Former President Donald Trump Claims Victory Over Biden at Virginia Rally
Former President Donald Trump continues to spread lies and misinformation, this time claiming a “big victory” over Joe Biden in a recent debate. Despite evidence to the contrary, Trump asserted that no amount of preparation could help Biden defend his record, resorting to personal attacks and falsehoods to bolster his own image.
Trump’s blatant disregard for the truth not only undermines the democratic process but also sets a dangerous precedent for future political discourse. By perpetuating falsehoods and manipulating facts to suit his narrative, Trump is eroding the trust and integrity of the electoral system, posing a significant threat to the foundations of democracy. (Source: [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/27/fact-check-debate-biden-trump))
The Urgent Need for a New Democratic Nominee: Why President Biden Should Step Aside
In a recent debate, President Biden faced off against Donald Trump, a man who has proven himself to be a significant threat to American democracy. Trump’s lies, failures, and chilling plans were on full display, leaving voters questioning his ability to lead the country. Despite Biden’s past accomplishments, it is clear that he is not the right candidate to take on the challenge of defeating Trump in the upcoming election.
Trump’s brazen and repeated lies, as well as his refusal to promise to accept defeat in the election, highlight the danger he poses to democracy. His ambitions have co-opted the Republican Party, leaving the burden on the Democratic Party to put the interests of the nation above the ambitions of a single man. It is crucial for Democrats to acknowledge the truth about Biden’s shortcomings and select a more capable candidate to stand against Trump in November.
Trump’s narcissistic lying is a direct threat to democracy, as it undermines the integrity of elections and erodes public trust in the political system. His refusal to accept defeat and his willingness to harm the American economy and civil liberties for his own gain demonstrate a dangerous disregard for the principles of democracy. (Source: [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/politics/trump-debate-performance-falsehoods.html))
Trump allies sentenced to prison and crimes they’re charged with: A comprehensive list
In a shocking turn of events, a list of Donald Trump’s closest allies have been sentenced to prison for a variety of crimes. These individuals, who were once considered to be some of the most powerful figures in Trump’s inner circle, have now been exposed for their corrupt actions. From campaign finance violations to obstruction of justice, the charges against them paint a damning picture of the culture of deceit that surrounded the former president.
One of the most notable figures on the list is Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, who was convicted of tax and bank fraud. Another key player, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. These are just a few examples of the lies and deception that have plagued Trump’s administration and tarnished the reputation of those who were once considered to be his closest allies.
The pattern of dishonesty and corruption that has emerged from Trump’s inner circle is deeply concerning. His willingness to surround himself with individuals who are willing to break the law in order to protect him is a clear indication of his disregard for the rule of law and the principles of democracy. If left unchecked, Trump’s narcissistic lying poses a serious threat to the foundations of our democratic system. (Source: Axios)
The CNN Presidential Debate was the first time President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off this election season. It was also the first debate between a sitting and former president. In the 90 minute debate, the candidates tackled the economy, immigration, abortion and questions about whether they are fit to serve another term, if elected.
Credit: AP Screenshot from “Debate-watchers in the Biden and Trump camps seem to agree on something: Biden had a bad night”
While Trump’s falsehoods were a key part of the analysis by voters, journalists and pundits, discussion mainly centered around Biden’s poor performance as he struggled throughout the debate.
Who were the two candidates debating in CNN’s presidential debate and what parties do they represent?
What were the main headlines to come out of the debate?
How did the rules of the debate (no live audience, mics cut after candidate responds to official question, etc.)
When is the 2024 presidential election? When is the Republican Convention? Democratic Convention?
Why/How
FOCUS QUESTIONS
Why do you think Biden had such a tough night? Do you think the Democrats should try to replace him at the Democrat Convention (August 19 to 22, 2024) in Chicago? Who makes this decision? Who do you think should make this decision? Learn more here.
Do you think it affects Trump’s support with voters that he continued to tell falsehoods during the debate (see Politifact’s Analysis: Fact-checking the CNN Trump-Biden debate), such as the events that took place in Charlottesville, Va.?
Media literacy:
Do you think the CNN moderators should have fact-checked Trump during the debate? Explain.
Do you think the journalists who discuss politics in particular are more prone to bias than journalists who cover other beats?
