under Biden. “That's a lot of money,” Trump added. When asked again whether he considered Putin’s demands acceptable, Trump replied: “No, they are unacceptable.”

Trump reiterated that he would end the war in Ukraine if re-elected, as he has done regularly during the campaign, but gave no specifics on how exactly he would do it.

In its turn President Biden called the Russian leader a “war criminal.” “He needs all of Ukraine,” he emphasized. The head of the White House expressed the opinion that Putin will not stop there. “What do you think will happen to Poland?” he asked, expressing concern that the war could spread to NATO countries.

Later politicians moved to the situation in the Gaza Strip. Biden stated that a plan is being discussed that provides for the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a long-term “ceasefire with additional conditions.” “The only one who wants to continue the war is Hamas,” the American leader said.

Former US President Donald Trump did not give a direct answer when asked whether he would support the creation of an independent Palestinian state to end the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “We'll have to see,” Trump replied, before moving on to discuss trade deals with European countries.

The debate turned personal when the topic turned about criminal sentences Trump, and Biden leveled a series of criticisms at the former president, calling him a “convicted criminal” with the morals of a “street cat.” Trump was found guilty last month of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The candidates had a brief conversation about agewith Trump saying he “did great” on cognitive tests and then turning the conversation to golf, saying Biden “can't hit the ball 50 yards.”

The debate between the 81-year-old Democrat and the 78-year-old Republican lasted 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks. This is the standard length. There were no opening statements. The order of the closing addresses was determined by lot. Biden addressed the audience first, and Trump ended the broadcast.

The publication “Strana” presents the main theses that were voiced about the war in Ukraine:

1. Trump once again repeated that he would end the war in Ukraine if he wins the elections even before officially taking office.

2. Trump said Ukraine was losing the war because of a lack of resources: “They're running out of people. They're running out of soldiers. They've lost so many people. It's so sad. They've lost so many people, they've lost these magnificent cities with golden domes.” , which are a thousand years old, and all because of him and his (Biden’s) stupid decisions.” According to him, Russian troops are capable of occupying the entire territory of Ukraine.

3. Trump said he believed Biden had encouraged Moscow to go to war in Ukraine: “He did nothing to stop it. And in fact, I think he encouraged Russia to go to war.” He added that Putin might have decided to go to war after the disorderly withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in 2021. “I've never heard so many lies in my life,” Biden said.

4. Trump called Putin's recent conditions for ending the war “unacceptable” in response to a question from the host. Let us recall that Putin demands that all territories of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions be handed over to the Russian Federation.

5. Biden said that if Russia wins in Ukraine, a larger war could break out: “If you want war, just let Putin take Kyiv.” According to him, the Kremlin “wants to restore what was part of the Soviet empire, it doesn't just want a part, it wants all of Ukraine.” Trump blamed Biden for the current situation. He said that because of his policies, “we are very close to World War III.”

American journalist Chris Cuomo assessed the television duel this way: “Biden clearly “passed” through the debate. But we have one sick candidate (Biden had a cold, ed.), and another – very bad and inadequate. This is America's shame.” The next debate will take place on September 10.

Biden-Trump debate live:

First results:

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