Trump and Biden debate live updates: Follow all the action in real time from the first presidential showdown on CNN

John King of CNN reports:

Right now as we speak there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic party. It started moments into the debate and it continues right now. It involves strategists, party officials and fundraisers, and they are having conversations about the president’s performance, which they think was dismal.

They’re having conversations about what they should do about it. Some of those conversations involve should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside. Others are about should prominent Democrats go public with that call, because this debate was so terrible.

It was an extraordinary debate. Here are the highlights:

• Joe Biden froze 12 minutes in, losing his train of thought answering a question.
• Trump has vehemently denied calling dead soldiers ‘suckers and losers.’
• Trump also denied sleeping with Stormy Daniels, saying: ‘I did not have sex with a porn star.’
• Biden fumbled an answer about the border and Trump responded: ‘I really don’t know what he just said.’
• The two candidates had a bizarre argument about their golf handicaps.

Biden gave a meandering answer with an awkward pause just 12 minutes into the debate.

In response to a question about debt, Biden said:

Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person…eligible for what I’ve been able to do with..the…Covid…excuse me…dealing with everything we had to do with…look…if…we finally beat Medicare.

After a brief pause following Biden’s loss of train of thought, Trump responded:

He’s right he did beat Medicare – he beat it to death.

Kate Bedingfield, who left Joe Biden’s communications team last year, called her former boss’s debate performance ‘disappointing.’

‘It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden,’ Bedingfield said on a CNN panel after the event.

‘I don’t think there’s any other way to slice it.’

‘His biggest issue was to prove to the American people that he had the energy, the stamina — and he didn’t do that,’ she continued.

Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. political reporter

Melania Trump never appeared at Thursday night’s debate.

Jill Biden walked out on stage to hug and kiss husband Joe Biden after the event ended.

Donald Trump walked off the stage solo as the Bidens greeted each other.

The Bidens then went to speak to moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.

The Trump campaign remained mum when asked for the past several days if the former first lady would attend. Officials said it would be revealed at the debate.

Trump brags about having ‘aced’ cognitive tests while answering an age question – he would be 82 at the end of his second term – at a debate where Biden’s meandering answers spooked Democratic operatives.

‘I took two tests cognitive tests, I aced them — both of them,’ he said, name-dropping former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson (after muffing his name as Ronny Johnson during a recent rally).

‘He took none, I’d like to see him take one,’ Trump said while Biden grinned.

‘We knock on wood wherever we have wood,’ Trump said.

‘One of them said they’d never seen anybody ace it,’ Trump said, returning back to his achievement, while moderator Dana Bash told him ‘thank you.’ He was referencing the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, which is used to screen for dementia and other issues.

David Axelrod, Obama’s former senior adviser, said if the debate is judged on policy, Biden scored points on abortion and the economy.

However, he performed extremely poorly and there must be discussions about whether he should remain on the Democratic ticket.

‘There is a sense of shock about how he came out at the beginning of this debate. About how his voice sounded. He seemed a little bit disoriented.’

‘There are going to be discussions about whether he should continue,’ he added, saying he didn’t know ‘whether they’ll lead to anything.’

Joe Biden and Donald Trump were given two minutes to deliver uninterrupted closing remarks at the end of the debate Thursday evening.

The President stumbled through his last statement after a series of gaffes and fumbles throughout the hour-and-a-half debate in Atlanta.

He wants to get away with – get rid of the ability of medicare to – for the ability – for us to be able to negotiate a drug price with the Big Pharma companies. Well guess what – we got, we got it down to 15 – excuse me – $35 for insilun instead of $400.

Candidates were not permitted prepared notes or props at the debate, but were given a pen and pad of paper when on stage.

Biden’s voice was raspy throughout the night – something his campaign attributes to a cold – and he had several moments that were concerning to even some top Democrat allies.

When sparring over which candidate received more support from law enforcement, Donald Trump brought up a decades-old allegation that Joe Biden referred to black Americans as ‘super predators.’

