ATLANTA (CN) — CNN hosted the first presidential debate 2024 debate Thursday night between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, where the two presumptive nominees each called the other the worst president the United States' ever had.
With a very narrow gap between the two in the latest national polls, political scientists say the televised debate could still provide an opportunity to sway the few remaining undecided and swing voters. Currently, Trump has a slight 1% advantage over Biden.
The debate marked not only the first-ever debate between a sitting president and a former president, but a matchup of the two oldest candidates in U.S. history.
The 78-year-old Trump delivered clear-spoken answers, even if some of those answers frequently veered into outright lies. Biden, on the other hand, perhaps proved some of the criticisms about his age right as the 81-year old spoke in a hoarse, whispery voice throughout the debate.
As part of several anomalies to other modern presidential debates, there was no live studio audience present and moderators cut microphones when it was not the speaker's turn, to avoid a repeat of the 2020 debate which drew public ire over Trump interrupting Biden several times and Biden calling Trump a "clown."
CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash served as moderators. The two veteran anchors did not fact check or correct any false statements made by either candidate during the debate.
Economy and immigration
The debate opened up with questions about the economy, an issue that most voters consistently say is their top concern.
When asked if he would extend the tax cuts that he signed during his presidency, Trump said the cuts spurred the economy. During his response, Biden said the tax cuts only benefited the very wealthy and that billionaires could wipe out the national debt if they were taxed more.
Tapper questioned Biden about inflation and the increased price of essentials under his presidency. Biden said he was left with what Trump gave him and because the former president badly handled the pandemic.
Biden said if reelected, he will make sure to reduce the price of housing, which is at an all time high. But Trump pushed back with his own assertions about his time in the White House.
"We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We did a great job. No wars, everything was rocking good," Trump said.
"The only jobs he created was for illegal immigrants," Trump added, as part of several comments criticizing the surge of immigrants that have crossed the border without permanent legal status during Biden's presidency.
He brought up the February murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens by a migrant from Venezuela.
"These killers are coming into our country," Trump said. He referred to the surge of migrants as coming from prisons and mental institutions.
"We have the largest number of terrorists coming into this country. Pouring in. People are dying all over the place," Trump added.
When asked why voters should trust him to solve the immigration issue, Biden said he is working to get bipartisan measures passed and attacked Trump's handling of the situation.
"When he was president, he was separating families and putting babies in cages. That's not the right way to go," Biden said.
The idea that immigrants are being welcomed in without legal documentation, is not true, Biden added.
Russia and the Middle East
Trump mentioned multiple times that the U.S. is no longer respected worldwide because of Biden's presidency.
"We're like a third world nation," Trump said.
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