PHOENIX (AP) — They passed on a handshake at the start, and from there President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump went right to mixing it up on policy — and each other — in their first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday night.
Personal animosity between the two men was palpable as they argued, sometimes in deeply personal terms, over abortion, the economy, age, the criminal convictions of Trump and Biden’s son Hunter, and even their mettle on the golf course.
Biden arrived with a raspy voice and spoke softly, the result, his campaign said, of a cold. Biden sometimes mumbled, got tongue-tied or lost his train of thought, a performance unlikely to calm anxiety among Democrats and many Americans about the 81-year-old president.
The 78-year-old Trump, as he often does, spoke with force but with plenty of falsehoods.
Some key moments from their 90-minute debate.
Debate gets personal
Trump and Biden went after each other throughout the debate.
Trump twice cited Hunter Biden, who was convicted this month on three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 while he allegedly was addicted to drugs. Trump, who last month became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes, labeled the president’s son a “convicted felon.”
Biden referenced Trump’s own criminal convictions, saying he had had “sex with a porn star” while his wife was pregnant, which Trump denied. Biden also said Trump had been found civilly liable for “molesting a woman in public.”
Biden was referring to actor Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had sex with Trump in 2006, a claim that precipitated a $130,000 hush money payment weeks before the 2016 election, and to writer E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump sexually abused her in a New York department store.
Biden’s claim that Melania Trump was pregnant during Trump’s alleged affair with Daniels was wrong. Barron Trump was born in March 2006. Daniels said she had sex with Trump in July 2006.
“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden charged.
The oldest presumptive nominees in history say they’re still sharp
More than 80 minutes into the debate, Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, were asked about their age and ability to serve well into their 80s.
Biden spotlighted a litany of policy achievements and said Trump is “three years younger and a lot less competent.” Biden also used the answer to slap at Trump for bad-mouthing the United States.
“The idea that we are some kind of failing country? I’ve never heard a president talk like that before,” Biden said.
In his retort, Trump said he was in as good a shape as he was 25 years ago and perhaps “even a little bit lighter.” He said he’s “aced” cognitive tests.
Though the men are not far apart in age, more voters worry that Biden is too old.
About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they are “very concerned” that Biden is too old to be president, according to Gallup data collected in June. Only 18% had the same level of concern about Trump.
Biden mumbles and stumbles
With a hoarse voice, Biden was difficult to hear and understand from his first remarks, and his verbal miscues continued throughout.
Biden lost his train of thought while trying to make a point about tax rates and the number of billionaires in America. He trailed off and looked down before mumbling about COVID-19 and saying something to the effect that “we finally beat Medicare.”
When he tried to come back to finish his point, moderator Jake Tapper cut him off because his time was up.
Trump quickly interjected: “He’s right he did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.”
During a response to a question about abortion, Biden mentioned, seemingly out of nowhere, a young woman who was recently murdered by an immigrant — an apparent reference to a 12-year-old Houston girl who was strangled to death, allegedly by two Venezuelan men who entered the country illegally. The connection to abortion was unclear.
He also stumbled while delivering his prepared closing statement.
Trump pushes Jan. 6 falsehoods, minimizes conduct of those convicted of rioting
Trump lied about his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol, and tried to deflect by pivoting to other issues.
Pressed on his role, he said he encouraged people to act “peacefully and patriotically,” then changed the subject to launch an attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
He said Biden ought to “be ashamed” for the way the Jan. 6 defendants have been handled.
Trump, who has floated the idea of pardons for the rioters, suggested his supporters who stormed the Capitol were actually peaceful and are now being politically persecuted.
In fact, the rioters engaged in hand-to-hand combat with police and used makeshift weapons to attack officers. More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal offenses stemming from the riot, and more than 1,000 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial.
“The only person who’s on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now” Biden said of his rival.
Trump equivocates on accepting election results
Trump was asked three times, but he never directly affirmed that he would accept the election results, no matter who wins.
Several times Trump noted that he would accept the results “if it’s a fair and legal and good election” but he would not give a yes or no answer.
Biden was not buying it, saying, “I doubt whether you’ll accept it; you’re such a whiner.”
Trump did denounce political violence as “totally unacceptable” — even as he minimized the conduct of those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Candidates tangle over who’s extreme on abortion
Biden blamed Trump for eroding abortion rights after the Republican’s three nominees to the Supreme Court voted to reverse Roe v. Wade, which had recognized a nationwide constitutional right to abortion. The reversal has energized many voters who support abortion rights and it helped power Democratic victories in the 2022 midterms and special elections.