‘Almost every police group in the nation, from every state, is supporting Donald J. Trump,’ the former president proclaimed.

‘And what he’s done to the black population is horrible including the fact that for 10 years, he called them super predators,’ Trump continued.

The question of whether Biden said the phrase dates back to the 1990s when Biden touted a crime bill he backed and said ‘So when we talk about the juvenile justice system, we have to remember that most of the youth involved in the system are not the so-called ‘super predators.

Biden slams Trump saying ‘you’re such a whiner.’

His criticism came after Trump was asked about whether he would commit to accepting the election results.

Biden pointed out that the courts found no credible fraud after the 2020 election.

‘You’re a whiner. Not one single court in America said any of your claims had any merit,’ Biden said.

‘But you continued to promote your lies. I doubt you’ll accept the results because you’re a whiner. You can’t stand to lose. Something snapped in you when you lost the last time,’ he continued.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

After a heated on-stage argument about their golf handicaps, Donald Trump and Joe Biden resorted to name-calling.

I had a six handicap when I was VP.

No he didn’t… Let’s not act like children.’

Biden came back with telling the former president:

The debate nearly went off the rails as two elderly candidates traded jabs about each other’s golf games.

It happened after Biden and then Trump answered questions from Dana Bash about their age.

‘I took two tests cognitive tests, I aced them both of them,’ said Trump, 78, hitting Biden, 81, for refusing. Biden smiled during the attack.

‘I just won two club matches. Not even senior. Regular,’ he says. He was referencing two wins at his won golf club that Biden mocked him for bragging about online.

Then Biden appeared to mock Trump for fudging his height and weight. Trump said he couldn’t hit a golf ball 50 yards – picking up on a pre-debate attack.

‘I’d be happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?’ Biden asked him.

‘Let’s not act like children,’ Trump said.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden painted different pictures of the devastation caused by the U.S. opioid epidemic.

Trump bashed the state of the U.S.-Mexico border and its role in deadly fentanyl entering the U.S.

‘The [current] number of drugs coming across our border is the highest number by far,’ Trump said.

Biden claimed a bipartisan border deal intended to crack down on the epidemic – which has killed over 100,000 Americans a year since 2020 – would have helped fix the situation.

Biden said ‘more fentanyl machines’ at the border would help identify illicit drugs headed for the U.S.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

Donald Trump claimed he and President Joe Biden were wasting time debating on Thursday.

The comment came while Trump was ranting that Biden needs to be tougher by firing more people in his administration who are failing in their missions.

He also suggested that Biden should be focusing on addressing issues important to American voters rather than appearing on the debate stage with him in Atlanta.

This guy hasn’t fired anybody. He should have fired every military man that was involved with that Afghanistan horror show, the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. He didn’t find did you fire anybody? Did you fire anybody that’s on the border that’s allowed us at the worst order in the history of the world?

Our country is being destroyed as you and I sit up here and waste a lot of time on this debate. This shouldn’t be a debate. He’s the worst president in the history of our country. He’s destroyed our country.

Trump goes back to Biden’s bringing up the ‘suckers and losers’ allegations against him.

‘The losers and suckers story that he made up is a total lie on the military,’ Trump said.

Biden pointed to Trump’s earlier answer, when Trump made reference to the source of the allegation: former Trump White House chief of staff Gen. John Kelly.

‘He acknowledged after that he fired that general,’ Biden said.

Trump spoke to the firing, but did not acknowledge Kelly’s explosive allegation, that he mocked fallen U.S. troops during a visit to a World War I cemetery in France.

‘The general got fired because he was no good. And if he said that that’s why he made it up,’ Trump said.

Donald Trump charges that Joe Biden has become ‘like a Palestinian’ in his support of the Israel-Hamas war.

‘You should let them go and let them go finish the job. He doesn’t want to do it,” Trump said of Biden allowing Israel to stamp out Hamas.

‘He’s become like a Palestinian, but hey, [they] don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one,’ the former president continued.

Biden shot back: ‘I’ve never heard so much foolishness.’