What clips did the NewsHour choose to highlight of the debate on their YouTube page?
Alternative:See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?
FOR MORE
What students can do:
Watch more clips from the debate on NewsHour’s YouTube page. Discuss the debate with a friend, classmate or neighbor. What conclusions do you draw?
WATCH: Biden and Trump address their ages and fitness for office | CNN Presidential Debate:
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Young Voters React to Biden and Trump Debate Chaos and What It Means for the Election
In the aftermath of the recent presidential debate, it has become increasingly evident that both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are failing to resonate with young voters. Biden’s lackluster performance has raised concerns about his mental acuity, while Trump’s continued spewing of falsehoods without repercussions is alarming. The debate highlighted the urgent need for a more honest and transparent political discourse that addresses the concerns of the younger generation, who are poised to play a crucial role in the upcoming election.
Despite Biden’s faltering performance, it is essential not to overlook the dangerous lies that Trump continues to propagate. From false claims about abortions to derogatory remarks about immigrants, Trump’s blatant disregard for the truth poses a significant threat to the democratic process. As voters, especially young ones, grapple with the choice between two flawed candidates, it is imperative to hold those in power accountable for their deceitful actions and prioritize the integrity of our electoral system. (Source: [USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/07/02/trump-biden-presidential-debate-lies-threat-democracy/74248100007/))
In conclusion, the deceptive behavior exhibited by Trump during the debate underscores the urgent need for a more honest and ethical political landscape. His narcissistic tendencies and habitual lying not only erode trust in our democratic institutions but also jeopardize the very foundation of our electoral process. As voters, we must demand accountability and transparency from our leaders to ensure a fair and just democracy for all.
President Joe Biden and former president and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN’s studios in Atlanta on June 27.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Over more than an hour and a half of back-and-forth, climate change got just a couple minutes of airtime during a CNN-hosted debate between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump on Thursday.
It was the first time the men had faced each other on the debate stage since October 2020. Both candidates were reportedly eager for the confrontation, with Biden’s team seeking to warn voters about the increased radicalism that Trump is promising to bring to a second term, and Trump keen on digging into his rival’s alleged cognitive decline.
Most of the discourse focused on hot-button issues like immigration and the economy. Biden spoke with a raspy voice and at times tripped over his words, while Trump took many wild discursions and uttered several falsehoods that moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper did little to rein in.
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A little over halfway in, however, Bash asked whether the candidates would do anything as president to address the climate crisis. Neither candidate directly answered the question, but Biden pointed to policies his administration has implemented to encourage the development of clean energy technologies. Trump gave an incoherent nonanswer.
“I want absolutely immaculate clean water and absolutely clean air,” Trump said. “And we had it. We had H2O, we had the best numbers ever, and we were using all forms of energy, everything.” He said his presidency saw “the best environmental numbers ever,” a statistic he said his advisers had given him moments before he walked onto the stage. In truth, Trump rolled back more than 200 environmental policies during his four years in office.
Trump also took credit for pulling the country out of the Paris Agreement — a “ripoff” for the U.S., as he described it. He otherwise used his allotted climate time to talk about his support among police groups and Biden’s border policies, among other unrelated topics.
Biden, for his part, said he enacted “the most extensive climate change legislation in history,” a reference to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which contained $369 billion in clean energy tax credits and funding for climate and energy programs. He also mentioned his administration’s creation of the American Climate Corps — a federal program to put young people to work on landscape restoration, renewable energy deployment, and other green projects — and reiterated the importance of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
In combination with preexisting policies, the Inflation Reduction Act is expected to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 42 percent by 2030, almost within reach of the country’s commitment under the Paris Agreement to halve emissions compared to 2005 values by the end of the decade.
This is in marked contrast to projections about what could happen to the climate under a second Trump term. According to an analysis published in March by Carbon Brief, another Trump administration could add some 4 billion metric tons to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to a second Biden term. This increase could cause $900 billion in additional climate damages globally. The analysis predicted that, if Trump rolled back all of Biden’s key climate policies, the U.S. would be “all but guaranteed” to miss its 2030 climate target.
“Given the scale of U.S. emissions and its influence on the world, this makes the election crucial to hopes of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Carbon Brief said.
