Both Trump and Biden addressed the issues polling shows are important to Pennsylvanians
While most coverage of the presidential debate has centered around the physical and mental performance of President Biden, both Biden and former President Trump sparred on the issues most important to Pennsylvanians: immigration, the economy, and abortion.
The Economy:
Moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, both of CNN, started off the debate by asking about the economy. When asked how to respond to voters who think they’re worse off economically than they were during the Trump administration, President Biden blamed Trump for mishandling the COVID pandemic and claimed the economy “was in freefall” and “The economy collapsed. There were no jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 15 percent. It was terrible.” The unemployment rate was at less than half that.
Biden further claimed that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Trump’s signature tax law, “rewarded the wealthy” with a $2 trillion tax cut. “He raised the deficit larger than any president has in any one term. He’s the only president other than Herbert Hoover who has lost more jobs than he had when he began, since Herbert Hoover.”
Trump responded “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We got hit with COVID. And when we did, we spent the money necessary so we wouldn’t end up in a Great Depression, the likes of which we had in 1929. By the time we finished – so we did a great job. We got a lot of credit for the economy, a lot of credit for the military, and no wars and so many other things. Everything was rocking good.”
When asked about his plan to impose a 10% tariff on all foreign-made goods coming into the United States, Trump argued the plan will force nations like China “to pay us a lot of money, reduce our deficit tremendously, and give a lot of power for other things.”
Trump also hit Biden on inflation, saying Biden “inherited almost no inflation, and it stayed that way for 14 months” and that it “blew up under his leadership” because his administration “didn’t know what they were doing.”
Immigration:
When Tapper questioned Biden on immigration and border security, asking why voters should trust him to solve the border crisis, Biden fumbled and said the Border Patrol union “endorsed me” before correcting himself “endorsed my position”, referring to bipartisan efforts in the Senate to address the historic number of illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the United States under Biden’s watch.
Biden claimed since his recent actions that restrict how and when illegal immigrants can seek asylum have decreased the number of people entering the United States illegally: “What I’ve done – since I’ve changed the law, what’s happened? I’ve changed it in a way that now you’re in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally. That’s better than when he left office.”
Washington Examiner’s Anna Giaritelli tweeted this was false, that the “40% decrease is since Biden’s June 5 executive action” restricting how and when those crossing into the country illegally can seek asylum.
Trump’s response argued “we had the safest border in the history of our country” and “All [Biden] had to do was leave it. He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylums, terrorists.”
Later during the exchange about immigration, Trump referenced the death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungray at the hands of two illegal immigrants, and claimed the wave of illegal immigrants are “killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen.”
Abortion:
On the topic of abortion, Trump defended not only his Supreme Court nominees, through whom he takes credit for overturning Roe v. Wade, but also said the result of the Dobbs decision meant the issue of abortion then went “back to the states. This is something everybody wanted.”
Pro-life activist Lila Rose criticized Trump on Twitter, arguing abortion policy is not “a decision for the states” and that it’s an “equal protection” argument.
Trump went on to claim that Biden’s vow to restore Roe v. Wade would result in late term abortions up until the day of birth. Biden did not directly address a question by Bash about abortion restrictions, saying “I supported Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. First time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between the doctor and an extreme situation. And a third time is between the doctor – I mean, it’d be between the woman and the state.”
Aftermath:
Much of the immediate coverage of the debate was about the physical and mental performance of President Biden. Biden’s debate performance was so universally panned that Politico has an article on “how Democrats could replace Biden.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s round-up of debate reactions ranged from questions over Biden’s performance to praising him for saying Trump “has the morals of an alley cat.”
The next debate between Biden and Trump is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