On a question about climate change, Trump defended his environmental record. ‘I want absolutely immaculate, clean water,’ he said. ‘And I want absolutely clean air and we had it.

‘We had H20,’ Trump said, giving the chemical formula for water, without further explanation why.

‘I don’t know where the hell he’s been. The idea that anything he said is true,’ Biden responded.

‘The cleanest water? He hasn’t done a damned thing for the environment,’ Biden said, bashing Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.

Republican strategist Matt Wolking watching the debate told DailyMail.com Biden will go viral for all the wrong reasons.

‘His verbal breakdown and confusion that came 9 minutes into the debate was incredibly damaging,’ Wolking said. ‘In general, the weakness of his presidentation next to Trump’s is jarring.’

Wolking praised Trump’s demeanor and delivery.

President Joe Biden reportedly has a cold.

He sounds hoarse and has cleared his throat multiple times during the debate. It was a terrible start for the president, who needs to overcome voters’ concerns that he is too old for a second term.

Biden has spent the past seven days locked up with advisers at Camp David, practicing for tonight.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter for DailyMail.com

Donald Trump is beating Joe Biden in Thursday night’s debate, claims mass political behavior expert.

CNN’s debate has no studio audience and mutes microphones when the other candidate is speaking, something that Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling Director Ashley Kining told DailyMail.com is benefitting Trump.

In performance and presentation alone, Trump seems to be besting Biden – especially when the former president maintains an even temper and stays away from blatant attacks, making him potentially appealing to those coveted swing voters.

She says the format of the debate ‘certainly shines a better spotlight on substantive policy without interruption.’

The lack of audience and overlapping conversation also harshly highlight the stark differences in energy and coherence between the two candidates.  

In a rare aggressive moment from Biden he turned to Trump and said:

How much do you owe for molesting a woman in public? Having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant… just, what are you talking about?

You have the morals of an alley cat.

Tea Party Patriots Founder Jenny Beth Martin tells DailyMail.com that this debate – halfway through – could be the ‘most decisive in history.’

The contrast between Biden and Trump in all the qualities that matter is stunning and indisputable.

Trump is laser-focused, accurate, and advocating for the conservative policies America needs.

Biden is an absolute disaster; he cannot defend his failed liberal policies and he can barely complete a coherent sentence. Trump is dominating, plain and simple.

President Trump blamed the January 6 riot on former speaker Nancy Pelosi when pressed by CNN host Jake Tapper.

Trump said he was not responsible for the riot that ensued on Capitol Hill and noted how he told protestors that day to act ‘peacefully.’

The former president recalled how a recent video clip from January 6 showed Pelosi taking responsibility for the attack.

‘Oh no it’s my responsibility, I was responsible for this,’ Trump recounted Pelosi saying.

‘I offered her 10,000 soldiers or National Guard,’ he continued, adding ‘Because I could see … I could see what was happening.’

Donald Trump responds to President Biden bringing up Stormy Daniels saying ‘I didn’t have sex with a porn star.’

Biden had been laying out all the legal cases and penalties against Trump including the civil fines and the 34 felony convictions in New York.

Biden turned to Trump to say ‘having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant.’

Biden said Trump had the morals of an ‘alley cat.’

Biden went after Trump for his criminal conviction after an angry exchange over January 6.

‘The only person on this stage is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,’ Biden said.

‘There was no effort on his part to stop what was going on on Capitol hill,’ Biden said, speaking of Trump’s conduct during the Capitol riot.

‘When he talks about convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon,’ Trump responded.

Trump insisted that The Atlantic ‘made up’ a quote where Trump allegedly questioned why he would visit a World War I cemetery filled with ‘losers,’ as he compared it to the open letter from 51 ex-intel officials from 2020 claiming the Hunter Biden laptop had ‘classic earmarks’ of Russian disinformation.

‘It was made up by him, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was made up, just like the 51 intelligence agents are made up .. 51 intelligence agents, said that the laptop was Russian disinformation.

