Trump *won* the Debate
Too many false narratives are distracting from the history unfolding in real time
June 27, 2024 is a date that will go down in infamy. It was the earliest ever presidential debate - held before either candidate was even the official nominee of their party. The presumptive nominees were taking a huge gamble by agreeing to a June debate so far in advance of November voting. In essence, they gambled the fate of their respective campaigns.
If Trump appeared as angry, vengeful, or bullying as painted by his enemies, then momentum would cement around his new status as a “felon”. Likewise, if Biden appeared frail, confused, and weak as the majority of voters and even some brave allies warned he had grown, he would lose forever the opportunity to attract enough independent voters. Both men could have won their respective gambles, or both could have lost.
The narrative now neglected is this: President Trump won his gamble decisively, a result arguably more important than the sad spectacle of President Biden losing his gamble completely. I’ve been disappointed in the mainstream coverage which is taking cheap shot after cheap shot against Trump because the enormity of Biden’s disaster overshadowed how well Trump commanded the stage and the facts. I don’t know if anyone in the media will give Trump the credit he deserves because it doesn’t materially affect the outcome: Trump will be re-elected to the White House.
Yet it is worth noting the substance of Trump’s debate because (this is important) even the sharpest Joe Biden would not have withstood it. And the larger point in Trump’s performance is that it will, I believe, elevate his standing against any Democratic nominee. Consider these four arguments that Trump hammered with vigor:
1. The Afghanistan Debacle. The unforgivable way Biden exited America from Afghanistan was so shameful and so inept that he and his administration have nothing to say in its defense. Trump talked about it — and its implications for Biden’s perception of weakness by friend and foe alike — with blunt, repeated, honesty. He didn’t scream. He don’t use poetic adjectives. He just reminded everyone that the downstream consequences of Biden’s Afghanistan are dangerous and have clearly emboldened the world’s dictators in Russia, China, Iran, Latin America. Now, girls in Afghanistan have no rights, American citizens were left behind, and the world is on fire.
DONALD TRUMP: I’ll tell you what happened, he was so bad with Afghanistan, it was such a horrible embarrassment, most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, that when Putin watched that and he saw the incompetence …
2. Inflation. Biden tried to deflect the 20% increase in prices during his time in office to talk about high employment, tried to fib about when inflation started, tried to brag about his policies that fueled overspending (!), and even fibbed that Trump was lying about inflation.
On this topic, there’s no Biden revisionism that will erase peoples searing personal experiences. If a thief stole 20 percent of the money in your bank account, you’d notice. Well, that’s what Biden’s inflation has done in the past three years. Trump, again, had the facts on his side and relentlessly reminded voters that they were better off under his economic leadership.
DONALD TRUMP: “He also said he inherited 9 percent inflation. No, he inherited almost no inflation and it stayed that way for 14 months. And then it blew up under his leadership, because they spent money like a bunch of people that didn’t know what they were doing.”