The Verdict Is In, And It Couldn’t Be More Clear – By Every Single Standard, President Trump Won Last Night’s Debate
PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS THE CLEAR WINNER OF LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE
- CNN Poll: “A CNN poll of those who watched the debate late Thursday found 67 percent said former President Donald Trump won the debate, compared to 33 percent who said President Joe Biden won.”
- Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the House: “President Trump has been doing an impressive job of going back to President Biden’s enormous weakness on the border and I suspect it will hit home much more than any of President Biden’s attacks”
- Joe Concha, Fox News: “This debate was a blowout for Trump — and it wasn’t even close”
- Laura Ingraham, Fox News: “Trump was terrific. What other GOP politician since Reagan could have beaten them this badly?”
- Ingraham: “Best debate so far Trump has ever done.”
- Jesse Watters, Fox News: “He said ‘illegals are living in luxury buildings and veterans are out on the street.’ Again, he killed them on immigration. Brought immigration into the forefront of almost every answer… That was an effective thing.”
- Shermichael Singleton, CNN: “Trump is winning this debate and should not agree to the second debate. Biden is clearly not up to this and its obvious.”
- Megyn Kelly: “Trump came out calm, cool, collected, in his own. He looked comfortable… He maintained his dignity for the most part, he was in control, and strong for the entire time.”
- Buck Sexton: “I see no meaningful criticism of Trump’s debate performance tonight. He’s been at his peak, turned in his best work, left it all on the field.”
- David Friedman, Former Ambassador to Israel: “Donald Trump always was the better candidate for America, Israel, and the rest of the world. Now, he is the only candidate.”
- Matthew Continetti, American Enterprise Institute: “I have watched every Trump debate since he entered electoral politics in 2015. Thursday night was his best performance.”
- Doug Schoen: “But there is no doubt in anyone’s mind, even the most zealous Biden supporters, that Trump, the vast majority of the time, appeared coherent, cogent and correct.”
- Bill Mitchell, YourVoice America: “I think that was Trump's best debate ever. He was focused, prepared and concise. He seemed large and in charge. Not only was Biden a disaster, but Trump made the case for his own re-election. I have never seen him so even-tempered and presidential.”
- Daniel Baldwin, OANN: “Trump is clear, concise, and definitive thus far. Biden is muddled, coughing, and difficult to understand.”
JOE BIDEN WAS THE CLEAR LOSER OF LAST NIGHT’S DEBATE
- Kamala Harris, Vice President: “Yes, there was a slow start.”
- Kate Beddingfield, Biden’s Former Communications Director: “It was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden."
- Van Jones, CNN: “That was painful. He did not do well at all.”
- Kasie Hunt, CNN: “The voice, open-mouthed look, and visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump all have Democrats I'm talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debate.”
- John King, CNN: “This was a game-changing debate in the sense that right now, as we speak, there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic party.”
- King: “I can tell you it started minutes in. It started with the first couple of answers. And it has continued throughout the night from an ‘oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,’ to ‘what do we do about this’ and it involves very senior people in the Democratic party, including elected officials, saying ‘we have a problem.’”
- Abby Phillip, CNN: “The panic that I am hearing from Democrats is not like anything that I have heard in this campaign so far.”
- Phillip: “Biden solidified the perception among voters, but especially among his base…they are now seeing a president who is in the White House who they do not necessarily believe can do this for another four years.”
- S.E. Cupp, CNN: “This is not going well for Biden. Unless Trump suddenly goes off the rails, this may end up being a disastrous decision by Biden’s campaign.”
- Joy Reid, MSNBC: “The universal reaction was somewhere approaching panic. The people who were texting with me were very concerned about President Biden seeming extremely feeble, seeming extremely weak.”
- Kristen Welker, NBC News: “There is widespread panic among Democrats. I got a number of text messages...one Democratic lawmaker going so far as to say ‘this race is effectively over.’”
- Chuck Todd, NBC News: “Biden looks like the caricature that conservative media has been painting ... you saw it before your eyes.”
- Chris Cillizza: “It’s hard to imagine this debate starting worse for Biden”
- Cillizza: “Biden looks old. Halting. He just lost his train of thought. His voice is weak. Bad bad bad.”
- Cillizza: “Biden would have been better off just refusing to debate Trump. He would have taken some flak for it sure. But it would have been way better than this.”
- Dave Wasserman, Cook Political Report: “This debate making abundantly clear that Biden’s insistence on running for another term - when 66% of voters in our swing state poll believe it’s likely he won’t be able to finish a second term - has gravely jeopardized Dems’ prospects to defeat Trump.”
- Frank Luntz, Pollster: “My focus group of undecided voters is surprised and concerned about Biden’s voice. This doesn’t bode well for questions about his health.”
- Luntz: “After the first commercial break, I asked my focus group of undecided voters how many of them are more convinced to vote for Joe Biden. Zero raised their hands. Half of them say they voted for Biden in 2020.”
- Luntz: “My focus group of undecided voters wants Joe Biden to step aside. They like him and respect him – most voted for him in 2020. But they want him to go. Tonight was a political earthquake.”
- Alyssa Farah Griffin, The View: “Hearing from countless viewers of all political stripes and the consensus is Biden needs to be replaced. It’s worse than I believe most people imagined.”
- Heather Childers, Fox News: “How do you debate someone who rambles and trails off into nothingness? Kudos to Trump for keeping this on track.”
