Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has vented his frustration that the US public has been unable to appreciate his “fantastic” success debating President Joe Biden, because media coverage has focused on the latter’s dismal performance.
Thursday's debate, which was moderated by CNN, is widely seen as having been a debacle for the sitting US president. Numerous media outlets have since highlighted concerns about Biden’s age and described his “incoherent” and “fumbling” speaking, noting that the 81-year-old-president was neither able to parry his rival’s attacks nor play his trump cards, such as his stance on abortion. Biden's poor showing reportedly left many Democrats and party donors scrambling to consider a replacement Democratic party nominee for president.
Commenting on the face-off on Saturday, Trump said that on the heels of the debate “anchors, political reporters and all screamed that I had had the greatest debate performance in the long and storied history of Presidential Debates.” “They all said, effectively, 'Trump was fantastic!’” the ex-president wrote on his own network Truth Social.
According to Trump, while initially this theme was “universal” in the media, “by Friday evening it was all about the poor performance of Crooked Joe, and not so much about how well I did.” Still, the ex-president noted that “importantly, the result is the same.”
While Biden has received flak for incoherence and mixing words, Trump also received his share of criticism, with some outlets accusing him of juggling half-truths, statements taken out of context, or outright lies.
A CNN flash poll found that 67% of viewers thought Trump gave the better performance. Meanwhile, according to a CBS News poll conducted after the debate, 72% of Americans say Biden does not have the mental and cognitive health necessary to serve as president, with nearly half of his party saying that he should not be the nominee.