'Pure comedy': How netizens reacted to Biden’s fumbling show in presidential debate

By Maryam Qarehgozlou

US President Joe Biden's fumbling and shaky performance in the first presidential debate with Republican contender Donald Trump has become a subject of memes and mockery on social media.

As the two presidential hopefuls fight to woo voters ahead of the November election, they traded barbs over abortion, foreign policy, the economy, and immigration during the 90-minute debate on Thursday.

However, a raspy-voiced Biden, who struggled to deliver his lines coherently, stirred panic among Democrats and rekindled talk of his potential replacement.

Biden’s poor performance in the televised debate prompted many to take to social media to roast the incumbent president with a mixture of shock and humor.

“Bruh if y’all not watching Trump embarrass Biden in this debate… y’all missing out on pure comedy,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Biden coughing like Beth in Little Women I’m sure it’s fine,” another user wrote on X after Biden’s raspy voice and cough made his answers barely audible.

A Biden campaign agent was quoted as saying that the president was suffering from a cold. That, however, didn't stop an avalanche of comments ridiculing him.

“I say give them both a Roku remote and the first one to start a movie gets to be president,” a user suggested.

Others felt embarrassed by the 81-year-old president's performance during the first presidential debate.

“Ok if you don’t live in the US, please turn the debate off. This is our private family humiliation, and we’d all prefer you not stare,” wrote a user.

Some social media users shared a meme comparing Biden to Lisa Simpson (a fictional character in the animated television sitcom series The Simpsons) as the aging president appeared to freeze for a few seconds when talking about the economy.

After the debate ended, some people on social media found it hard to believe that Biden and Trump are their only options for the presidency.

“Ummm… these cannot possibly be our only options…,” wrote one user.

Another user said Biden "can’t complete a sentence, Trump can’t say anything that isn’t sprinkled with a lie."

“Biden & Trump can’t be the ONLY 2 options for president. Somebody check the back. America is DOOMED chile,” another user said.

Prominent American author Stephen King also criticized how the debate had been commercialized.

“DEBATE NIGHT IN AMERICA! Sweet Jesus! The networks are packaging this as entertainment, like a boxing match, and selling democracy down the river. It's a shame,” he wrote.

American comedian and satirist Bill Maher said on social media on Friday that “beauty pageant contestants answer questions better” than Biden.

“You know Joe, he famously loves trains but apparently not of thought,” Maher mocked Biden’s frequent pauses and freezes.

“Trump told lie after lie, after lie. He never would have gotten away with that if Joe Biden was there,” said Maher, who had previously been vocal about Biden’s age being a liability against Trump.

‘Gaslighting voters’

After the Democrats’ official account posted on X that Biden was “the winner” of Thursday night’s debate, users took to the comments section and sharply criticized the “embarrassing” post, with some calling out the account for “gaslighting” the voters.

“Did you watch the same debate as I did?” one user wrote.

“Members of your party wanted to jump off of a bridge after Joe’s performance,” another said.

“You guys are seriously gaslighting a lot of people into turning to Trump,” another person wrote.

One user also mocked the Democrats, saying, “Yes, 33 percent is bigger than 67 percent,” referring to a CNN flash poll after the debate which showed that, according to debate watchers, Trump performed better by a margin of 67 percent to 33 percent.

“Your entire party is out of touch with reality,” another wrote. “When CNN calls Biden’s performance abysmal, you know something is wildly wrong with Biden’s performance.”

Prominent Mexican journalist Leon Krauze made similar remarks about Biden’s poor showing, saying he “stumbled, lost his thread,” and was “unable” to expose his rival’s lies.

“Biden opted for a premature debate, at the end of June, because he thought he could dismantle the caricature that Trump has wanted to impose: that of his inability, the idea that he is an old man without the lucidity to govern. The bet has gone really wrong,” Krauze wrote on X.

He added that Democrats have to make a “very difficult decision” to replace their candidate, which he said may be a “mistake” but is “essential” after what happened at the debate.

Biden, Trump bicker over golf

Towards the end of the debate, the two presidential hopefuls began arguing about who is a better golfer.

The boasting and bickering started when they were asked by moderators how they would address voters’ concerns about their fitness to serve out a full term as president, given their age.

The 78-year-old Trump claimed he is in “very good health,” saying he had just won two golf club championships, but added that Biden “can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”

Biden fired back, saying he has brought his Golf Handicap score, a numerical score used to ensure golfers can fairly play other golfers of equal ability, “down to a 6,” which Trump said was a lie.

The bickering shocked viewers, with some reacting on social media.

“These dudes have been calling each other the worst President in history for 80 straight minutes — and neither one of them got really offended until their golf skills were questioned. Hahaha,” wrote Gary Parrish, a sports columnist.

“That’s it folks. Cancel the election. Let’s settle this on the golf course. Winner takes all. The only way to do it,” wrote social media personality Dave Portnoy.

According to an analysis by CredoIQ, of the top 300 TikTok posts reacting to the debate, negative Biden videos garnered more than 50 million views as of 2pm ET on Friday. Negative Trump videos, on the other hand, roughly got 15 million views on the platform.

Preliminary ratings from Nielsen also show that Biden’s social media content that broke through comprised videos of his stumbles or freezes. For Trump, it was his repeated false claims about important policy areas.

To be or not to be in the race

On Friday, at his first rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, following his disastrous debate, Biden gave no indication he would step down, insisting he is capable of beating Trump.

“I can do this job, because, quite frankly, the stakes are too high,” Biden said energetically. “Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation.”

Biden also referred to his stumbling performance, admitting he doesn't debate "as well as I used to.”

The New York Times, quoting people close to the Biden team, said Biden’s family was urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting.

According to the paper, some of the family members privately expressed exasperation at how his staff had prepared him for Thursday night’s event.

Despite the feeble performance, top Democrats did not call for Biden to step down, and on Sunday they ruled out the possibility of replacing him with a younger nominee.

However, other Democrats sound less certain about Biden’s re-election bid.

Representative Jamie Raskin, a prominent Democrat in Congress, said “very honest and serious and rigorous conversations” were taking place within the party.

“Whether he’s the candidate or someone else is the candidate, he’s going to be the keynote speaker at our convention. He will be the figure that we rally around to move forward,” Raskin said.

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