June 28, 2024, reaction and analysis of Biden-Trump’s presidential debate

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest news?or read through the updates below.?

President Joe Biden’s advisers spent part of Friday making calls to ease concerns among some Democratic donors following his shaky debate performance as it prepared for a long-planned fundraising push this weekend.???????????

After a post-debate stop in the battleground state of North Carolina, the president is now in New York City attending a fundraiser with LGBTQ+ supporters. The event is expected to bring in more than $3 million, a source familiar with the matter said. The source noted?it’s the most money raised at the LGBTQ+ Gala, typically an annual event taking place around Pride Month.?

Tickets for the event ranged from $250 to $500,000, according to an invitation seen by CNN.

The president and first lady also are set to attend three fundraisers on Saturday – two in the Hamptons and one in Red Bank, New Jersey.?

The fundraising swing comes on the heels of the campaign saying it raised $14 million around debate day. A campaign official said Thursday marked their most successful grassroots fundraising day since the campaigns launch in April 2020.?

Even before his shaky debate performance, Biden was set to face a key fundraising test at month’s end after raising $85 million between his campaign and joint Democratic fundraising committees. Former President Donald Trump raised $141 million that same month, eroding the financial advantage Biden had for most of the cycle.?

First lady Jill Biden speaks at the grand opening ceremony for the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center on June 28, in New York.

First lady Jill Biden spoke personally about her reaction to President Joe Biden’s debate performance Thursday night, telling a group of supporters at a fundraiser in New York that she reassured her husband.?

Biden has long been one of her husband’s top campaign trail surrogates and fiercest defenders and is expected to continue to use her role in support of the president’s candidacy in the coming months.?

?“What my husband does know how to do is tell the truth,” she said.?“When Joe gets knocked down, Joe gets back up, and that’s what we’re doing today.”

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden leave the stage during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday.

Thursday’s presidential debate on CNN sent shockwaves through Joe Biden’s campaign as the president gave a shaky performance. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s performance gave his campaign and allies a boost of enthusiasm.

The debate was watched by?51.27 million viewers on television, according to?Nielsen data.

As the Biden campaign cleans up, staffers indicated that Biden will still participate in the September debate.

Here are the most notable updates since last night’s debate:

Biden’s high-energy rally: Biden gave a rousing speech before a crowd of supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday,?conceding he’s “not a young man”?but making it clear he has no intention of leaving the 2024 race for the White House. Biden criticized Trump, calling the former president a “threat to our freedom, he’s a threat to our democracy, he’s literally a threat for everything America stands for.” He called Trump a “one-man crime wave” who has “no respect for women or the law” and attacked the former president’s debate showing, repeatedly hitting him?for falsehoods.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday.

Trump’s victory lap: At a campaign rally in Virginia, Trump on Friday took a victory lap, saying it was “a big victory against a man that is really looking to destroy our country.” He added that Biden’s problem is not his age. “He’s grossly incompetent. You know, they keep saying old, I know people that are much older than him that are doing unbelievable things,” Trump said.

Biden allies rally behind him: Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania told his party to “Chill the f**k out.” He wrote on X (not utilizing the asterisks), saying he knows firsthand that “a rough debate is not the sum total of a person and their record.” Democratic leadership also came out in support, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Clinton also spoke in support of Biden. Biden?advisers spent Friday morning calling Democratic members of Congress, donors and other key supporters in hopes of?allaying some of the widespread panic about the debate.

New York Times Editorial: The newspaper’s editorial board?called on Biden to leave the race for the White House. “The president?appeared on Thursday night?as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” the Board wrote. “The greatest public service Mr. Biden can now perform is to announce that he will not continue to run for re-election.” The president’s campaign downplayed the editorial, with one adviser saying “the last time Joe Biden lost the New York Times editorial board’s endorsement, it turned out pretty well for him.”

Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated that President Joe Biden’s debate performance got off to “a slow start,” but said that her running mate is a “profound thinker,” according to a pool report from her Utah fundraiser.?

She compared the administration’s accomplishments to a CVS receipt, saying it “just goes on and on and on.”?

Her comments come as CNN has reported Harris has rushed to Biden’s defense. Campaign staffers watching her interviews audibly cheered her on from Wilmington headquarters Thursday night after the debate.?

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff also spoke at the fundraiser, calling on donors to support President Biden.

People watch the presidential debate during a watch party at Union Pub in Washington, DC, on Thursday.

House Democrats in competitive races and states are currently polling on the impact of President Joe Biden’s debate performance on their races, according to two sources familiar with the Biden campaign and the response on the Hill.

The sources acknowledged that Biden’s performance was a disaster and that members were worried about the down ballot impact.

