Live updates: Biden vows to stay in race as Trump hails 'big victory' in debate (2024)

Live Reporting (active)

Summary

Joe Biden makes his first public comments since he struggled in the debate on Thursday, directly addressing concerns about his age and saying "when you get knocked down, you get back up"
Democrats have expressed unease at the president's shaky debate performance - with party insiders saying some of his answers triggered panic
Biden's campaign insists the president will not step down as the Democratic candidate and that he will debate Donald Trump again in September
At a campaign rally in Virginia, Trump told the crowd the debate was a "big victory" for him and said he does not think Biden will bow out of the race
During the debate, Trump repeatedly attacked Biden on the economy and his foreign policy record, while Biden took aim at his rival's criminal conviction and alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election
Trump also repeated falsehoods - from abortion, to taxes and the deficit - and at first avoided answering if he would accept the 2024 election result
You can watch the key moments from the debate here

Live Reporting

Edited by Caitlin Wilson and Laura Blasey

Postpublished at 05:34
05:34
Image source, .
Republican senator says Biden looked 'confused'published at 05:26
05:26
Eric Schmitt, a senator from Missouri who was part of the group of allies that met with Donald Trump to talk policy ahead of the debate, said tonight went “better than expected”.
“President Trump is very good on his feet, knows the issues,” he tells the BBC. “I couldn’t have anticipated a better performance.”
Schmidt took aim at Biden’s performance, whom he says looked “confused”.
He adds that while there is a long way now between here in November, he believes the way people view Biden and his old age is not going to change.
As for a second debate, Schmidt says he doesn’t believe the Democrats will “allow it”.
“I really believe Biden’s performance was that bad.”
What happens next?published at 05:19
05:19
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
This is the earliest debate in modern US history, in part because the Biden team wanted it that way. One reason is they wanted to shift focus to Trump earlier in the campaign season, hoping that American voters would be reminded of the chaotic nature of his presidency.
But more people will be talking about Biden’s performance after this debate than the former president’s.
Another reason the Biden team may have wanted an early debate is that it would give their candidate more time to recover from a weak performance.
In the end, this may be what gives them comfort after Thursday night.
You can read more about both candidates' performance here.
What did Trump say about violence in Charlottesville?published at 05:17
05:17
Mike Wendling
US National Digital Reporter
See Also
What time is the first US presidential debate tonight?
Image source, Getty Images
Events which occurred nearly seven years old became a key point of contentiontonight.
In 2017, far-right groups converged on Charlottesville. Theywere ostensibly protesting the removal of a statue of a Confederate general, andheld torches aloft as they chanted anti-Semitic slogans. Protests the followingday descended into violence and led to the murder of a counter-protester.
During this debate, President Biden brought up Donald Trump’sreaction to those events: “He said, ‘I think they're fine people on both sides.’”
Donald Trump hit back, calling the claims “debunked”. And while the “fine people” remark was spoken by Trump, it is also true that he condemnedsome of the people who turned out in Charlottesville.
“I’ve condemned neo-Nazis,” he told reporters at the time. “I’vecondemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis,believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch.”
But there’s no escaping the fact that the Charlottesvilleevent, dubbed “Unite the Right”, was organised by a range of extremist andfringe groups, including white supremacists, fascists and neo-Nazis.
The far-right activists weren't just a few people on the fringes – they were central to the event and the subsequent violence.
Biden takes a more energetic tone at watch partypublished at 05:09
05:09
Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
After the debate, Biden stopped by a nearby hotel where supporters were gathered for a watch party.
He gave brief remarks, repeating a quote from an old John Wayne western movie in which he referred to "a lying, dog-faced pony soldier" while criticising Trump for lying during the debate.
Though Biden appeared halting during his debate performance, he seemed more upbeat at the after party.
"They're going to be fact-checking all the things he said. I can't think of one thing he said that was true," he said of Trump.
"Look, we're going to beat this guy, we need to beat this. I need you, in order to beat him. You're the people I'm running for," he said.
Newsom says he will 'never turn my back on President Biden'published at 05:02
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Image source, Reuters
Amid concerns about the president's performance, Biden allies in the spin room reiterated their support for him as a candidate.
But California Governor Gavin Newsom and Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock also dodged reporters' questions until they were repeatedly pressed to address the topic, prompting a strong response from Newsom.
"I will never turn my back on President Biden," he said. "I've spent a lot of time with him and I know what he's accomplished in the last three and a half years. I know what he's capable of and I know his vision and I have no trepidation."
Warnock agreed: "I would be concerned if the president didn't have a record to run on."
