US President Joe Biden was left fumbling for words during his first presidential debate against his Republican rival and predecessor Donald Trump. The 81-year-old leader, frequently seen fumbling and freezing during public events, appeared to lose his train of thought while answering a question by a CNN anchor on the economy.
A 30-second video showed the US President failing to make sense as he answered the question. “...making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the with the COVID, excuse me, dealing with everything we have to do with..." the leader paused before making another gaffe by saying, “We finally beat Medicare".
Medicare is a US state health insurance program for people age 65 or older and people with disabilities.
Trump was quick to use the slip-up as an opportunity to hit out at his opponent. “He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death,” he quipped.
The Democrat made yet another mistake while answering a question on voters feeling "worse off" under his presidency
"Unemployment rate rose to 15% [under Trump], it was terrible,” Biden argued. “And so what we had to do is try to put things back together again. That's exactly what we began to do. We created 15,000 new jobs,” he said, instead of “15 million new jobs.”
During the fiery 90-minute debate, the two leaders traded barbs over the economy, democracy, war and the effect of age on their cognitive abilities.
While stopping at a restaurant for a meal after the debate, Biden told reporters he had a sore throat but "I think we did well." His deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris, admitted to CNN that the president had a slow start. "Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish," she said.
A survey by CNN found that 67 per cent of viewers thought Trump had won the debate.