If ever there was a moment President Joe Biden needed to come out swinging against his rival Donald Trump, it was at last night’s debate.
Here was a chance for the 81-year-old commander-in-chief to put to rest the widespread view that he is too frail for the world’s toughest job and isn’t fit for a second term in the White House.
But instead of delivering any knockout blows, Mr Biden seemed punch drunk and against the ropes as he gave a dismal performance that will be remembered as a turning point in this year’s presidential election.
Only three years separate Mr Biden and Trump, 78, but the President looked and sounded much older than his heavily made-up opponent, presenting awkward optics and viral memes for Democrats who have spent months claiming Mr Biden is sharp as a tack behind closed doors.
The stiff gait Mr Biden has developed in recent months was obvious as he shuffled on to CNN’s debate stage in Atlanta, looking pale, tired and a bit bewildered. When he delivered his opening remarks, his voice was hoarse and at times barely audible, presumably because of his days of preparation ahead of the debate.
Trump meanwhile appeared energised as he swaggered on to the stage before opening the debate with his signature lines on how Mr Biden is “killing our country”.
After a faltering start, Mr Biden soon began making gaffe after gaffe, appearing to lose his train of thought and frequently struggling with his lifelong stutter.
“The truth is, I'm the only president this … decade that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did,” Mr Biden said early on, glossing over the fact that 13 Marines were killed during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021.
He then asserted that America is home to “one thousand trillionaires” (there aren't any) before correcting himself to say billionaires.
At one point, Mr Biden answered a question on tax policy by saying something about “Covid” and that “we finally beat Medicare.”
“I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either,” Trump said after another statement.
And on abortion rights, one of the most crucial issues for voters in this election, Mr Biden should have been able to hammer Trump, who has boasted of being responsible for ending the federal right to terminate a pregnancy.
But instead of delivering a succinct talking point, Mr Biden went into a confusing explanation about the three trimesters.
Snap polls on US networks found that the vast majority of viewers thought Mr Biden fared worse than Trump. Even Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged that her boss got off to a “slow start” before he ended with a “strong finish”.
While it's true Mr Biden did pick up steam at points during the debate, it will be his slack-jawed look of befuddlement as he listened to Trump's statements that will be remembered by the tens of millions of Americans who tuned in to watch.
Most frustrating for Democrats was that Trump repeatedly handed Mr Biden clearly nonsensical and fallacious statements that anyone seeking the White House should have been able to swat down as absurd.
The former president repeated debunked claims of “fraud” during the 2020 election, said the US was “almost 100 per cent” paying for Nato, said Mr Biden had directed the criminal prosecutions against Trump and falsely claimed the President had spent 10 years calling black people “superpredators”.
Mr Biden personally attacked his rival but, unlike in 2020 when he told a rambling Trump to “shut up”, nothing seemed to stick, even when he accused the “convicted felon” of “having sex with a porn star … while your wife was pregnant”.
As soon as the debate ended, a stream of hand-wringing Democratic pundits said it was time for Mr Biden to step aside to allow for another candidate to come forward, though such talk is unlikely to come to much.
Hillary Clinton, who has previously debated with both Mr Biden and Trump, this week wrote in an op-ed that Trump had set the bar so low for himself that he can claim to have won the debate as long as he doesn’t “literally light himself on fire.”
In the end, it was the Democratic candidate who managed to self-combust.