Beyond the one question from Bash, the only other climate-related mentions during the debate came from Trump, who blamed the U.S.’s federal deficit on a failure to extract “the liquid gold right under our feet” — oil and gas — and referred to Biden’s climate policies as the “green new scam.” He also used the term “energy independent” to describe the nation on January 6, 2021, the day he told his supporters to launch an insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.
This is in line with some of the former president’s previous messaging about climate change, although it’s hard to parse what he actually believes from his history of erratic, conflicting statements. Sometimes he’s said climate change is a “hoax” orchestrated by China; other times he’s acknowledged its existence but questioned its connection to human activity.
More recently, Trump has downplayed the seriousness of the climate crisis. At a campaign rally in January, he called a youth climate protester “immature” and told her to “go home to mommy.” If elected, he has promised to “drill, baby, drill,” and reverse Biden administration climate policies like the Inflation Reduction Act.
Although expectations have never been particularly high about the prominence of climate change during a presidential debate, climate experts expressed disappointment in the brevity and shallowness of Thursday’s climate discussions. “More time discussing golf than climate. What a world we are living in,” tweeted Jeff Goodell, the author of The Heat Will Kill You First, referring to a bizarre exchange between the two candidates in which Biden challenged Trump to a round of golf.
Other observers shared deeper concerns about Biden’s performance, which included mistakes that his opponent was quick to point out.
He falsely claimed that “all legal scholars” wanted Roe overturned, and that Democrats intend to execute newborns.
Donald Trump at the first presidential debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta on June 27, 2024. (Kyle Mazza / Anadolu via Getty Images)
This analysis was originally published by Mother Jones.
Former President Donald Trump did manage to say one accurate thing about abortion at Thursday night’s CNN presidential debate: He’s responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. “I put three great Supreme Court justices on the Court,” Trump said, “and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has boasted about yanking the constitutional right to abortion from Americans. As I’ve written, he previouslyhas bragged about appointing three of the five Supreme Court justices who overturnedRoe.
But otherwise, Trump lied constantly about the realities of abortionin the U.S. during Thursday’s debate. For example, Trump insisted that “all legal scholars” wanted Roe v. Wade overturned.
As reproductive rights scholar and NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray said when Mother Jones asked her for comment: “Yeah, that’s a lie.”
Can women even be legal scholars? Asking for Brett Kavanaugh.
— Melissa Murray (@ProfMMurray on Threads 🧵) (@ProfMMurray) June 28, 2024
In fact, several legal scholars have noted the overturning of Roe undermines the legitimacy of the court given the blatant disregard for precedent, or stare decisis, that the conservative justices showed in issuing the Dobbs decision.
Legal scholars also filed several amicus briefs in the Dobbs case urging the Court not to overturn Roe.
Trump also falsely claimed that the Supreme Court “just approved the abortion pill,” referring to the recent case FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, brought by anti-abortion extremists, which sought to roll back some rule changes by the FDA that made mifepristone, the first of two pills used in a medication abortion, easier to access. In fact, as my colleague Nina Martin wrote, the Court did not “approve” the pill, but instead ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the case, since it was based on several hypotheticals:
The Alliance [Defending Freedom, a right-wing religious law firm] contended that a patient might be one of the rare people for whom the abortion pill didn’t work as intended, that she might then seek emergency care at a hospital, where she might encounter a provider who might belong to one of the anti-abortion groups in the lawsuit, who might be put in the position of having to perform an emergency procedure to remove the fetus.
This matters because other plaintiffs could try to bring a challenge to mifepristone back to the Supreme Court in the future—and, as some reproductive scholars have written, the conservative justices appeared to signal that they’d be other to hearing other challenges to mifepristone in the future.
Another potential challenge to the pills may be found in the Comstock Act, the 19th-century anti-obscenity law that bars the mailing of “every article or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use.” Trump’s acolytes at Project 2025, a plan of action for his second term devisedby dozens of conservative groups and spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, have explicitly said a conservative Justice Department should marshal the law to criminalize “providers and distributors of [abortion] pills.”
Trump did say tonight that he agreed with the high court’s decision in the mifepristone case, adding, “I will not block it.” But given the role Trump has already played in decimating abortion access nationwide, it’s far more prudent to pay attention to what he does about abortion, not what he says. Abortion rights advocates agree.