‘That came from his son Hunter. It wasn’t Russia disinformation. [The Atlantic] made up the suckers and losers.’

‘They should we should apologize to me right now,’ Trump said.

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan told DailyMail.com he would brief Trump on the latest of the ex-intel letter.

Donald Trump is asked about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

He responds by saying that on January 6 ‘we were respected all over the world.’

Trump goes on to blast then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi blaming her for the national guard not being there.

Trump rolled out an answer to Biden blaming him for job losses of his administration during the pandemic.

‘He’s taking credit for bounce back jobs – you can’t do that,’ Trump said following a Biden answer on the economy.

Biden made a Herbert Hoover comparison and tried an awkward slam on Trump’s claims about his economic performance. ‘The greatest economy in the world – he’s the only one who thinks that,’ Biden said.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

Donald Trump is tamping his temper and Joe Biden is not showing up like he did at his State of the Union earlier this year, reveals public opinion and political behavior expert.

Ashley Koning, the director of Rutgers Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, told DailyMail.com of the debate so far:

Persona and demeanor play incredibly important roles here, given how early we still technically are in the race and the number of undecided and/or disgruntled voters out there. Biden is failing to embody the vibrancy he had during his SOTU a few months back, while Trump has mostly kept his usual temper in check.

She noted that the ‘energy level’ of both candidates is the most ‘striking’ part of the debate so far.

Trump is also astutely courting swing voters with scare tactics on immigration and even some concessions on reproductive rights that may play well with undecided moderates.

Democratic strategists are horrified by Joe Biden’s performance at the start of the debate.

One source told NBC News that ‘Biden sounds and looks terrible’.

They added: ‘This is the worst start in presidential debate history for an incumbent’.

President Biden cleared his throat during his first answer, in a contest where Trump put his stamina under the microscope.

On the first question about inflation, Biden brought an attack on his rival – bringing up ‘bleach in your arm’ – a reference to Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

For months the White House has managed Joe Biden’s time to protect him from the media glare, reducing his schedule ahead of arduous foreign trips and reducing his interactions with reporters.

But there is no hiding place in a live 90-minute debate beneath the glare of the studio lights. It is hard to imagine a worse start for Biden.

His first words were difficult to hear. His throat sounded raspy.

And then when he did speak, he quickly lost his train of thought. His words slowed to a halt as he confused ‘trillionaires’ for ‘billionaires’ and tried to describe how the wealthy should pay more to protect healthcare. The charitable view was that it was his lifelong stammer making a return, but Biden looked confused, his eyes glassy.

It offered an easy opening for Trump when it happened again.

I really don’t know what he said at the end of their sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.

Worse still, as Trump spoke, Biden looked on, his mouth agape, his eyes staring.

President Joe Biden’s croaky and meandering debate performance prompted calls for him to be replaced on the Democratic ticket – with some Republicans even floating the 25th Amendment.

The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and the majority of the Cabinet to oust a president if the individual cannot execute his or her duties.

‘Forget the election, this is heading into 25th amendment territory,’ Sarah Isgur posted to X. Isgur was a spokesperson for the Department of Justice when former President Donald Trump was in office.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott echoed the sentiment.

‘If you think Democrats in Washington and across the country aren’t talking about the 25th amendment right now, you’re crazy,’ said Scott. ‘It’s not a question of whether he should be on the ballot. That ship has sailed. It’s a question of whether he can serve as President right now.’

CNN contributor and co-host of The View, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump official-turned-critic, said she was hearing calls for Biden to be dropped by the Demorats.

‘Hearing from countless viewers of all political stripes and the consensus is Biden needs to be replaced,’ she said. ‘It’s worse than I believe most people imagined.’

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

Biden brought up the report that Trump did not want to go to the WWI cemetery that Biden recently visited in France and allegedly called the dead soldiers ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’ when asked about veterans.

‘You’re the sucker, you’re the loser,’ Biden says looking at Trump.

Trump denies the report which came from The Atlantic.

