r/politics • u/wsj The Wall Street Journal • 4d ago

I oversee the WSJ’s Washington bureau. Ask me anything about last night’s debate, where things stand with the 2024 election and what could happen next. AMA-Finished

President Biden’s halting performance during last night’s debate with Donald Trump left the Democratic Party in turmoil. You can watch my video report on the debate and read our coverage on how party officials are now trying to sort through the president’s prospects. 

We want to hear from you. What questions do you have coming out of the debate? 

What questions do you have about the election in general? 

I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Coverage Chief, overseeing our political reporting. Ask me anything.

All stories linked here are free to read.

proof: https://imgur.com/a/hBBD6vt

Edit, 3:00pm ET: I'm wrapping up now, but wanted to say a big thanks to everyone for jumping in and asking so many great questions. Sorry I couldn't answer them all! We'll continue to write about the fallout from the debate as well as all other aspects of this unprecedented election, and I hope you'll keep up with our reporting. Thanks, again.

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u/Universal_Anomaly 4d ago

Do you think it likely that there will be further debates?

I imagine that Biden would look for opportunities to make up for last night's poor showing, but every debate now poses a serious risk as anything other than a very strong performance would further feed into the now very dominant opinion that old age has caught up with him.

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u/wsj The Wall Street Journal 4d ago

No, I don’t think there will be another debate. Trump has no reason to debate Biden, unless Trump stumbles badly or his legal problems force him to need to shake up the race in some way. 

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u/Maladal 4d ago

Didn't they already agree to the second debate in September?

If the GOP believes Biden is weak they'd want to repeat this performance again closer to their election no?

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u/DUNDER_KILL 4d ago

It would stupid of them to do so, because Biden was so bad yesterday it's unlikely he'll be like that again. It would be giving him an opportunity to redeem himself. But I mean I hope they do, you never know what Trump might decide.

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u/Maladal 4d ago

Maybe, but it also gives Biden an easy way to claim Trump is afraid to debate him. And the debates are also a good way to catch the attention of the independent political mayflys who ignore politics for 47 months at a stretch, which is what they're really after.

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u/FusRoGah 4d ago

For Trump to win, he only needs to retain his base and have low turnout overall. He's been leading polls for months and the electoral map favors him. His campaign isn't hinging much on undecideds, who are mostly likely to just stay home in a situation like this.

All else equal, Trump coasts to a win from here, so he has no incentive to risk another debate. Biden could call him out, but it won't stick like the clips from last night. People remember what they see. Hillary did the same thing in 2016 when she bailed on the final primary debate against Bernie at the last minute. She had a narrow lead on him in the upcoming California primary, so why risk a shake up? It's not exactly sporting, but it's effective.

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u/Maladal 4d ago

Retaining his base isn't enough overall, he needs to win back the states that Biden flipped between 2016 and 2020.

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u/Dramatic_Concept1741 4d ago

Lol after this, there's no way Biden could claim that Trump is the one afraid to debate.

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u/One-Mission-1345 4d ago

If Trump refuses to keep their already scheduled debate than its obvious

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u/PurplePaws619 3d ago

I think it would help Trump, the most notable thing Trump did is not bully Biden and let him bury himself. I think the Biden camp thought Trump was going to be very angry on stage because of the trials he has been put through but they weren't prepared for Trump to show up and just do his own thing.

The voters would take Trump refusing another debate as mercy at this point, and honestly it's a bad look for America to have a demented old guy spewing nonsense like that.

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u/Fiftythekid 3d ago

“Unlikely he’ll be like that again”

What in the world makes you think that?

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u/nvrquit 3d ago

Uhh do you know how age works? You don't gain mental faculties back after you've lost them. BIDEN WILL ONLY GET WORSE, JUST LIKE HE HAS OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS! It is time to stop the charade Biden is fine. BIDEN is only as good as his worst day, and I'm sure yesterday wasn't even his worst day yet.

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u/DUNDER_KILL 3d ago

He literally sounded better this morning. How can someone only be as good as his worst day? Also if you apply that logic to the other candidate it's even worse lmao so I'm still camp Biden. Trump's worst days (that we know of) include raping, lying, and other terrible shit.

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u/Brilliant-Diver8138 3d ago

Sundowning. One was a debate at 9:00 PM where he was required to process and respond to information in real-time and the other was a prepared speech read off of a teleprompter in the morning.

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u/nvrquit 3d ago

Stop comparing to Trump. Trump won't win Biden voters, they will instead just stay home. This was Biden's race to lose and showing out like that is feeding right into the rights narrative.

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u/CollapsibleFunWave 3d ago

I find that to be really odd considering Trump tried to outright steal the election with eventual support from his party.

If you want to be sure you'll even have the option to cast a vote that counts in the future, you should vote against Trump.

