Joe Biden Experiences Devastating Freeze-up 12 Minutes Into 2024 Presidential Debate

Twelve minutes into the 2024 presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Biden experienced a significant freeze-up while attempting to answer a question. The debate, moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, started with Trump responding to questions about top earners and corporations paying less federal taxes.

When the floor was handed to Biden, he began his response but quickly followed it with a series of pauses and incomplete thoughts, trailing off many times, the Daily Mail reported. “We would be able to wipe out his debt, we’d be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, childcare, eldercare, making sure that we continue to strengthen our healthcare system.... [pause] making sure that we can make every single solitary person eligible for what I have been able to do with the COVID-19 – excuse me, dealing with everything we have to do with,” Biden said as he struggled to articulate. 

After several moments, the incumbent paused, looked down, and said, “Look, we finally beat Medicare,” before Tapper interjected to move on. Biden's remark was presumably an attempt to highlight his administration’s success in lowering the cost of prescription drugs under Medicare, as per HuffPost. Trump seized the moment to criticize Biden, saying, “That's right, he did beat Medicare, he beat it to death. And he's destroying Medicare.”

The debate saw another stumble from Biden when discussing the number of billionaires in America and the situation at the border, which gave Trump further opportunities to critique the President. “I don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either,” Trump remarked at one point, drawing laughter from his supporters. Despite these early missteps, Biden showed moments of vigor, such as hitting Trump on veterans' issues or the former president's criminal record.

Political analysts were quick to weigh in on Biden’s performance. Biden's former White House communications director, Kate Bedingfield described the debate as disastrous. “It was a disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden,” she said. “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.”

The debate has reignited concerns about Biden's age and mental acuity— issues that have been a point of contention throughout his presidency. Despite being only three years older than Trump, Biden, at 81, has faced more scrutiny regarding his ability to perform the demanding duties of the presidency.

Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of the Cook Political Report, speculated that the chances of Biden agreeing to a second debate in September “are close to zero about now.” The performance has now left Democrats worried about Biden’s ability to effectively counter Trump in future engagements, potentially impacting the overall trajectory of his re-election campaign.