President Biden says he is the only president that ‘doesn’t have any troops dying’ across the world, and viewers were quick to point out on X that 13 U.S. troops died in the frenzied U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

‘The truth is, I’m the only president the century that doesn’t have any, this decade didn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did,’ Biden said.

Trump shot back: ‘As far as Afghanistan is concerned, getting out of Afghanistan, we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power. He got out, it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.’

Donald Trump slammed Biden for not knowing his own border policies.

Biden touted his efforts to secure a bipartisan border deal that fell apart in Congress when asked about his attempts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump immediately retorted after a bumbling answer from Biden, saying ‘I really don’t know what he said there at the end of that answer.’

‘I don’t think he does either,’ Trump continued.

Some snap analysis from Joe Alder, senior research associate at JL Partners, DailyMail.com’s pollster:

On the economy, Joe Biden quickly turned the conversation onto Donald Trump’s record. It’s unclear if that is wise given many voters’ main association with the Trump premiership is a stronger economy. Biden did identify stronger territory on Trump’s much more controversial record of tax cuts – but Biden may need a more spirited defence of his own record.

It is crucial for Biden that he keep the conversation on abortion – a key area of Democrat strength with swing voters and one with the potential to energize his base. What’s more, this is a rare issue where Trump feels the need to prevaricate, while Biden can paint a clear dividing line.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

The moderators ask Trump and Biden about abortion which is one of the biggest issues of the 2024 election after Roe v Wade was overturned.

‘It’s a terrible thing what you’ve done,’ says Biden slamming Trump on the issue.

Trump praised the overturning of Roe saying the decision by the Supreme Court took the issue ‘back to the voters.’

Biden said he supports Roe v Wade when it comes to limits on when a woman can get an abortion.

Trump claimed falsely that Democrats want to rip babies out at nine months.

‘We are not for late-term abortion. Period, period,’ Biden responds. He points out Roe was in place for 51 years.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

Biden appeared to want to respond to Trump when he slammed the president on social security, but his mic was not on.

This could be a challange for Biden of his campaign’s own making since it was his team that made the request for mics to be muted when it’s not their turn.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

CNN moderators opened Thursday’s debate by asking President Joe Biden to defend his economic record.

Voters say the economy and inflation are their No. 1 issue when casting their ballot in November’s election – and critics claim they were better off under former President Donald Trump than under Biden.

Host Dana Bash kicked off the showdown with throwing the question to Biden, which he replied to with his first gaffe of the night.

What I’m going to do is fix the tax system. For example, we have a thousand trillionaires in America – I mean billionaires in America. And what’s happening? They’re in a situation where they in fact pay 8.2 percent in taxes. If they just paid 24 percent, 25 percent – either of those numbers – they’d raise $500 million – billion.

After Biden then slammed Trump’s spending during the early days of COVID, the former president defended himself:

Everything was rocking good but the thing we never got the credit for – and we should have – is getting inside of that COVID mess.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

The first question goes to Biden, who is asked about rising prices and inflation. His response makes clear that he knows what his task is tonight: Prevent this from becoming a referendum on his record and instead remind viewers of Trump’s time in office.

We got to take a look at what I was left when I became president, what Mr Trump left me. We had an economy that was in free fall. The pandemic was so badly handled, many people were dying.

If the debate and the election is about Biden’s record he is in big trouble.

The two candidates both agreed to the rules CNN sent to their campaigns in May.

Part of that agreement was allowing microphones to be muted when the other candidate is speaking, a departure from previous debates.

It is an attempt to avoid crosstalk and interruptions.

Additionally, there will be no studio audience, another change from previous events.

No props or pre-written notes will be allowed onto the stage, but candidates will be provided a pad of paper, pen and water bottle.

A coin toss was won by Biden’s campaign after they picked tails,

It meant the president’s team got to decide whether they wanted to choose the podium position, or who got the final word.

The campaign decided to select the stage arrangement and put Biden on the right podium.

That also means that rival Trump will get the final word of the night and deliver his closing statement last.