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u/YummyArtichoke 4d ago

Ya they agreed, but that doesn't mean they have to. If polling in September has Trump up by 5+, why would he debate? He can take any sort of hit from not and still be up.

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u/Maladal 4d ago

That seems like giving too much faith to polling for a candidate that won the 2016 election in defiance of many polls.

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u/palwhan 4d ago

I don’t think that I agree with this logic. They already agreed to a debate, why would Trump want to look weak by withdrawing after Biden shot himself in the foot so badly last night? Much more likely he presses his advantage if he can, and at a debate closer to the timing of the election (this was a very early debate, which could be the one and only saving grace for Dems).

The best moments for Trump weren’t even when he was talking, it was when Biden was and stumbling.

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u/palmerama 3d ago

Please. Trump will want to debate Biden anywhere and anyhow after that. It’s the most effective campaign weapon against Biden - give him enough rope to hang himself. It’s the Biden camp that won’t want him anywhere near a debate stage, staring open mouthed into the abyss.

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u/ActualModerateHusker 4d ago

Trump loves to debate I don't see him turning it down. His ego knows no bounds. Biden would have to be the one to back out

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u/Difficult_Tear5767 4d ago

There's zero reason for Trump to show up for another debate. A;ll he has to do now is sitting back now and watch the mess of DNC that will play out.

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u/ActualModerateHusker 4d ago

if Trump refused to debate again he looks weak. that's one reason. two is he ego. he loves to debate and thinks he is the best at it in the world. ​

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u/DasaniSubmarine 4d ago

How would he look weak after what happened last night?

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u/ActualModerateHusker 4d ago

The debate is already scheduled so he is dropping out of a pre arranged contest he already agreed to. Why? What if ABC still holds the debate with an empty chair and Biden even gets the rules changed so he can have a crowd? gonna give Biden a primetime network TV all channel 90 minute commercial? that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars. ​

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u/bananaboatcapitan 3d ago

It would be blatant, mean spirited bullying if Biden absolutely strokes out in a second debate, which is a coin flip of a chance at this point. Who would even watch it after this? Everyone that hasn't made up their mind isn't going to watch that. They'll give up or vote third party out of spite for allowing this situation. How many people are actually still on the fence now? It's been 7 years, we know what both choices lead to. There's no way that there's a meaningful number of fence sitters out there anymore.

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u/ActualModerateHusker 3d ago

I'd agree. it is mostly turnout now. If Dems were smart they would realize they've got their base locked up and switch to Bernie who polls well with independents and young people. Try to drive some more turnout

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u/Barnyard723 4d ago

He’s definitely skipped the debates before.

2

u/DecorumAficionado 4d ago

Did you even watch the debate? Trump himself said "this shouldn't even be a debate". There's no shot he will agree to another one.

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u/ActualModerateHusker 4d ago

That's not what Trump meant. He was implying Biden was too weak or bad of a president to debate or defend his administration. He wasn't saying he wouldn't debate again over morality concerns

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u/tweakingforjesus 4d ago

Biden was 100% improved at the Waffle House event after the debate. I'm not sure what happened in between.

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u/SewAlone 4d ago

His idiot advisers sent him out there to do what he DOESN'T do best, which is recite things. He's best when he's talking off the cuff. Doesn't help that he was sick.

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u/Ry-Vell 4d ago

I heard people comment on there not being water present at the podiums, and that he might have been dried out and stifling coughing all night. I'm not defending his performance, but that would check out if 10 minutes later he was Joe again.

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u/tweakingforjesus 4d ago

I was looking forward to watching Trump perform the two handed water bottle move again.

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u/Hipz 4d ago

Surely he can ask for a water during commercial brakes though right?

2

u/Ry-Vell 4d ago

You would sure think so.

2

u/MaineEvergreen 4d ago

Water wouldn't have helped him string together coherent sentences, though it may have been easier for people to hear how incoherent they were

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u/whatDoesQezDo 4d ago

Bro the fucking PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES cant put on his big boy pants and ask for some fucking WATER thats peak cope.

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u/Blackndloved2 3d ago

Lmao well said 

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u/OkSecretary1231 4d ago

Cold meds wore off maybe? Should have gotten him the OG Sudafed.

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u/better-a-pig 4d ago

Should have been in a full mech suit.

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u/PeyoteCanada 4d ago

I think Biden was nervous. He'll recover later this year.

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u/Assumption_Dapper 4d ago

How could he have been nervous? The guy has been doing this in Washington for over 50 years. This wasn’t his first rodeo.

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u/PeyoteCanada 4d ago

He actually had a cold. That fucked up him mentally, I was reading.

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u/PeyoteCanada 4d ago

Debates are over. Now it's time for voters to decide.