Takeaways From Biden-Trump Debate As Abortion Policy, Others Take Frontburner

President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump engaged in their long standing debate which was watched by millions around the world.

Donald Trump accused Joe Biden of doing a “poor job” on the US economy and of presiding over a disastrous rise in inflation — reflecting how rising prices and the cost of living have become key issues ahead of November’s presidential election.

“He has not done a good job. He’s done a poor job,” Trump said during CNN’s head-to-head debate with Biden in Atlanta, Georgia.

“And inflation is killing our country. It is absolutely killing us. I gave him a country with essentially no inflation. It was perfect. It was so good, all he had to do is leave it alone. He destroyed it," Trump added.

In response to Trump’s attacks on his record, Biden said Trump had “absolutely decimated” the US economy when he was president.

“There was no inflation when I became president. You know why? The economy was flat on its back,” he said, adding that his administration had helped create “millions” of new jobs, including in minority communities."

Americans have named inflation or the cost of living as “the most important financial problem facing their family,” in each of the last three years, according to a recent poll from the Washington-based firm Gallup.

Perhaps more worryingly for Biden, 46 per cent of adults in the United States said they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence in Trump to do or recommend the right thing for the economy, while just 38 per cent said the same thing about the current president, according to another Gallup poll.

Commenting on the debate, University of Virginia Political Science Prof. Larry Sabato said, “It was an unmitigated disaster.

“This debate is a problem,” added Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer, saying Biden’s supporters “are going to be extremely concerned how this unfolded.”

Trump, at times, looked more authoritative and energetic, although he unleashed a barrage of falsehoods about Biden’s presidency, election fraud, and abortion policy.

Trump and to a lesser degree Biden were unrestrained in making misleading or false statements on a variety of topics, from immigration and crime to the economy.