Sarah Ewall-Wice, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

President Biden and Donald Trump take the stage for their make-or-break first debate of the 2024 campaign.

It’s the first debate ever between two presidential candidates who have both served as president and comes much earlier in an election year than general election debates ever have before.

Trump is on the left and Biden is on the right as decided by a coin toss.

Biden is wearing a blue tie. Trump is wearing a red tie.

They did not shake hands when they entered, instead taking their places behind their podiums.

Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

When Donald Trump landed in Atlanta on Thursday afternoon, Melania Trump was not seen getting exiting Trump Force One.

It’s a mystery if the former first lady will appear at the first presidential debate.

Her office did not respond to multiple inquiries on the subject.

Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

President Joe Biden mocked Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegation he’ll take performance enhancing drugs ahead of the debate by posting a photo of himself – drinking a can of water.

‘I don’t know what they’ve got in these performance enhancers, but I’m feeling pretty jacked up. Try it yourselves, folks,’ he wrote on his X account.

The post includes a link to the Biden campaign store where a can of ‘Dark Brandon’s Secret Sauce’ sells for $4.60. ‘Get Real Jack. It’s just water,’ the can reads.

The ingredients on the back include: MAGA tears, mysterious orange liquid, and melted chocolate chip ice cream.

‘The secret to a good debate performance? Staying hydrated. Get yourself the same performance enhancers Joe Biden took before going on stage. 100% water, 0% malarkey,’ the description reads.

Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

A majority of Donald Trump vice presidential contenders appeared together in a group photo in Atlanta as they head to the presidential debate.

Posted by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York – a favorite of the former president’s – the gang of politicians are grinning at the camera, giving a thumbs’ up (which is a signature Trump move).

Stefanik is said to be on Trump’s list of contenders as are Sens. Tim Scott, J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio and Ben Carson – all of whom are in the picture. Other notable Trump supporters seen in the shot are Sens. Lindsey Graham, Marsha Blackburn, and Markwayne Mullin, and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

There are other contenders at the debate site (but not in the photo Stefanik posted): North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump has teased he already knows who he is picking and that person would join him in Atlanta. He has not formally announced his running mate.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNN:

So the weaponization of these clips, it was ridiculous.

That’s for hours and hours on the photo line with President Obama. He had just found back from the G7…he had barely slept. No one could have kept that schedule.

He did a wonderful job in private with all the donors, with surrogates, did an amazing job on stage.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify for the debate.

Instead, he will be hosting his own event on X.

To qualify for the debate CNN required candidates to reach 15 percent in four reliable polls and be on the ballot in enough states to win the presidency. Kennedy fell short.

He has accused CNN of colluding with Biden and Trump, has complained to the Federal Election Commission, and threatening to sue.

Kennedy may not be there but his supporters have a visible presence on the streets around the debate hall in Atlanta.

Some set up a lemonade stand a few blocks from the spin room where the press was gathered.

A sign on top of the stand read ‘CNN Lemons = Kennedy Lemonade’.

Not far away, a Kennedy campaign bus blasted music.

Emily Goodin, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

President Joe Biden’s campaign used the lead up to the presidential debate to have one its best fundraising periods to date.

The 6-7pm hour was the best grassroots fundraising hour of the campaign, a Biden campaign official said, besting the 5-6pm hour which was the prior record.

Republican strategist Scott Jennings said the stakes could not be higher for President Biden ahead of the debate.

‘We cannot understand the importance of this moment for one person, and that’s Joe Biden,’ said Jennings. ‘His campaign is teetering on the brink of going away right now.’

He pointed to the polling and said ‘the image is bad.’

‘Democrats are nervous. They know he is losing,’ Jennings said. ‘The reason we’re having this debate is the Biden campaign knows it must change the trajectory. Anything short of a game-changing moment for Biden tonight is a loss for him and a win for Donald Trump.’

Jennings said all Trump has to do is show up and look like a plausible president, and it’s a win for him.

