First 2024 Presidential Debate Recap: Joe Biden Sparks Concerns, Donald Trump Lies

Debate Night Started with Biden and Trump in a Tied Race

Biden and Trump began their first 2024 debate with polling showing them in a statistical dead heat.

At least three polls place the Democrat and Republican in a literal tie nationally, with Trump just barely ahead in swing states. Others — like a recent New York Times/Siena poll — show Trump ahead of Biden by as many as four points among registered voters.

The ramifications of the evening performances will be reflected in post-debate polling soon enough.

The Bidens Have a Long Night Ahead

President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, who was there in support, can’t head home just yet. The first couple is scheduled to drop by a campaign event in Atlanta tonight before going wheels up for North Carolina. They will land in Raleigh just before 2 a.m. local time.

The Bidens are doing a post-debate campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday morning, then continuing on to New York for a series of weekend receptions.

The Debate Is Over

The debate has ended after about 100 minutes. The event left political strategists concerned over President Biden's weak performance, and troubled by former President Trump's repeated lies on the stage.

Trump Asked 3 Times Whether He'll Accept the 2024 Election Results: 'I Shouldn’t Have to Say That'

Toward the end of the debate, Dana Bash asked if Trump would accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if he loses, after all legal challenges have been exhausted.

“I shouldn’t have to say that, but of course I believe that. It’s totally unacceptable," he said, then accusing Biden of getting the world close to WWIII.

“The question was: Will you accept the results of the election, regardless of who wins?” Bash eventually interjected. Trump said that he wanted to continue talking about Biden and Russia.

"President Trump, the question was, 'Will you accept the results of the election regardless of who wins?' "

Trump said that if it's fair and free, then "absolutely." But, he claimed without evidence, the 2020 election wasn't free, reciting a conspiracy theory that has not been supported.

"You can't stand loss," Biden said. "Something snapped in you when you lost last time."

Trump and Biden Talk Golf

In response to a question about his age, Trump said, "I just won two club championships. To do that you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He can't do it. I was willing to take a cognitive test ... I aced 'em."

Saying that he has asked Biden to play with him, Biden replied, "I'm happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag."

Trump then retorted, "I've seen your swing; I know your swing."

Trump Says Biden Might Be Convicted Felon 'as Soon as He Gets Out of Office'

In a remark that some quickly perceived as a threat, Trump suggested that Biden could just as easily become a convicted felon as he did.

"He could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office with all the things he's done," Trump said. "This man is a criminal. You're lucky. You're lucky. I did nothing wrong. We have a system that's rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong."

Biden said that he has done nothing comparable to what Trump has been indicted for, and asserted that presidents are not supposed to threaten retribution.

Biden’s Voice Is Particularly Weak Tonight

Within moments of taking the stage tonight, it was clear that Biden’s voice was especially soft. A source familiar now tells PEOPLE that he is sick with a cold.

Biden to Trump: ‘You Have the Morals of an Alley Cat’

During one particularly tense exchange, Biden laid into Trump over allegations of sexual abuse against women including writer E. Jean Carroll and an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

“You have the morals of an alley cat,” Biden told Trump. “How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public ... for having sex with a porn star while your wife was pregnant...?”

Biden Addresses Trump’s Criminal Charges, Trump Mentions Hunter

About 45 minutes into the debate, Trump's recent felony conviction on 34 charges entered the chat. A New York jury found Trump guilty in May of falsifying business records to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.

“The only person on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said, looking over at Trump.

Trump pivoted, telling Biden that his son, Hunter, is also a convicted felon. Hunter was found guilty of three felony charges related to obtaining and possessing a gun while addicted to a controlled substance.

Trump Deflects Capitol Riot Responsibility: 'On Jan. 6, We Were Respected'

Trump was asked to speak about what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of violent protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Biden's Electoral College victory from being certified.

The former president, who told his supporters to "fight like hell" to take the country back, deflected responsibility, saying, “On Jan. 6, we were respected all over the world. All over the world we were respected. And then [Biden] comes in, and we got laughed at."

The Last Time They Debated

This is the first public, in-person meeting between Biden and Trump since the 2020 presidential debates. During the first debate of that election cycle, even right-wing pundits said that Trump offered a poor performance, repeatedly interrupting Biden throughout and straying from the topics at hand.

Tonight mics are muted, preventing interruptions on both sides and keeping the back and forth in order.

Trump Denies Calling Veterans 'Suckers' and 'Losers'

Trump claimed that he had the highest approval ratings among veterans and Biden has the worst, leading Biden to bring up a 2020 report that Trump privately called fallen soldiers "suckers" and "losers."