Biden campaign defends president's performance amid Democrat concernspublished at 04:58
04:58
Bernd Debusmann Jr
US Reporter
Quentin Fulks, Joe Biden's Principal Deputy Campaign Manager, has defended the president's performance tonight, dismissing any suggestion that he will step aside.
Speaking to the BBC in Atlanta, Fulks sys that the "president laid out his vision for America" in the debate.
"It was substance, over style," he adds. "Donald Trump shied away from it."
Asked about the possibility of an open convention or another candidate taking Biden's place, Fulks says "we're not going to dignify that with a response".
"President Biden is going to be the democratic nominee, and President Biden is going to win this election," Fulks adds.
Other Democrats, however, have expressed doubts and said they have grown alarmed by Biden's performance.
"This was painful," one Democratic lawmaker told CBS, the BBC's US partner. "But what can we do?"
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro - a Democrat who served under Obama - says that Biden "had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar".
"He seemed unprepared, lost, and not strong enough to parry effectively with Trump, who lies constantly," Castro adds.
Former Biden aide: Not a good debate for Joe Bidenpublished at 04:52
04:52
Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
Kate Bedingfield, President Biden's former White House communications director, called her old boss' debate performance "really disappointing".
"I don't think there's any other way to slice it. His biggest issue was to prove to the American people that he had the energy, the stamina -- and he didn't do that," she said on CNN following the debate.
Bedingfield, Biden's 2020 deputy campaign manager, didn't mince words.
"There are no two ways about it. That was not a good debate for Joe Biden," she added.
CNN pundit says 'very aggressive panic' among some Democrats over Bidenpublished at 04:45
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Image source, Getty Images
Withthe debate over, CNN pundits started to weigh in - and some of their verdicts on Biden’s performance were damning.
Thecable network’s veteran chief national correspondent, John King, said: "this was a game-changing debate in the sensethat right now, as we speak, there is a deep, a wide and a very aggressive panicin the Democratic party.
"It started minutes into the debate andit continues right now. It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials,it involves fundraisers, and they're having conversations about the president'sperformance, which they think was dismal.
“Some of those conversations include 'Should wego to the White House and ask the president to step aside?' Other conversationsare about, 'Should prominent Democrats go public with that call because they feelthis debate was so terrible?'"
He says the tenor of the conversation was "'Ohmy God, oh my God, oh my God,' to 'What do we do about this?'"
CNN senior political commentator DavidAxelrod said Biden beat Trump on substance, but conceded: "There are going to be discussions about whether he [Biden]should continue."
Another pundit,Van Jones, said: “That was painful."
VP Harris: 'Slow start' but a 'strong finish'published at 04:40
04:40
Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
Vice-president Kamala Harris appeared on CNN after the debate to weigh in on the president's performance, arguing that the debate showed a clear contrast on policy.
"Yes, there was a slow start but there was a strong finish," she conceded of Biden's performance on the debate stage.
"People can debate on style points, but ultimately this election and who is the president of the United States has to be about substance and the contrast is clear," she said.
Lara Trump says Stormy Daniels attack was 'below the belt'published at 04:37
04:37
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the debate spin room in Atlanta
Image source, Reuters
Lara Trump, co-chair of the RNC and Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, has just defended the former president from one of Biden's harshest attacks of the night.
“I didn't have sex with a p*rn star, number one," Biden had said, in reference to Trump's alleged sexual encounter with adult film star Stormy Daniels in the mid-2000s. Trump denied the encounter during the debate.
"What else is he going to talk about?" Lara Trump told reporters in the spin room just now.
"I guess his only option is to go below the belt," she says.
A more focused Trumppublished at 04:34
04:34
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Trump largely offered a disciplined, nimble performance. He avoided the kind of interruptions and belligerence that undermined his first debate showing in 2020 and turned the discussion back to attacks on Biden’s record whenever possible.
He repeatedly made assertions that weren't supported by facts as well as outright falsehoods, but Biden largely was unable to corner him on them.
When the topic turned to abortion, for instance, the former president repeatedly shifted attention to what he said was Democratic extremism. He claimed, incorrectly, that Democrats support abortions after babies are born.
But Biden’s attacks in an area where he could have scored points fell flat.
“It’s been a terrible thing, what you’ve done,” Biden said.
Fact check: Trump claims Biden wants to quadruple taxespublished at 04:31
04:31
We just had a look at the context around one of Biden's claims during the debate, now let's look at something Trump said earlier.
Trump had claimed that Biden “wants to raise your taxes by four times... He wants the Trumptax cuts to expire".