Former Obama advisor Dabid Axelrod warned Joe Biden not to brag about his record during the debate with Donald Trump on Thursday night.

The Democrat who has scrutinized Joe’s re-election bid said he will ‘lose the debate and he may lose the election’ if he repeatedly brings up what he has accomplished since he entered office.

Many Americans don’t agree with his case that he has a great record. Most think prices are still high, are concerned with the border and have been critical of his stance in the Gaza war.

Axelrod didn’t mince his words when he gave the 81-year-old president some advice while appearing on CNN.

I actually admire the president’s record, but if he spends the whole night extolling his own record and it doesn’t take the case to Trump, he will lose this debate and he may lose this election.

Joe Biden was hit by a devastating new poll from Gallup on the day of the debate, showing his approval rating at 37 percent.

That is the lowest level Gallup has recorded for Biden since 2007 – when he was a U.S. Senator, and before he was president or vice president.

In a further blow a stunning 56 percent of Democrats told Gallup they would prefer another candidate to Biden.

There was also a massive 37-point ‘enthusiasm gap’ with only 42 percent of Democrats saying they were pleased with Biden as their nominee, while 79 percent of Republicans were pleased with having Trump as theirs.

Democrat enthusiasm for Biden is significantly less than it was for Hillary Clinton in 2016 when 64 percent were pleased with her as their candidate.

Gallup took its poll between June 3 and June 23, starting shortly after Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial in New York.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

There’s a new rule for this debate, muting microphones for each candidate when it is not their turn to speak.

The conventional thinking is that the new rule is good for Biden, protecting him from being steamrollered by Trump’s heckles.

That’s not how I see it. Biden won their first debate in 2020 largely by standing by as Trump ranted and raved, His best moment was when he spoke for much of the audience by interjecting: ‘Will you shut up man.’

If Trump’s microphone is shut off when it is not his turn to answer a question, there is less chance of him shooting himself in the foot.

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

There is plenty to watch for tonight. But the first telltale sign of who’s on top could come as the two candidates are introduced. Will they shake hands?

Both sides have been debating the best approach. Team Trump is focused on showing that their man has the physical edge over his opponent. So why not have him stride to Biden and grip his hand with presidential intent?

Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and other hardliners don’t like that idea. As he said on his show earlier:

Joe Biden is not the legitimate president of the United States. You should only shake hands with the legitimate president of the United States. He’s not it.

There is a similar feeling in camp Biden. Why legitimize a man who tried to bend the Constitution to hang on to power after losing the 2020 election?

Emily Goodin, senior U.S. political reporter

First Lady Jill Biden reassured top Biden donors that her husband is ready for the debate.

‘Joe’s ready to go. He’s prepared. He’s confident,’ she told them on Thursday afternoon. ‘You know what a great debater he is.’

After her arrival in Atlanta for the first presidential debate, the first lady
stopped by the Biden Victory Fund, National Finance Committee Summer Retreat, which was taking place in the city.

She will watch the debate from a holding room at CNN – no audience is allowed in the auditorium.

President Biden has had a huge ad spending advantage ahead of first general election presidential debate when millions are expected to tune in for the primetime showdown.

Biden has seen nearly $150 million in ad support between Super Tuesday and the first debate night according to tracking by Ad Impact.

At the same time, Trump has seen $36.5 million during that same timeframe.

Biden has had a massive cash advantage over Trump for months leading up to them officially clinching the necessary delegates to be the nominees, but in recent months Trump has seen a fundraising surge that has helped him erase Biden’s cash advantage.

By Nikki Schwab, Senior U.s. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

CNN anchor Chris Wallace answered ‘sure’ when asked by DailyMail.com in the spin room if he’d be open to moderating a future presidential debate.

Wallace famously had to referee the chaotic 2020 Cleveland debate between President Donald Trump and then Democratic nominee Joe Biden that was mired by interruptions and insults.

The longtime Fox News Sunday host repeatedly had to scold Trump and Biden to stop going after each other and answer his questions.

