Biden Acknowledges Poor Debate Performance, Attacks Trump With Newfound Vigor: “One-Man Crime Wave”
After a disastrous debate, President Joe Biden presented a vastly different picture at a campaign rally in North Carolina. On June 28, a day after the debate, he acknowledged his bad performance in the war of words against Republican front-runner Donald Trump. The acknowledgment was then swiftly turned into a political jab against his opponent.
At the debate, the 81-year-old had come across as lethargic, with many Democrats expressing alarm over his raspy, harsh voice. Biden struggled, stuttering, freezing completely at times, and seemed to lose his train of thought, as per The Guardian.
Subsequently, supporters of Biden called on the incumbent to step down in favor of a younger person. The event was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, which hasn't supported a Democrat in a presidential election since Barack Obama in 2008.
"I spent 90 minutes on the stage and debated the guy who has the morals of an alley cat," Biden said to the audience with newfound vigor. His Friday remarks energized the audience despite his occasional coughing. Without holding back, Biden criticized Trump harshly, calling him a “one-man crime wave” and highlighted his legal issues and moral failings.
Biden emphasized, “The only convicted criminal on stage last night was Donald Trump. When I thought about his 34 felony convictions, his sexual assault on a woman in a public place, and his being fined $400 million for business fraud, I thought to myself, Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted felon. Donald Trump is a one-man crime wave.”
The rally chant was reminiscent of the 2016 election when Trump supporters chanted, “Lock her up,” against Hillary Clinton.
Additionally, Biden admitted, “I know I'm not a young man. I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth!” He accepted the criticism he had received and compared Trump's apparent lies with his own honesty. “When you get knocked down, you get back up,” Biden exclaimed, rallying the crowd. “I intend to win this state in November. We win here, we win the election.”
According to a top Biden advisor, the president's concluding statements regarding the debate in Raleigh were drafted in close consultation with the campaign staff on Friday morning, NBC News reported.
The advisor clarified that it was not a reaction to unfavorable press or the mounting demands inside the party for him to think about resigning. Instead, they claimed that Biden was well aware that he failed to deliver the performance that was required of him and hence chose to confront the matter immediately on Friday.
