Joe Klein: “It was worse than disastrous. It was sad, it was humiliating. Biden looked like a hospice patient who got lost on his way to the bathroom. That was probably the biggest thing: He looked and sounded awful. In past debates, Biden maintained eye contact with the camera when Trump spoke; he seemed focused and strong. This time, he rarely made eye contact; he looked down, mouth slack. He gave the impression of a very old man. His voice was weak, his answers garbled and incomprehensible—certainly to anyone who doesn’t spend their life following politics. If he had effective moments, and there might have been a few, they were lost in the overall horror.”
“Trump was Trump. A lying, petulant charlatan. But that won’t make much difference. He didn’t even need to point out how frail Biden seemed—although at one point, he said, ‘I don’t understand what he just said.’ Neither did I, neither did anyone. Trump understood that he didn’t need to ridicule the geezer—indeed, it would have seemed cruel, even for Trump. He just stuck to calling Biden a terrible President; Biden was on the ropes from the first minute, unable to defend himself. Someone should have stopped the fight.”
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