A second source said the campaign is circling the wagons but down-ballot Democrats are worried the debate will hurt close races.?

“This f**king sucks,” one source?said. “He (Biden) can survive this, but just this.”?

After the State of the Union during which Biden far exceeded expectations, both sources said they were shocked at the debate.

Both sources acknowledged that discussions were going on about whether Biden should step aside, and admitted they were surprised “the dam had held” among Democrats on Capitol Hill.?

The results of the polling are expected early next week and, depending on the numbers, will be shared with the Biden campaign.?

“If the data reveals the House is slipping away” leadership will talk to the White House, said one source.?

“Not everyone is handwringing,” added the source, but “we do need to know how it may hurt Democrats attempt to win back the House.”

President Joe Biden’s campaign is hitting back at the New York Times Editorial Board’s call for the president to leave the 2024 race following his debate performance.

The Times?had endorsed?two Democratic presidential candidates in 2020: Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren.??

Remember: The editorial board?said?Friday that Biden “is not the man he was four years ago” and criticized his rationale for running, saying it was a “reckless gamble.”

Former President Donald Trump on Friday praised the decision by the US Supreme Court to limit the power of prosecutors to pursue obstruction charges against those who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, which narrowed a law that could have tacked years onto the sentences of hundreds of defendants.

Trump again called for the release of those jailed in connection to the insurrection.?

Some context: The Supreme Court?ruled?Friday that the Justice Department overstepped?by bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of people who?rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, prompting at least some of those?cases to be reopened. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority.

Read?the court’s full decision.

The Pacific Ocean and coastline are seen in Ventura, California, in 2022.

The day after their CNN presidential debate, former President Donald Trump cited a wildly inaccurate figure about sea levels to mock President Joe Biden’s debate?claim?that?“the only existential threat to humanity is climate change.”

Trump?said?at a Friday rally in Virginia that “global warming is fine,” rejecting the view of the overwhelming majority of scientists.

And he said of Biden: “He said it again last night, that global warming is an existential threat. And I say that the thing that’s an existential threat is not global warming, where the ocean will rise – maybe, it may go down, also – but it may rise one eighth of an inch in the next 497 years, they say. One eighth.” He added what appeared to be a joke: “Which gives you a little bit more waterfront property if you’re lucky?enough though.”

Facts?First:?Trump’s?claim about the expected pace of?sea level?rise is?not even close to correct. The global average?sea level?is?currently risi?ng?more?per year?than Trump claimed that people?say it will rise “in the next 497 years.”

NASA?reported?in March that the current global average?sea level?rise in 2023 was 0.17 inches?per year, more than double the rate in 1993. And a World Meteorological Organization?report this?year?said the rate of?sea level?rise between 2014 and 2023 was?about 0.19 inches?per year.

In other words,?sea level?rise is?already more than an eighth of an inch annually – and it is?accelerating. NASA?found?a jump of 0.3 inches?between 2022 and 2023.

Gary Griggs, a University of California,?Santa Cruz professor of earth and planetary?sciences?who?studies?sea level?rise,?said?last year that Trump’s?similar claims?“can only be described as?totally out of touch with reality” and that Trump “has?no idea what he is?talking about.”

Sea levels?rise by different amounts?in?different locations. For the US,?sea levels?are?expected to rise particularly fast?for the east coast and Gulf of Mexico coast – and Trump’s?state of Florida, which is?bordered by both of those coasts, is?expected to be?affected more?severely?than many other coastal?states.

In fact, Trump’s?claims?about?sea levels?are highly inaccurate for the area near Mar-a-Lago, which is?on the Atlantic. Griggs?noted in a June email that?data?from the closest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tide gauge to Mar-a-Lago?shows?an increase of an eighth of an inch?roughly?every?nine months.

Trump has?made similar claims?since his last presidential campaign - sometimes saying the estimate is an eighth of an inch increase over 200, 250, 300 or 400 years.

Trump has also?previously?made the joke about rising seas creating more waterfront property.?In reality, rising sea levels are expected to have devastating consequences not only for many seafront properties but for areas further inland –?rendering some communities uninhabitable?and others more dangerous, increasing the frequency and reach of?flooding, making hurricanes?more destructive, and damaging?infrastructure?and ecosystems.

President Joe Biden debates with former President Donald Trump at CNN's Atlanta studios on Thursday night.

The New York Times Editorial Board?is calling?on President Joe Biden to leave the race for the White House after his performance at CNN’s presidential debate.

“The president?appeared on Thursday night?as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump’s provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence,” the Board wrote.

There are Democratic leaders who would make for a “compelling and energetic” alternative to Trump, the Board stated.