It was the first of two times Trump and Biden met on the debate stage four years ago – as a second debate was cancelled in the aftermath of the Republican contracting COVID-19.

Asked if he was happy he didn’t have to moderate tonight’s affair – CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are handling that task – Wallace answered, ‘No, not particuarly,’ and then laughed.

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia and Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter in Atlanta, Georgia

California Gov. Gavin Newsom told DailyMail.com that suggestions President Joe Biden won’t be the Democratic nominee in 2024 is an effort from the pro-MAGA world to ‘distract’ from real issues.

The Biden surrogate told DailyMail.com ahead of Thursday’s debate in the CNN spin room in Atlanta, Georgia, of the premise that he could be swapped in as the Democratic nominee in November:

It’s a non sequitur. I don’t even understand the context of that. This is a President of the United States running for reelection. He’s our guy.

And that’s part of the diversion tactic of the right – to continue to sort of muddy the waters on all of that and that nonsensical speculation. It’s just like the absurdity of who’s going to get an injection shot. I mean this is farcical.

It’s serious stuff – democracy, freedom, liberty, rights. And to see it trivialized as we’re trivializing it even having these conversations is really distressing to me as an American citizen, not just as a Democrat.

Democratic strategist James Carville was Bill Clinton’s campaign guru in 1992, and famously popularized the prhase ‘It’s the economy, stupid’.

Carville has a suggestion for how Joe biden, 81, should deal with the issue of his age in the debate.

According to Carville, now 79, the president should say:

It’s no doubt that I’ll be 82. By the way, I want to wish my opponent Happy Birthday. He recently made 78!

Carville also told NBC News:

There are certain rules that they always forget. The camera is always f***ing on you. Don’t grimace, don’t wince, don’t shake your head.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are not popular in one of Georgia’s richest suburbs heading into the first presidential debate.

Buckhead, a ritzy neighborhood in north Atlanta, is full of expensive shopping malls and glassy high-rise apartments humming with locals.

Atlanta is set to host the first presidential debate Thursday evening at 9 p.m. ET, but Buckhead residents tell DailyMail.com they don’t care about the event – or the candidates.

‘I hate to say it, but I don’t think I’m on either side,’ Kira told DailyMail.com when asked about who she was backing before the debate. ‘I think they just forgot about the people, and we’re just really struggling out here.’

From Rob Crilly, Chief U.S. Political Correspondent

Senior Biden officials are convinced that the American public has yet to get its head around one simple fact: Donald Trump could return to the White House.

They believe most voters haven’t been paying attention to the election and have yet to register the choice they’ll face in November. And when they do, the ‘don’t knows’ and the RFK Jr supporters will come back to the coalition that won them victory in 2020.

That’s why they were so keen for a June debate, the earliest in history.

So in a sense they already have what they need from the debate: 90 minutes of prime time to remind voters of the chaos and upheaval of the Trump years, and to make clear that he is really, actually, definitely going to be on the ballot in November.

Donald Trump’s motorcade is on its way to CNN for the first presidential debate having arrived earlier in Atlanta.

Tonight marks the first time President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will be in the same room in nearly four years.

DailyMail.com has put together a BINGO card using some of the insults the two candidates have flung at each other in recent weeks on the campaign trail.

Biden has repeatedly said Trump became ‘unhinged’ after losing the 2020 election, while Trump has hinted that he believes Biden will be on ‘cocaine’ during the 90-minute-long showdown.

A free space is reserved for when either candidate makes a gaffe.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both arrived in Atlanta for their crunch debate.

Trump gave a clenched fist sign as he disembarked his plane.

His allies have claimed Biden will be pumped full of performance-enhancing drugs so he can make it through the 90-minute debate.

Biden and Trump enter the night facing fierce political headwinds with both disliked by a majority of Americans, according to polling.

They offer sharply different visions on virtually every issue.

Trump has promised sweeping plans to remake the U.S. government if he returns to the White House.

Biden argues that his opponent would pose an existential threat to the nation’s democracy if he wins.