When Mother Jones asked Elisa Wells, co-director and co-founder of Plan C, a campaign focused on medication abortion access, if she believed Trump’s pledge not to block mifepristone if reelected, she replied, “I do not find Trump to be credible on any subject.”
Trump claims that he wouldn’t block access to medication abortion—but the lie detector test determined that’s a lie.
Trump and his cronies already have plans to restrict mifepristone, and those plans are laid out in Project 2025. pic.twitter.com/fdpjpF00gT
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) June 28, 2024
Another example was Trump’s claim that he supports “exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.” That’s great. But reporting has suggested that so-called exceptions do not exist in real life. Moreover, many of his supporters would like him to go further and ban all abortions. Jonathan Mitchell, the conservative lawyer behind the Texas abortion ban, told the New York Times in February, “We don’t need a federal ban when we have Comstock on the books.”
Perhaps most egregiously—and preposterously—Trump insisted thatDemocrats “will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth, after birth.”
Let’s break that down. First, federal data shows more than 90 percent of abortions take place in the first trimester. Research has shown that abortions in the third trimester are extremely rare—constituting only one percent of abortions—and they typically only occur when there are major medical concerns regarding the health of the mother or the fetus, or as KFF states, “barriers to care that cause delays in obtaining an abortion.” And regarding his claim that Democrats or physicians kill newborns, that procedure is already outlawed at the federal level.
So Trump spewed a lot of lies about abortion tonight. But, as I’ve written, the facts about what he’s responsible for, thanks to the overturning of Roe—young victims of rape or incestbeing forced to give birth or travel across state lines to access abortion, and women facing life-threatening pregnancy complications due to inability to access abortion, just to name a few—are simple facts, far away from political posturing.
Up next:
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation.For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
Analysis of Post-Debate Reactions and Strategies for Biden and Harris
In the aftermath of the recent Trump-Biden debate, the Democratic party found themselves in a precarious position. Despite calls for Biden to step down due to his poor performance, they quickly realized they were stuck with him and his running mate, Kamala Harris. The strategy moving forward is to downplay Biden’s debate performance, praise Harris, and triple down on labeling Trump as a lying, election-denying, racist Nazi who threatens democracy.
Biden’s history of lies and misleading statements has been well-documented, ranging from falsely claiming to have desegregated movie theaters and restaurants to exaggerating his academic achievements and personal experiences. His tendency to fabricate facts and distort the truth not only erodes trust in his leadership but also poses a threat to the democratic process. By spreading misinformation and sowing doubt in the electoral system, Biden’s narcissistic lying undermines the foundation of democracy and erodes the public’s faith in the political system (source: OC Register).
In a time where transparency and honesty are crucial for a functioning democracy, having a leader who consistently lies and manipulates the truth for personal gain is a dangerous precedent. The unchecked narcissistic lying of individuals in positions of power like Biden not only erodes the credibility of the political system but also sets a dangerous example for future leaders and undermines the very fabric of democracy.
In what felt like a Greek tragedy, Trump didn’t win the first presidential debate of 2024 – but Biden certainly lost it
Fri 28 Jun 2024 04.32 EDT
That sickening thud you heard was jaws hitting the floor. That queasy sound you heard was hearts sinking into boots. That raspy noise you heard was a US president embodying what felt like the last gasp of the ailing republic.
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
The first US presidential debate in Atlanta on Thursday was the night that Democrats went from “Don’t panic!” to “OK, time to panic!” After months of preparation and expectation, they got to the altar and suddenly realised they were marrying the wrong man.
In 90 miserable minutes, Joe Biden achieved two things that had seemed impossible. He lived down to expectations that were already rock bottom. And he managed to make Donald Trump sound almost coherent. Trump did not win the debate but Biden certainly lost it.
There was a suitably funereal silence as the president, wearing blue tie and flag pin, and Trump, wearing red tie and flag pin, entered CNN’s red, white and blue studio. This was the first presidential debate without an audience since John F Kennedy v Richard Nixon in 1960 (those two candidates had a combined age of 90; this time they had a combined age of 159).
Journalists in Atlanta were forced to watch on TV like everyone else. But the mutual animosity and contempt between the men exuded through the screen. It was clear neither was even thinking about shaking the other’s hand.