“There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr. Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr. Biden. It’s too big a bet to simply hope Americans will overlook or discount Mr. Biden’s age and infirmity that they see with their own eyes,” the Times also said.

The Board goes on to say it would still Biden support as its “unequivocal pick” if the choice remains between him and former President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Friday.

Former President Donald Trump on Friday said he didn’t think President Joe Biden would exit the presidential race after his shaky debate performance and bashed California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris as potential replacements.?

He described Newsom as “one of the worst” governors.

“And of course, Kamala is somebody that will be on the scope. It might’ve been Joe Biden’s single best decision, putting her as vice president. Might’ve been his best, because nobody wants that. I do, I’d be very happy with that,” Trump said.

As voters absorb the CNN debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, some are considering the vice presidential role more heavily this election cycle – given the ages of both candidates.

Biden is 81 while Trump turned 78 earlier this month.?

Trump has yet to select a running mate, though he signaled last weekend he’s made up his mind.?

Alissa Baker, who was part of Nikki Haley’s Virginia leadership team, said she would love to see the former South Caroline governor as Trump’s VP. The shortlist candidates don’t really “move the needle” for her right now, but she mentioned Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin as a selection she would support.

Donny Crummet, a conservative from Massachusetts, said the vice president role is fairly important, but won’t determine his vote.?

“Whoever (Trump) picks, it has to be someone strong, but I don’t necessarily think it’s like an overriding issue on whether it’s going to get my vote one way or the other,” he added.?

Crummet said he wants to see Ramaswamy as his running mate, though CNN previously reported he is not in contention for the role but rather for a potential cabinet position.

?After the debate, Baker said a “trust factor” has been diminished with the Biden campaign who have been insisting on the president’s strength.?

?“We see with our own eyes, and it’s like you’re kind of gaslighting us,” Baker said.?

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks at a press conference in Laveen Village, Arizona, on Friday.

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake on Friday said last night’s debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump showed that Biden is “not equipped to run this country.”

Lake said she believes the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and majority of the Cabinet to remove the president, should be considered.

“I think they should look into that,” she said, adding later that “as a citizen, I’m concerned about our country with somebody who is in that level of cognitive decline running the show, if indeed he is running the show.”

Donald Trump used to tell his fans that?he’d win so much,?they’d get tired of winning.

This week, that might be true?for once.

President Joe Biden’s incoherent and painful debate?performance in Atlanta on Thursday night gave Trump a massive victory in the most pivotal moment of the 2024 White House campaign so far as he seeks to win a non-consecutive second term and pull off a stunning political comeback.

Hours later, a US Supreme Court ruling that the Justice Department overstepped in charging January 6 Capitol rioters handed the presumptive Republican nominee what he immediately hailed on social media as a “BIG WIN.” The 6-3 decision was a symbolic victory for the ex-president the day after he used the debate to try to whitewash the?worst attack on democracy in modern times.

There could also be legal ramifications with some scholars arguing the ruling could narrow the scope of Trump’s federal election interference trial, even if special counsel Jack Smith believes his case can proceed unaffected. The ex-president’s lawyers are already signaling they will seek to get evidence tossed and obstruction counts against the ex-president dismissed.

The court released its decision ahead of an even more critical case that will bear more directly on Trump’s criminal entanglements. On Monday, justices are expected to finally rule on his expansive claim of immunity for acts committed while president. If the long-awaited ruling by the conservative-majority court mandates new litigation in a lower court, it could have the effect of pushing Smith’s election interference trial well beyond November’s election even if it does not immediately curtail aspects of the special counsel’s prosecution.

Read more analysis of Trump’s winning week

President Joe Biden and Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand attend an event at Stonewall Inn in New York on Friday.

President Joe Biden received a notable show of support from two top New York lawmakers Friday after what some Democrats described as a disastrous debate showing.

Speaking at an event at Stonewall Inn commemorating Pride Month and the role of the site in the gay rights movement, Biden recognized New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, whom he ran against in the 2020 Democratic primary. Biden asked where both were and called them up to the podium, giving each a hug.

Biden otherwise did not address the debate as he heralded the role of LGBTQ+ Americans.

Stonewall Inn, he said, “remains a symbol of the legacy and leadership of the LGBT community – especially trans women of color.”

Biden said he was “proud” to unveil “the first-ever LGBTQ+ visitor center at a national park in America.”?

Biden recalled his own experience watching two men kiss when he was a young man: His father told him, “It’s simple Joey, they love each other,” he said.

“Today, let’s proudly remember who we are: we’re the United States of America,” he said, adding, “Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter their background.”