President Biden’s most recent US budget, external makes no reference to the quadrupling of taxes.In fact, it proposes tax cuts for families earning less than $400,000 a year,along with increases for higher earners.
Trump introduced sweeping tax cuts in2017, and many of these are due to expire in 2025. Even if these aren’textended, that wouldn’t amount to anything like a four-fold increase inhousehold taxation.
An analysis carried out by the Tax Policy Center, external based on the 2024 Budget concluded thatthe top 1% of earners would see an increase in taxation of 9.7%.
Fact check: Biden claims black unemployment at its lowestpublished at 04:27
04:27
With the debate over, let's take a moment to look back at some of the claims made by the candidates.
At one point tonight, Biden said black unemployment "is the lowest it's been in a long, long time”.
While it is true that the unemployment rate for African Americans reached a record low during one month of the Biden administration, the claim lacks context.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, external, the unemployment rate for black Americans was 4.8% in April 2023 under Biden, a record low at the time.
Since then, it's gone back up, standing at 6.1% in May.
However, the jobless rate for African Americans during the Trump presidency fell to 5.3% in August and September 2019, both of which were also record lows at that point.
Reporters ask California governor if he will replace Bidenpublished at 04:22
04:22
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
The Biden campaign took a few extra minutes to send surrogates into the spin room, giving Trump's team the opportunity to flood the zone with advocates.
When they did show up, the group stuck together and quite literally got backed into a corner as a mob of media surrounded them.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the former president's niece Mary Trump fielded questions about Trump
Several reporters asked Newsom if he would step in to replace Biden as the nominee (at this point in the race, that would be very unlikely).
He ignored those questions and told reporters that he was "old fashioned" because he cared about "substance and facts" and believed Biden provided both.
Congressman Garcia, another relatively young Democrat, launched the most forceful defence of Biden.
He told reporters that Trump: "Lied, lied, and lied, again".
Garcia claimed Trump was misleading about Covid and the pandemic, and said the former president "doubled down" on anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Biden stumbles in testy debatepublished at 04:18
04:18
Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent
Image source, Reuters
Coming into Thursday evening, many Americans had expressed concerns about Joe Biden’s age and fitness for office. To say that this debate did not put those concerns to rest may be one of the greatest understatements of the year.
The president came into the debate with a low bar to clear, and he stumbled. He was flat. He was rambling. He was unclear.
Roughly midway through the debate, the Biden campaign told reporters that the president has been battling a cold - an attempt to explain his raspy voice. That may be so, but it also sounded like an excuse.
Though he landed some blows on Donald Trump, more often than not, Joe Biden was on the ropes.
'A clear win for Trump': political watchers react to debatepublished at 04:07
04:07
Republicans and Democrats who closely watched the debate are sharing their thoughts with our reporters.
Stephanie Murphy, a former Democrat congresswoman, tells the BBC that were moments where Joe Biden did show his age.
“It was difficult to understand him.”
But on the other hand, she says Donald Trump made comments that “weren’t exactly true” and that would require fact-checking. She adds that she had concerns about Trump’s unwillingness to say he would accept the outcome of the election.
She says that overall, the debate highlighted Biden’s old age, while the controlled format helped Trump deliver a more measured performance.
Rodney Davis, a former Republican congressman, tells the BBC the debate was “a clear win for President Trump,” adding that he solidified himself as the clear front-runner.
“Unfortunately for Democrats across America, the format did help President Trump," he says.
Biden surrogates start to appearpublished at 04:02
04:02
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
Here in the spin room, the Biden team has finally sent out some surrogates. Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and California Governor Gavin Newsom are being swarmed by reporters now.
Stick with us, we will bring you their reactions to the debate shortly.
Watch: Debate key momentspublished at 03:59
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Just in case you missed it, let's take a look at some of the video highlights from tonight's debate.
Election question has special significance here in Georgiapublished at 03:58
03:58
Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the debate in Atlanta
Trump was asked - more than once - whether he would accept the results of this election after he repeated election fraud falsehoods in 2020.
A question about Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results has special significance here in Georgia. Trump and his allies are accused of trying to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the state, allegedly going so far as to call the Secretary of State and ask him to "find" the votes necessary to defeat Biden.
In fact, the courthouse where Trump was indicted for allegedly conspiring to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results is just a short drive away from the venue where the debate is being held.
Trump says if the election is "fair" and "legal" then he would "absolutely" accept the results.