Biden, Trump have testy debate

US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump shared the stage on Thursday night in the first debate of the 2024 election season.

It was a rematch for Biden and Trump, who faced each other twice in 2020. The presumptive Democratic and Republican party nominees debated for slightly more than 90 minutes in a studio at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta for the first of their two debates.

The candidates didn't shake hands when they were introduced. Throughout their answers to moderators and responses to each other's comments, they attacked one another, with each repeatedly calling the other a "liar'' and Trump at one point calling Biden a "bad Palestinian" when the Israel-Hamas war came up.

While Biden spoke, his voice was clearly hoarse. Biden mostly just stared ahead and listened as Trump spoke and at times had trouble delivering complete thoughts. He had some stumbles early, misstating how many jobs were created on his watch and saying, incongruously, that he "finally beat Medicare''.

At one point after a question on immigration, Trump said about Biden's answers, "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don't think he knows what he said either."

During the debate, Trump tread carefully on the issue of Israel when asked about whether he would support a Palestinian state but criticized Biden for trying to hold Israel back from winning the war against Hamas, saying that the president was now "like a Palestinian''.

Biden proclaimed his support for Israel and laid out his plan for ending the war.

Asked about the war in Ukraine, Trump said that it never would have happened if he had won in 2020. In doing so, he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin respects him.

Biden brought up Trump's recent felony conviction in a New York courtroom, related to a "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, in the context of those who were charged with crimes during the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

"The only person on the stage that is a convicted felon is the man I'm looking at right now," he said. "The idea that those people are patriots? Come on."

When Trump was asked to speak about his 34 felony convictions, he brought up Hunter Biden's felony convictions. "He could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office," Trump said about the president. "This man is a criminal."

The debate was held two weeks before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York. Juries also have found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.

With less than five months before the election on Nov 5, opinion polls show Biden and Trump in a tight race that could come down to a handful of key swing states.

They also have shown concern by voters about their age — especially Biden's — and his capacity to serve as president. Biden is the oldest US president at 81, and Trump, 78, was among the oldest to serve.

Their ages came up near the end of the debate.

"I took two cognitive tests; I aced them," Trump said, when asked about his age. (He did not specify which tests he took.) "I just won two club (golf) championships, not even senior. To do that, you have to be quite smart, and you have to hit the ball a long way."

Biden responded by going after Trump's reported height and weight. "Take a look at what he is. I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him."

aiheping@chinadailyusa.com