Biden told the crowd that he wanted “to say a hell of a lot more, but I’m not going to,”?going on to introduce “dear friend” Elton John.

Biden said his family “loves (John’s) iconic music” and heralded the “sheer willpower” with which he helped lead the fight against HIV/AIDS.

President Joe Biden’s dismal showing at the CNN presidential debate against former President Donald Trump resonated around the world, with foreign diplomats expressing shock and concern while raising questions about the?implications for?a consequential?US election?that could upend the foreign policy status-quo should Trump be reelected.

“Hard to watch,” is how multiple foreign diplomats described the debate between Biden and Trump on Thursday night.

The overwhelming sentiment among more than half a dozen diplomats from Europe, the Middle East and Asia?that CNN spoke to?was that it was “a bad night for Biden,” as one European diplomat explained.

“Trump ate him alive,” said an Arab diplomat.

“I was shell-shocked. I could not believe my eyes,” an Asian diplomat said of Biden’s performance.

Biden’s debate flop was front page news across Europe, with newspapers left- and right-leaning excoriating the president – even in France, where the country has its own elections coming up this weekend.

Former President Donald Trump arrives to a rally at Greenbrier Farms on June 28 in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Former President Donald Trump on Friday took a victory lap at a Virginia campaign rally following Thursday night’s CNN presidential debate.

Trump added, “Despite the fact that crooked Joe Biden spent the entire week at Camp David resting, working, studying; he studied very hard, he studied so hard that he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.”

Trump, who is only three years younger than Biden, continued arguing that Biden is not too old to be president and instead said he was “incompetent.”?

“Joe Biden’s problem is not his age; it’s not his anything really, he’s got no problem other than it’s his competence, he’s grossly incompetent. You know, they keep saying old, I know people that are much older than him that are doing unbelievable things,” Trump said.

Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged President Joe Biden’s debate performance last night “was not his best” as she outlined three contrasts between him and Donald Trump while courting Latino voters during her first post-debate campaign stop in Nevada.

“Last night, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump had their first debate, and earlier today the president said himself it was not his best performance. But there are three things that were true yesterday before the debate that are still true today. Let’s level set on this,” Harris said to a crowd in Las Vegas.

Harris blasted Trump for what she referred to as a “nonstop stream of lies” during his debate performance, pointing to some of the more than 30 false claims he made last night. And she reminded voters that Biden narrowly won the battleground state in 2020.

“Let’s not forget he beat Donald Trump once, and in Nevada with your help. We’re going to do it again,” Harris said.

Harris highlighted the stakes for Latinos in the upcoming election, emphasizing issues such as women’s reproductive rights, the economy and upholding democracy.?During her roughly 12-minute remarks, she urged Nevadans to vote in November, emphasizing the weight they hold in the election.

President Joe Biden’s campaign on Friday conceded he “didn’t have the best night” on the debate stage, but an official said the campaign is committed to move past his lackluster performance.

Tyler said the campaign has held “no conversations whatsoever” about Biden dropping from the race. He said Biden is committed to appear in a second debate with Trump on September 10.

Tyler added that the 11 p.m. hour on Thursday was “our most successful grassroots fundraising hour of the entirety of the campaign.” Tyler did not provide a dollar amount.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden had a cold and sore throat Thursday night.

The Biden campaign will hold an all-staff meeting Friday afternoon on the heels of President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, two Biden campaign officials told CNN — part of what they say is a routine pattern of Friday meetings.?

Still, the meeting comes at a critical moment for the president and his team as he seeks to chart a path forward following the debate and his energized delivery on Friday in North Carolina.?

For his part, Biden is on his way to New York, where he will attend an event at Stonewall Inn, a historic site for the gay rights movement. He also will attend a series of campaign fundraisers on Friday and Saturday, which come as he will need to reassure donors he is up to the task.?

President Joe Biden listens as former President Barack Obama speaks onstage during a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15.

Former President Barack Obama is weighing in on President Joe Biden’s debate performance last night.

“But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November,” Obama concludes, including a link to Biden’s campaign website.

Some context: The former president described his first debate during his reelection campaign “a stinker.” Flat, convoluted and passive, Obama’s turn at the podium in Denver in 2012 was calamitous enough that aides backstage appeared paralyzed before emerging reluctantly to face reporters in the spin room. But he still won reelection.

President Joe Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina.?

President Joe Biden gave a rousing speech before a crowd of supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, conceding he’s “not a young man” but making it clear he has no intention of leaving the 2024 race for the White House.

“I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,”?Biden said, smiling as the crowd cheered. “But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth.”

The president said he had given his word “as a Biden that I wouldn’t run again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I could do this job.”

“Yes you can!” the crowd chanted.?