“It’s been a terrible thing what you’ve done,” Biden said, turning to his rival. He pledged to restore the law under Roe if given a second term but didn’t say how he’d accomplish that. He said the idea of turning abortion laws back to states “is like saying we’re going to turn civil rights back to the states.”
Trump said his presidency returned the issue of abortion to the people through state laws. He said he supports abortion ban exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, and he repeated his false claim that Biden supports abortion up to and after birth.
“We think the Democrats are the radicals, not the Republicans,” Trump said.
Not even golf was off the table
Between debating the nation’s biggest problems, Biden and Trump also argued about their golf game.
Trump bragged about winning two golf tournaments recently, “and not even senior, two regular club championships.” He said the feat requires a golfer to be “quite smart” and able to hit the ball a long way.
Biden said he’d happily take on Trump in a driving contest, bragging he got his handicap “down to a six” when he was vice president.
“I’m happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag,” Biden said to Trump. “Think you can do it?”
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says real gross domestic product grew 0.2 per cent in July, following essentially no change in June, helped by strength in the retail trade sector.
The agency says the growth came as services-producing industries grew 0.2 per cent for the month.
The retail trade sector was the largest contributor to overall growth in July as it gained one per cent, helped by the motor vehicles and parts dealers subsector which gained 2.8 per cent.
The public sector aggregate, which includes the educational services, health care and social assistance, and public administration sectors, gained 0.3 per cent, while the finance and insurance sector rose 0.5 per cent.
Meanwhile, goods-producing industries gained 0.1 per cent in July as the utilities sector rose 1.3 per cent and the manufacturing sector grew 0.3 per cent.
Statistics Canada’s early estimate for August suggests real GDP for the month was essentially unchanged, as increases in oil and gas extraction and the public sector were offset by decreases in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index closed above 24,000 for the first time Thursday as strength in base metals and other sectors outweighed losses in energy, while U.S. markets also rose and the S&P 500 notched another record as well.
“Another day, another record,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
“The path of least resistance continues to be higher.”
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 127.95 points at 24,033.83.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 260.36 points at 42,175.11. The S&P 500 index was up 23.11 points at 5,745.37, while the Nasdaq composite was up 108.09 points at 18,190.29.
Markets continue to be optimistic about an economic soft landing, said Kourkafas, after the U.S. Federal Reserve last week announced an outsized cut to its key interest rate following months of speculation about when it would start easing policy.
Economic data Thursday added to the story that the U.S. economy remains resilient despite higher rates, said Kourkafas.
The U.S. economy grew at a three-per-cent annual rate in the second quarter, one report said, picking up from the first quarter of the year. Another report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week.
The data shows “the economy remains on strong footing while the Fed is pivoting now in a decisive way towards an easier policy,” said Kourkafas.
The Fed’s decisive move gave investors more reason to believe that a soft landing is still the “base case scenario,” he said, “and likely reduces the downside risks for a recession by having the Fed moving too late or falling behind the curve.”
North of the border, the TSX usually gets a boost from Wall St. strength, said Kourkafas, but on Thursday the index also reflected some optimism of its own as the Bank of Canada has already cut rates three times to address weakening in the economy.
“The Bank of Canada likely now will be emboldened by the Fed,” he said.
“They didn’t want to move too far ahead of the Fed, and now that the Fed moved in a bigger-than-expected way, that provides more room for the Bank of Canada to cut as aggressively as needed to support the economy, given that inflation is within the target range.”
The TSX has also been benefiting from strength in materials after China’s central bank announced several measures meant to support the company’s economy, said Kourkafas.
However, energy stocks dragged on the Canadian index as oil prices fell Thursday following a report that Saudi Arabia was preparing to abandon its unofficial US$100-per-barrel price target for crude as it prepares to increase its output.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.22 cents US compared with 74.28 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was down US$2.02 at US$67.67 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down seven cents at US$2.75 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$10.20 at US$2,694.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 15 cents at US$4.64 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal sector, while U.S. stock markets were also higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was 143.00 points at 24,048.88.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 174.22 points at 42,088.97. The S&P 500 index was up 10.23 points at 5,732.49, while the Nasdaq composite was up 30.02 points at 18,112.23.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.23 cents US compared with 74.28 cents US on Wednesday.
The November crude oil contract was down US$1.68 at US$68.01 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down six cents at US$2.75 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$4.40 at US$2,689.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up 13 cents at US$4.62 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
