From the moment the historic debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump began, viewers instantly reacted to the sound of Biden’s raspy voice and him repeatedly clearing his throat.
Biden’s stance raised alarm even after the president spent a week at Camp David to rest and prepare for the debate.
“I have a bad feeling about how the debate is starting,” Nicholas Kristof wrote on social media. “Trump is talking nonsense on a lot of issues, but he is projecting energy; Biden is more substantial, but with his voice and his manner he is playing into Trump’s narrative that he is too old for this job.”
Pollsters also acknowledged voters’ response to Biden’s voice on stage.
“My group of undecided voters is surprised and concerned by Biden’s voice,” wrote pollster Frank Luntz. “This does not bode well for questions about his health.”
US President Joe Biden looks down as he takes part in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election with former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the CNN studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
CNN journalist Kasie Hunt said Democrats she spoke to were deeply distressed by Biden’s performance.
“The voice, the gape, and the visual contrast between President Biden and former President Trump make the Democrats I’m speaking to almost beside themselves as they watch this debate,” he wrote.
Fox News White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich said the president’s voice sounded “weaker than usual” and that his performance was “overall hampered.”
It seems to me that President Biden is most wrong when he tries to fall back on the talking points that his advisers have drilled into him. When he gets angry and speaks without thinking, he does so most clearly.
Former CNN journalist Chris Cillizza also issued a warning.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate of 2024
President Joe Biden looks at his notes during the first presidential debate of 2024
‘Biden looks old. Hesitant. He just lost his train of thought. His voice is weak. Bad, bad, bad,’ he wrote.
Journalist Yashar Ali said he was not hearing rosy assessments of Biden’s performance from Democrats who normally reflexively defend him.
“I am in multiple group conversations with Democratic operatives, elected officials, staff members and donors,” he wrote. “None of them feel good about Biden’s performance tonight in terms of style, her voice, etc.”
During the first commercial break of the debate, Biden’s team appeared to be attempting damage control as an NBC reporter cited details of the president’s condition.
“Two sources familiar with the situation say ‘President Biden has a cold,'” White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell wrote on social media.
Republicans and Trump’s staff immediately recognized Biden’s weakness in the debate.
‘What’s wrong with Joe Biden’s voice?’ Trump’s national press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, wrote. ‘Hasn’t he been hiding in the woods for a week????’