Biden came out forcefully against Trump, calling the former president a “genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom, he’s a threat to our democracy, he’s literally a threat for everything America stands for.”

He called Trump a “one-man crime wave” who has “no respect for women or the law” and attacked the former president’s debate showing, repeatedly hitting him for falsehoods.

?CNN’s Michael Williams contributed to this post.

Several House Democrats attacked former President Donald Trump’s answers on the debate stage last night, as they were pressed on how President Joe Biden’s performance could impact House races down ticket.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill: The New Jersey swing district representative acknowledged, “it was a rough night,” but focused on Trump’s answers.?“I think what really stood out to me was the fact that Trump denied three times that he would accept the results of a democratic election, said he’s proud of overturning Roe, and that he is proud of insurrectionists. That’s a man who will not stand up for democracy.”

Rep. Debbie Dingell: The Michigan representative insisted that the president’s performance will not hurt Democrats’ chances of taking back the House in November. “I win my district based on me. I’m out there, I worked my district, I helped deliver my district for other candidates too,” she said. “No, one night is not going to cost us the House. Our candidates are going to go out there and work, show what they stand for, what they’re going to fight for and what they’re going to deliver for the American people.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks: The top Democrat on House Foreign Affairs acknowledged that it was a difficult night for Biden and said that the president should “go before the American people, have town hall meetings” to prove he’s capable of doing the job. Meeks expressed confidence that Biden is fit for office because he has seen him do it. “I’ve watched him deal with world leaders, talking about all the crises that we’ve been dealing with and working and going back and forth with them.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson: The top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee agreed with Meeks. “Obviously, he needs to take his message to the public. I think his strategy should be continue to engage,” said Thompson, though he would not say if Biden should participate in a second debate. “That’s his decision,” replied the Mississippi Democrat.

Rep. Ro Khanna: When asked if he would be open to another nominee, the California Democrat said,?“In this country, you become the nominee by winning votes and he won the votes of the Democratic primary electorate, so it is his and Jill Biden’s decision to run and he has earned the votes. No one else can overturn that.”

##Reactions##?

CNN’s Thursday night debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was watched by?51.27 million viewers on television, according to?Nielsen data.

The 90-minute debate, which?sent shockwaves?through the political world, was simulcast across 22 networks. CNN, which hosted the debate from its Atlanta studios, offered a live feed of the telecast to any network free of charge but with strict conditions over its presentation and branding.?

Debate viewership had slowly climbed back up since its record low in 1996 when it plummeted in the race between incumbent Bill Clinton and challenger Bob Dole.

In 2016, a?record-setting?84 million viewers watched candidates Hillary Clinton and Trump’s first debate. That broke the former record of 80.6 million viewers set in 1980 when Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan faced off only a week before the general election.

The Nielsen ratings?only?include American viewers who watched debates on their television sets, not those who stream debates on their phones or watch with another method.

CNN said the event generated more than 30 million views on its digital properties and on YouTube.

This post was updated with the official figures from Nielsen and more historical background on the ratings for presidential debates.

The phone of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Yale professor known as the “CEO whisperer,” has been buzzing with business leaders alarmed by President Joe Biden’s debate performance.

“Last night, I heard from scores of CEOs. And they used terms like ‘alarm,’ ‘nausea’ and ‘fear,’” Sonnenfeld told CNN in a phone interview on Friday.

Sonnenfeld, president and founder of Yale’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute — who recently?noted that not one Fortune 100 CEO has donated to Trump?so far this year — said that many of the business leaders he heard from were “reluctant” Biden supporters heading into the debate.

Sonnenfeld estimated that slightly more than half of the CEOs he spoke to believe it’s “time to change horses” and that Biden should be replaced as the Democratic nominee.

Few business leaders want to discuss this publicly. Representatives for multiple business leaders that CNN reached out to on Friday declined to weigh in on the debate.

“The business community is reluctant to take a public position and look like they are oligarchs anointing leaders,” Sonnenfeld said.

Young voters could help shape the 2024 election.

If you’re a younger voter,?CNN wants to hear your thoughts on what?issues are?driving you to the polls and what you care about ahead of the election

Share your experiences with us in the form below and we may follow up for a CNN story:

At President Joe Biden’s first post-debate rally, enthusiasm is high. The crowd is larger and louder than just about any other Biden event this cycle.

There are chants of “Let’s go Joe!”?The crowd cheered and seemed engaged with each speaker of the pre-program. The event took on a concert vibe when rapper E-40 came out, with the crowd dancing, singing and bobbing along. Rapper Fat Joe was greeted with screams when he told the crowd to make some noise if they loved hip-hop, and left it to the audience to sing his famous chorus: “Lean Back.”

