Presidential debate showdown between Biden, Trump was festival of the unprecedented

President Joe Biden hoped that Thursday night’s debate would put to bed concerns that he is mentally and physically unfit for the office of the presidency. Instead, his performance was a cacophony of alarm bells announcing his time is clearly up.

The presidential debate showdown between Biden and Donald Trump was a festival of the unprecedented, from the eerie silence of the crowdless hall, to the game-show style microphone manipulation, to the fact that it is only June.

Let’s be clear on one thing, there are caves deep in the Pacific Ocean that are lower than Biden’s expectations were heading to Atlanta. Basically, if he could look normal, literally just clearly make a case, he’d pass the test and remain secure in the nomination.

He failed that test, and failed it badly.

As question after question was lobbed, and they weren’t exactly difficult, Biden became angry, less clear, his visage like a standing pond, lifeless and void. Even his opponent seemed surprised by Biden’s demeanor and words.

For Trump, the challenge was entirely different. Could he behave? Would the Rube Goldberg rules and the potentially hostile moderators get under his skin? Could he remain, at least his version of presidential and blunt Biden’s attack about his supposed danger to democracy?

In this, Trump largely succeeded.

For his part, Biden, with a faltering and scratchy voice, looked old and feeble from the moment he slowly shuffled to his podium. It didn’t get any better when he tried to blame inflation on Trump in his first convoluted answer on the economy.

At times, he simply looked lost, eyes darting, almost with an air of subtle fear, as if he didn’t know what he was supposed to look at.

Meanwhile, Trump, without a crowd to play to, sounded more like he was on a radio interview, his answers directed back to the moderators. This was on full display when Trump carved apart Biden’s boasts on unemployment, saying the ‘only jobs he created were for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs,’ from COVID.

Watching the blank stares waft across Biden’s face all night, Americans could be forgiven if they were deeply concerned that this is the man sitting in the Oval Office and the Situation Room.