Biden Stalls Out in Particularly Bad Debate Moment

Photo: Andrew Carballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Those hoping that the debate would ease concerns about Joe Biden’s age and energy were left very much disappointed on Thursday night.

The first half-hour of the one-on-one matchup between the president and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, featured a very hoarse Biden providing several garbled responses to the moderators’ questions. In one notable exchange, Biden began to list issues that he wished to tackle in a new term including child care and elder care. But as he continued on, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought in an uncomfortable moment:

After a long pause, Biden ended by saying, “We finally beat Medicare,” as the moderators then turned to Trump.

Seeing an opening, Trump pounced. “He did beat Medicare, he beat it to death,” he said.

Biden’s energy perked up when the debate turned to the subject of abortion, at which point he forcefully declared his support for Roe v. Wade and hit back at Trump’s inaccurate claim that the Democratic Party supports late-term abortions. It remains to be seen if Biden will continue to pick up steam as the night continues.