Trump asserted that it was a "made-up quote," and suggested that Biden made it up.

"A four-star general on your staff said you said it," Biden responded, referring to former Trump chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general who backed up the claim.

"My son was not a loser. He's not a sucker," Biden continued. "You’re the sucker. You’re the loser." Biden's oldest son, Beau, died in 2015 of brain cancer, which the president has suggested was the result of his exposure to burn pits while serving in the Army in Iraq.

'That's Simply Not True': Biden Slams Trump's Claim About Late-Term Abortions

While discussing the downfall of Roe v. Wade, which Trump has taken credit for, the candidates sparred over the goal of enshrining abortion protections.

Trump said that Biden and Democrats are "willing to rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby."

Biden, who kicked off the debate with a soft voice, grew forceful and said, "That is simply not true ... We are not for late term abortion. Period. Period. Period."

Moments later, as the debate switched to immigration policy, Biden called back to Trump's earlier comment, saying, "When he was president he was separating babies from their mothers ... in cages."

Bobby Kennedy Jr. Is Hosting His Own Event After Failing to Qualify for the Debate

After failing to meet CNN's debate requirement that participants reach at least 15% in four national voter polls, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will host a competing event on Thursday night.

In a statement, Kennedy's campaign called his exclusion from the debate "an act of collusion between two establishment parties," with the candidate saying, "Our last two presidents are restricting voters from choosing anyone other than themselves."

Kennedy's event — dubbed "The Real Debate" — will be moderated by libertarian television personality John Stossel and streamed on X from a studio in Los Angeles with a live audience, the campaign said.

Trump Gets the Final Word Tonight After Losing a Coin Toss

On Friday, June 21, CNN flipped a coin to sort out a few final debate night details. Trump’s campaign chose “heads” and Biden’s campaign chose “tails.” It landed on tails.

As winner of the coin toss, the Biden campaign got to either decide where each candidate will stand, or the order of the closing statements. The campaign said that Biden would like to stand on the right side of the stage, which puts Trump on the left.

Trump’s campaign then got to choose who will deliver the final word on Thursday, and said that Trump would like to speak last.

CNN selected two of its leading political anchors, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, to moderate the first 2024 presidential debate. Tapper, 55, and Bash, 53, co-host the network’s Sunday morning political affairs show, The Situation Room.

Tapper, CNN’s chief Washington correspondent, also anchors The Lead with Jake Tapper on weekdays, and Bash, the network’s chief political correspondent, inherited hosting duties for Inside Politics from her ex-husband John King last year.

Each of them have moderated numerous primary debates for both parties, most recently co-moderating the 2024 Republican primary debate between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis in January.

Tapper famously called the first 2020 presidential debate between Biden and Trump, hosted by Fox News, a “hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck” and “the worst debate I have ever seen.” Bash called the unruly event, which was full of interruptions, a “s---show.”

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger Stumped for Biden in Atlanta This Week

Shortly after former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, crossed the aisle to endorse the Biden-Harris ticket on Wednesday, he appeared in the Georgia State Capitol to explain his decision.

“I tell you what, I am proud to stand up here today as a conservative Republican and endorsing Joe Biden for reelection to the president of the United States,” he said at Wednesday’s news conference, standing alongside former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (the state’s No. 2 Republican until 2023) and ex-Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn (who guarded a Capitol stairwell during the Jan. 6 riot).

Kinzinger was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his 2020 election subversion efforts. In a social media video first announcing his endorsement of Biden on Wednesday, he said that “while I certainly don’t agree with President Biden on everything, and I never thought I’d be endorsing a Democrat for president, I know that he will always protect the very thing that makes America the best country in the world: our democracy.”

Tonight’s Format Will Be a Little Different — Here Are the Debate Rules

The Biden and Trump campaigns agreed to a unique set of terms in May that dictated how CNN will run its 90-minute debate. Here’s what they signed off on:

• There will be no studio audience
• No props or pre-written notes are allowed
• Each candidate gets a pen, a pad of paper and a water bottle
• Microphones will be muted except when it’s a candidate’s turn to speak
• Candidates will appear at uniform podiums
• There will be two commercial breaks, during which the candidates cannot speak to campaign staffers

The Presidents Touched Down in Atlanta This Afternoon

President Biden, who spent the week in Camp David preparing for the debate with a panel of advisers, traveled from Maryland to Georgia on Thursday afternoon, arriving at the Dobbins Air Reserve Base shortly after 3 p.m. local time.

Former President Trump arrived in town later, at the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, just before 5:30 p.m.