Atlanta

Pres. Joe Biden, Former Pres. Donald Trump faced off in historic Presidential debate

ATLANTA — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump squared off at the historic Presidential debate.

The debate was held at the CNN Studios in Atlanta at 9 p.m. Some rules included mic muting, no notes and a coin flip.


Biden and Trump took the stage to discuss topics such as the economy, inflation, medicare, Roe V. Wade, immigration, foreign policy, and the attack in the US Capitol on Jan.6.

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Trump and Biden went toe to toe and battled it out for 90 minutes. There were a lot of accusations flying from both directions.

Trump said because of illegal immigration, the ‘U.S. is now a rats’ nest.’ Biden accused Trump of ‘having the morals of an alley cat.’

They battled over the topics of abortion, the economy and the wars in Ukraine and Israel.

They argued over Jan. 6 and Trump’s felony convictions.

Trump insisted Biden weaponized the justice department against him and insinuated that Biden could be convicted after he leaves office, something Biden took issue with.

“But he could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office. Joe could be a convicted felon with all the things he’s done,” Trump said.

“The idea that you have the right to seek retribution against any American just because you’re president is wrong. Simply wrong. No president has ever spoken like that before,” Biden said.

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Biden said Trump cuddled up to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has a long history of admiring comments about Putin, including calling Putin’s tactics in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “very savvy.”

Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times during his presidency and had called Kim “a pretty smart cookie.” In 2018, during a brief thaw, Trump said he and Kim exchanged letters and that “we fell in love.”

“He wrote me beautiful letters and they are great letters,” Trump said.

Abortion is one of the most important issues for Democrats in this year’s election. The president was unable to explain Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion.

When asked if he supports some restrictions on abortion Biden said he, “supports Roe v. Wade, which had three trimesters. The first time is between a woman and a doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. A third time is between the doctor, I mean, between the women and the state.”

He added that he thought doctors, not politicians, should make decisions about “women’s health.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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