It’s almost like last night’s presidential debate didn’t happen.

One attendee, Shanna Ratashak, says she didn’t watch Thursday’s debate, which has been widely panned and dubbed disastrous by even some staunch Biden supporters.

Another attendee, Hector Rayes, admitted that Biden “needed to be more assertive” but that he was “much stronger in the second half.”

Janie Pannill says she is voting for Biden in her first presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on June 7, in Landover, Maryland.

In the minutes after Thursday’s debate, and as devastating reviews over President Joe Biden poured in, Vice President Kamala Harris knew she had to go to bat and strike a balance between sounding reasonable about the president’s performance while also hammering home the contrast between the two candidates, two sources told CNN.?

Moments after the debate, Harris joined an organizing call, checked in with campaign officials on a brief call, and then participated in previously scheduled interviews.?

And on Friday, Harris made phone calls to check in with Democratic officials, trying to reassure them, remind them of Biden’s record and agenda, and appeal for them to remain united, according to another source.?

Biden’s lackluster debate performance carries real consequences for Harris — both as someone riding on his ticket and as someone who hasn’t generally been floated as the heir apparent amid panic among Democrats.?

Heading into her Thursday night interviews, one of those sources said, Harris was focused on pointing out falsehoods spewed by former President Donald Trump, while also nodding to the debate getting off to a slow start.?

The two sources told CNN that the vice president came up with the line spontaneously over the course of the interview — and one cited it as an example of why people close to her have repeatedly said she’s best skilled to prosecute the case in this election cycle.?

Even as calls for President Joe Biden to consider dropping out of the race appeared to grow on Friday, Democratic operatives and elected officials alike appeared largely resigned to the reality that the notion was at best, a remote possibility — and most likely, a delusional fantasy.?

One significant reason: Because Biden would always have the unequivocal support of his famously impenetrable inner-most circle of advisers.

The operative pointed their finger at the president’s top advisers for allowing Biden to take the debate stage. “It’s not like Biden’s inner circle didn’t know this before last night. It’s not like all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Oh, wow. He’s showing some signs of age.’”

One persistent gripe among Biden supporters was why his advisers did not think to preemptively share the fact that the president had been allegedly battling a cold, leading to Biden sounding raspy and soft-spoken — and as a result, at times intelligible — on the debate stage.?

One Democratic member of Congress said despite party leaders publicly standing by Biden the morning after the debate, “everyone” in the party was privately buzzing about whether to try to convince the president to drop out. But “question is — who will do something about it?” the lawmaker said.?

Rep. Nancy Pelosi speaks on Capitol Hill on April 18 in Washington, DC.

Former House Speaker Nancy?Pelosi strongly defended President Joe Biden even as she acknowledged shortcomings during Thursday’s debate.

“From a performance standpoint, it wasn’t great.?But from a values standpoint, it far outshined” Trump, Pelosi said. ??

She was asked if she has any concerns about Biden after the debate.??

She acknowledged he got off to a “bad start” but improved as the night went on.?

She also said she doesn’t know of any Democrats calling on Biden to step aside and said she is not.??

She accused Trump of practicing “revisionist history” with his comments during the debate about the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.??

Rep. James Clyburn at South Carolina State University during a campaign event in Orangeburg, South Carolina, on February 2.

South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, a close ally of President Joe Biden’s, told reporters that Democrats around the country need to “stay the course” following Biden’s debate performance on Thursday night.

Clyburn, who helped Biden win the nomination in 2020, said Democrats need to “chill out.”

“I’m with Fetterman on that,” he said, referring to Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s blunt message posted on X Friday.?

Clyburn didn’t defend Biden’s debate showing, saying that “it was a poor performance,” but he argued it by using a baseball metaphor. “That was strike one,” he said.?

Clyburn said there still is no stronger Democrat to get the party’s message across.??

The White House is seen on June 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.

One White House official says group text chats are “abysmal… everyone is deflated” in the wake of President Joe Biden’s debate performance, including jokes about updating resumes.

Many staff are working from home or didn’t go into the office today, the official said.

“We’re all already commiserating. No reason to do it at a desk,” the official told CNN.?

Moderate?Democratic Rep. Scott Peters of California told CNN that the Biden campaign has to work to convince?Democrats that the president can win against former President Donald Trump?after Thursday’s?debate, one of the first?Democrats?to go on the record with their concerns.

“I think everyone is concerned about last night,” Peters told CNN. “So the campaign has got to convince a lot of people that this is a campaign we win.”

While Peters called a conversation about replacing Biden “premature,” he said, “I am open to a conversation about how to win this election.”

