Biden tries to reassure voters after a shaky debate performance
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 28 June 2024
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
His performance in the CNN debate on Thursday led many Democrats to panic about his chances of winning reelection. Some commentators who have long supported Biden even called for him to step aside.
NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with NPR Senior White House Correspondent Tamara Keith and Congressional Correspondent Deirdre Walsh about what happens next and whether Biden can quell Democrats' fears.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a pivotal moment between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump |
| 0:06.0 | in their rematch for the nation's highest office. |
| 0:10.0 | Going into Thursday night's CNN presidential debate, President Joe Biden had one critical job, |
| 0:15.6 | reassure his voter base, prove his strength and vitality, and demonstrate he's capable of |
| 0:20.8 | leading the country for four more years. But in just the first 30 |
| 0:25.0 | seconds of the debate... Making sure that we're able to make every single solitary |
| 0:29.2 | person eligible for what I've been able to do with the COVID, excuse me with, |
| 0:37.0 | dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare. |
| 0:47.0 | Throughout the debate, Biden's voice was weak and raspy. |
| 0:50.0 | According to his team, it was due to a cold. He was hard to follow at times. |
| 0:54.4 | Here he is stumbling through an answer about abortion which is a key issue for |
| 0:58.8 | Democrats and a key plank of his re-election campaign. |
| 1:02.0 | I support it Roe v. Wade, which had three |
| 1:05.2 | trimesters. The first time is between the woman and the doctor. Second time is |
| 1:09.9 | between the doctor and an extreme situation. The third time is between the doctor and an extreme situation. |
| 1:13.1 | The third time is between the doctor, |
| 1:15.9 | I mean between the woman. |
| 1:17.5 | Biden's debate performance played into his biggest vulnerability |
| 1:21.1 | and many Democrats' biggest fear that at 81 years old he might just |
| 1:24.9 | be too old for the job. Meanwhile his opponent former President Trump continued to |
| 1:30.2 | feel conspiratorial grievances and spread falsehoods throughout the debate like |
| 1:34.4 | about abortion. He's willing to as we say rip the baby out of the womb in the |
... |
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