- Guy Benson, Fox News: “Dems & media are now openly conceding Biden cannot do this job for another four years & cannot win the election. There’s no turning back from this. The effort to force the incumbent – for whom millions have voted in primaries – out of the race will be a fever full-court press.”
- Hugh Hewitt: “President @JoeBiden is aging before our eyes. I don’t see how the Democrats can nominate him.”
- Zack Beauchamp, Vox: “I have no idea how Biden's surrogates are going to spin this disaster.”
- Nicholas Kristoff, The New York Times: “Biden seems to me to be doing very poorly, not reassuring doubters but rather raising new doubts about his age.”
- Thomas Friedman, The New York Times: “I watched the Biden-Trump debate alone in a Lisbon hotel room, and it made me weep. I cannot remember a more heartbreaking moment in American presidential campaign politics in my lifetime.”
- Eugene Daniels, Politico: “The nerves from Democrats are FRAYED right now after Biden's rough debate start.”
- Matthew Yglesias, Bloomberg: “All right I will say it: However exactly you characterize the interaction between Biden’s age and his stuttering it is not a good combination for the job of presidential nominee and it would be better to have someone else in that role.”
- Ben Rhodes, Obama communications staffer: “Telling people they didn't see what they saw is not the way to respond to this.”
- Swing State House Democrat: “This was a disaster. Biden’s team needs to convince him to withdraw and have an open convention.”
- Andrew Yang: “Look I debated Joe 7 times in 2020. He’s a different guy in 2024. #swapJoeout”
- Yang: “Guys, the Dems should nominate someone else - before it’s too late.”
- Geraldo Rivera: “Up until tonight, this was the worst moment in a Presidential debate. Biden was way worse.”
- Bill Ackman: “How can anyone in their right mind believe @POTUS Biden can serve another term? It is not even clear he can finish this term. What is his family thinking? Where are his closest friends when he needs their counsel most?”
THIS MORNING’S HEADLINES AGREE: TRUMP WON, BIDEN LOST
- Associated Press: Debate-Watchers In The Biden And Trump Camps Seem To Agree On Something: Biden Had A Bad Night
- Associated Press: Biden’s Debate Performance Spurs Democratic Panic About His Ability To Lead Party Against Trump
- Axios: Biden’s Debate Is A “DEFCON 1” Moment For Democrats
- Business Insider: Biden Was Losing The Debate In The Moments When He Wasn’t Even Talking
- CNN: Biden’s Disastrous Debate Pitches His Reelection Bid Into Crisis
- Deseret News: Democrats Scrambling, Republicans Celebrating As Age, Competency Take Center Stage
- Forbes: Biden Loses Train Of Thought And Corrects Himself Repeatedly In Debate With Trump
- HuffPost: Raspy And Rambling, Joe Biden Fumbles Through Debate With Donald Trump
- Miami Herald: Why Biden’s Debate Performance Could Spell Election Trouble For South Florida Democrats
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ‘Good Luck America’: Biden Debate Performance Leaves Voters In Liberal Madison Lamenting Choice
- Mother Jones: Trump Was The Trump We Know. Biden Was The Biden We Feared.
- NBC News: Alarm And Amusement At Biden’s Performance As World Reacts To Debate With Trump
- NBC News: ‘Babbling’ And ‘Hoarse’: Biden’s Debate Performance Sends Democrats Into A Panic
- New York Post: Biden’s Candidacy In Doubt After Weak, Frozen Debate Performance Against Trump Leaves Dems In ‘Aggressive Panic’
- New York Post: We Just Witnessed The End Of Joe Biden’s Presidency
- Newsweek: ‘Biden Disaster’, ‘Good Night, Joe!’: How World’s Newspapers Reacted
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 5 Takeaways From Biden-Trump Debate: Democrats Deeply Worried After Biden’s Performance
- Politico: Democrats Really Have No Way To Spin This. We Break Down Biden’s Disastrous Debate
- Politico: ‘A Turning Point’: US Allies Wince At Biden Debate Performance
- Politico: Dems Freak Out Over Biden’s Debate Performance: ‘Biden Is Toast’
- Politico: Playbook: Democrats Wake Up To A Nightmare
- Politico Magazine: How Trump Shockingly Thrived With The New Debate Rules
- Reuters: Democrats Scramble To Limit Damage After Biden’s Wobbly Debate Showing Against Trump
- The Economist: Joe Biden’s Horrific Debate Performance Casts His Entire Candidacy Into Doubt
- The Hill: Debate Highlights: Dems In Full Panic Mode After Biden’s Stumbling Performance
- The New York Times: ‘It’s Frightening’: Democratic Voters Worried By Bidens’ Struggles In Debate
- The New York Times: A Fumbling Performance, And A Panicking Party
- The New York Times: Who Won The Debate? Biden Stumbles Left Trump On Top
- The Wall Street Journal: Biden Crashes In First Clash With Trump – And Other Takeaways From The Debate
- The Wall Street Journal: Biden’s Disastrous Night Stands To Alter Course Of The Election
- The Washington Post: Democrats Panic Over Biden’s Debate Performance, Doubt His Future
- The Washington Times: Democrats In Disarray After Biden’s Debate Performance
- Time Magazine: Calls For Biden To Step Aside Are About To Get Deafening
- USA Today: Biden Struggles In First Joust With Trump: 5 Takeaways From The Presidential Debate
- USA Today: ‘Sense Of Shock’: Democrats Melt Down Over Joe Biden’s Debate Disaster
- Washington Examiner: Debate Disaster For Biden
