The News
US President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump faced off in the first televised presidential campaign debate on Thursday, grabbing the attention of international media.
Headlines focused on Biden’s lapses as some international commentators joined growing calls for him to step down as the Democratic candidate.
SIGNALS
Biden’s comments on Ukraine won’t inspire
Foreign policy came up little during the debate, The Kyiv Independent noted. The Ukraine-based newspaper wrote that Russia’s ongoing war in the country garnered scant attention from the candidates on stage — and what was said offered little to people hoping to understand Washington’s policies regarding the conflict. Biden “seems a little confused and lost and [voters] look at that and say ‘we’re going to have four more years of that being the basis of support for Ukraine?’” Kurt Volker, former US Ambassador to NATO, told the outlet. “I think Ukrainians are going to feel very concerned.”
Can Biden be replaced?
In its coverage of the debate, Bulgarian outlet Dnevnik questioned whether Biden — who often stumbled over his words and seemed confused on stage, sparking new fears about his advanced age — could be replaced in the lead up to the election. Ultimately, Dnevnik noted, it is unlikely that a new candidate would be able to step in ahead of November, and opting to replace Biden could be disastrous for the Democrats. “In reality, the party has no alternative candidate and only Biden has the machine to raise funds and money for campaigning, advertising, events, recruiting,” wrote Dnevnik’s co-founder and international correspondent Petar Karaboev.
Debate ‘shattered every illusion’ about Biden’s abilities
Biden’s campaign has argued repeatedly that the Democrat’s age won’t affect his ability to run in the election. But Thursday’s debate “shattered every illusion: Biden was unable to be convincing even on abortion, the key issue of the Democratic election campaign,” Italian outlet Corriere della Sera noted. “Biden’s determination to move forward remains: a proud obstinacy that risks pushing the US into a dead end,” the paper added.
Biden ‘must step down’
The debate was “a game changer” for the Democrats that showed Biden must step down, argued the co-hosts of Britain’s leading political podcast The Rest is Politics. The change that then has to come, said presenter Alastair Campbell, former press secretary to ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is to produce a new Democratic candidate as soon as possible. “They have no choice,” agreed co-host Rory Stewart, a former Conservative Party cabinet member.