After acknowledging that Biden’s performance last night “wasn’t good,” Peters emphasized his belief that the president has “a great record” and has been a “very effective president.”?

From the West Wing?to?Wilmington,?advisers?to?President Joe?Biden?have spent Friday morning calling Democratic members of Congress, donors and other key supporters in hopes of?allaying some of the widespread panic about the debate with former President Donald Trump.?

Biden?did not plan?to?dwell on his own performance, one adviser?told CNN, but rather?to?devote more time?to?pushing back on Trump’s “extreme positions and series of lies” — work that he struggled?to?do on stage Thursday night.?

Another adviser said that “voters are our North Star,” pointing?to?focus groups and overnight campaign research that found voters in Midwestern battlegrounds they said were responding favorably?to?some substantive portions of the debate.

But from the White House?to?campaign headquarters,?Biden?aides on Friday sent signals of defensive frustration — some directed at their candidate, but most reserved for jittery Democrats and commentators — over the president’s failure?to?take command of the stage in his first debate with Trump.?

A half-dozen aides all dismissed suggestions that?Biden?was reconsidering?seeking?a second term. They pointed?to?a robust travel schedule in the weeks ahead and strong fundraising in the wake of the debate.?

Latinos in Los Angeles told CNN that they were most concerned about an immigration plan and the US economy. But Thursday’s presidential debate offered few answers for the population that represents about 36.2 million people eligible to vote, according to a?Pew Research study from January.?

“Both candidates are the metaphor of a declining empire. And the irony is that the only thing that makes the country strong is immigrants,” Pablo Alvarado, co-director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, told CNN.?

Immigration reduced to a crime issue: Former President Donald Trump repeatedly appealed to the crisis at the border and the influx of undocumented migrants, always linking the phenomenon to the problem of crime. He spoke of “murderers,” “criminals” who had fled prisons and mental health centers, claimed the border was “open,” and blamed immigrants for taking jobs from other minorities and for destroying social services. He also reiterated that undocumented individuals represent up to “20 million,”?a figure not properly documented.?

“Trump appeals to a big lie about migration by talking about ‘millions’ who come for the ‘destruction’ of social security. Immigration saved social security,” said Raúl Hinojosa, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.?

Alvarado said: “I wish Biden had told Trump that a strong country does not fear refugees, but welcomes them and gains strength from that infusion.”?

The economy: At the beginning of the debate, Trump said, “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. (Then) we got hit with Covid. The only thing he—(pointing to Biden)—created was jobs for illegal immigrants.”?

Gov. Doug Burgum speaks to reporters in the spin room following the CNN Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump at the McCamish Pavilion on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus on June 27 in Atlanta.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum on Friday said that President Joe Biden should remain at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, arguing that Democrats “created this” and “this is the horse they’re betting on.”

“But if they switch to someone else … the issues don’t go away —inflation, the open borders, the wars overseas, the energy policy, which is helping to fund our adversaries and hurting Americans, all of those remain regardless of who the candidate is,” he added.

Burgum is a contender to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate.

Burgum was critical of Biden’s debate performance, arguing that if it took Biden several days at Camp David to prepare for the debate, “who’s running the country today, who’s running the country between now and next January 20?”

“Now all of America has got a chance to see that we’ve basically been foisted a lie that you know, President Biden, ‘No, he’s terrific behind closed doors.’ Now we know that — what the whole world is seeing — what’s actually there,” he said.

Americans have been dealing with above-average — and, for a good stretch, decades-high — inflation for going on three years now. The strong and resilient job market helped households stay afloat, contributed to continued spending and kept a recession at bay; however, pervasive and prolonged inflation has sapped away precious dollars and worn down people’s psyches in the process.

Economy top voters’ concerns: And in an election year, those effects are top of mind for voters and factored heavily into Thursday night’s?first presidential debate, with both candidates blaming the other for causing inflation. (In short: The causes of the run-up in inflation were far more complex and global in nature while both the Trump and Biden administrations’ stimulus efforts have been said to play a part as well).

Inflation trending lower: But there’s been some more good news for price-wary Americans: Inflation has been on a downward trajectory recently, and on Friday, new data from the Commerce Department showed that the pace of price hikes slowed even more in May and are getting even closer to normal.

The May Personal Consumption Expenditures price index — a closely watched inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve uses for its 2% target — showed that prices were unchanged from April and slowed to 2.6% for the 12 months ended in May from 2.7% the month before, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.

The report also showed that consumer spending (a critical economic engine) increased for the month while people’s incomes and savings grew.

A separate report from the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment held largely steady in June along with a sharp improvement in Americans’ optimism that inflation will continue to cool in the near-term.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on June 14 in Washington, DC.?