Democrats had been lulled into a false sense of security by Biden’s high energy performance at the State of the Union address. They expected Superman again. Instead they got Clark Kent in his dotage.
The crisis was clear almost as soon soon as Biden opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse and hard to hear. Clear your throat, man! His team later claimed that he had a cold. Or had he over-prepared?
Early on, he bumbled: “We have 1,000 trillionaires in America – I mean billionaires in America.” Then: “ … making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the – with – with – with the Covid. Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with … ”
His voice trailed away. “Look, if – we finally beat Medicare.”
Trump pounced: “Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.”
Trump is only three years younger, but is a creature of television. When Biden spoke, the former president, hair hovering above his head like a shiny cloud, could be seen frowning, pursing his lips or revving up for a reply. But when Trump spoke, the white-haired Biden stared into the middle distance, his mouth open, looking as feeble and frail as the democracy that now rests on his shoulders.
It was a Greek tragedy because the Biden campaign pushed for this debate, the earliest in history, to “drag Trump into Americans’ living rooms” and wake them up to the threat. They set rules, including muted microphones and no studio audience, that seemed to backfire and work to his opponent’s advantage.
The restrictions helped Trump stay relatively controlled and disciplined, at least by his own epically low standards. He did not constantly interrupt as he did in the first debate in 2020. He did not play to a crowd and get carried away with unhinged stories about sharks.
Not that Trump should be let off the hook. This was an unwatchable debate between an old man who could not finish a sentence and an old man who could not tell the truth. It was Rip Van Winkle versus Pinocchio.
Biden failed to push back on Trump’s lies. But so did CNN’s moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. This gave the impression of Trump’s falsehoods carrying just as much weight as Biden’s facts, especially to viewers who are just tuning in to the election. Expect Democrats to use this argument to deflect attention from their own man’s failings.
More than an hour after the debate, when most people had turned off and gone to bed, CNN factchecker Daniel Dale came on air and said Biden made nine false claims while Trump made 30. Trump’s included some Democratic states wanting people to execute babies after birth; the US currently having the biggest budget deficit ever; Biden getting a lot of money from China; no terrorist attacks during Trump’s presidency; Biden wanting to quadruple taxes; the US providing way more aid to Ukraine than Europe; Nancy Pelosi turning down Trump’s offer of 10,000 national guard troops on January 6; “ridiculous fraud” in the 2020 election; Nato going out of business before he became president; Biden indicting him; his tax cut being the biggest in history.
First impressions – and viral clips – are everything, so voters will forget that, as the debate wore on, Biden gradually became stronger on style and substance. He went for Trump’s character: “The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is this man I’m looking at right now.”
Angry and glowering, Biden insisted: “My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”
And again: “How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public, for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star on the night – and while your wife was pregnant? I mean, what are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat.”
Trump shot back: “I didn’t have sex with a porn star, number one.” An immortal line, never before uttered in a presidential debate. Carve it in marble!
Biden and Trump debated which of them is the worst president in history. And which is the better golfer. Trump boasted: “I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships. To do that, you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. He challenged me to a golf match. He can’t hit a ball 50 years.”
Biden retorted: “Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him. I got my handicap, which, when I was vice-president, down to a six. And by the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?”
Trump: “That’s the biggest lie that he’s a six handicap, of all.”
Biden: “I was eight handicap.”
Trump: “Yeah.”
Biden: “Eight, but I have – you know how many … ”
Trump: “I’ve seen your swing, I know your swing.””
As Bash tried to interject, Trump said: “Let’s not act like children.” Biden shot back: “You are a child.”
Tellingly, once the horror show was over, it was Trump’s surrogates who flooded the “spin zone” at the media centre. Standing on a bright red carpet on what is normally a basketball court, former housing secretary Ben Carson said of Biden: “I really felt sorry for him. He struggled to come up with answers. He was trying to remember the things that they’d told him.”
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said: “I think President Trump was strong and coherent and I think President Biden was weak and confused most most of the time. What started out as a policy debate is turned into a capability debate … It’s pretty hard to believe that President Biden can continue in this job.”
After a while, Biden’s surrogates emerged, including California governor Gavin Newsom and his beaming smile. It is still highly, highly unlikely he will be the Democratic nominee in November. But a little less unlikely than it used to be.
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