Democratic leaders are not planning a direct intervention to press President Joe Biden to drop out of the race after his widely panned debate performance last night, according to multiple Democratic sources.

Instead, they want to focus on what they can control: Winning back the House of Representatives and keeping the Senate.

The belief is to let the dust settle with the public and assess the strength of Biden’s campaign in the weeks ahead. It’s unclear what, if anything, will change the calculus.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters today that Biden shouldn’t drop out.??

Asked about his reaction to Biden’s performance, Jeffries said: “We are going to win the House in November.”

Despite the widespread panic among Democrats after President Joe Biden’s rough debate performance Thursday night, the president’s advisers are outright rejecting calls from some for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.?

Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said Biden would not be exiting the race.

The adviser, who had been involved in debate preparations at Camp David, also dismissed the criticism pouring in about Biden’s performance at CNN’s presidential debate. “I don’t worry about stuff like that,” the adviser said.?

Advisers have tried to spin last night’s debate by saying voters reacted positively to Biden’s take on subject matters like abortion and climate change, and moments like the discussion of Trump’s legal affairs and his refusal to accept the outcome of the election will get them mileage on social media.?

Ultimately, they say a singular debate should not disqualify the president from seeking reelection.?Biden has every intention of participating in the second presidential debate in September as well, his team said Friday.?

Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump made false and misleading claims during CNN’s presidential debate on Thursday — but Trump did so far more than Biden, just like in their?debates in 2020.

Trump made more than?30 false claims at the Thursday debate. They included numerous claims that CNN and others have already debunked during the current presidential campaign or prior.

Trump’s claims: Trump’s repeat falsehoods included his assertions that some Democratic-led states?allow babies to be executed after birth, that?every legal scholar and everybody in general wanted Roe v. Wade overturned, that there were?no terror attacks during his presidency, that?Iran didn’t fund terror groups during his presidency,?that?the US has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe has, that?Biden for years referred to Black people as “super predators,” that Biden is?planning to quadruple people’s taxes, that?then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 National Guard troops for the US Capitol on January 6, 2021,?that Americans don’t pay the cost of his tariffs on China and other countries, that?Europe accepts no American cars, that?he is the president who got the Veterans Choice program through Congress, and?that fraud marred the results of the 2020 election.

Trump also added some new false claims, such as his assertions that the US currently has its biggest budget deficit and its biggest trade deficit with China. Both records actually occurred under Trump.

Biden’s claims: Biden made at least nine false or misleading claims in the debate. He used false numbers while describing two of his key Medicare policies, falsely claimed that no US troops had been killed on his watch, repeated his?usual misleading figure?about billionaires’ tax rates, baselessly claimed that Trump wants to eliminate Social Security, falsely said that the unemployment rate was 15% when he took office, inaccurately said that the Border Patrol union had endorsed him before clarifying that he was talking about agents’ support for the border bill he had backed, and exaggerated Trump’s 2020 comments about the possibility of treating Covid-19 by injecting disinfectant.

Read a detailed fact check from CNN’s reporting team.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks during a press conference with other House Democrats on June 27 in Washington, DC.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said President Joe Biden should not step down after his debate performance last night.?

Jeffries repeatedly told CNN he is standing by Biden and it is not his position for the president to step aside.?

Jeffries added that he is waiting to hear from Biden today in North Carolina, saying, “I’m going to reserve comment about anything relative to where we are at this moment, other than to say, I stand behind the ticket.”?

“I stand behind the Senate Democratic majority. And of course, we’re going to do everything that we need to do as House Democrats to win,” Jeffries added.?

Jeffries’ remarks come as Democrats have been panicking about Biden’s performance, with some questioning whether he should even remain the Democratic presidential nominee.

Members of his campaign have said that Biden had a “slow start,” while sources said that he has been battling a cold in recent days.

Biden, 81, has fielded persistent questions about his age since he decided to make a third run at the White House in 2019. He brushed off concerns about his debate showing last night, telling reporters that he thought he performed well.

President Joe Biden still plans to participate in a second presidential debate in September, an adviser told CNN.?

The adviser acknowledged that the president’s performance in Atlanta was lackluster but said the campaign is committed to highlighting the moments it believes worked for their candidate — and then moving on.?

Many Biden campaign and White House staffers, the adviser said, worked for former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in which Obama turned in a first debate performance that, even he described, as a “stinker” — and Obama still won re-election.?

Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden debate at CNN's Atlanta studios on June 27.

The performance of US President Joe Biden at last night’s CNN debate with former President Donald Trump is being mocked on?Russian?state?media, with pundits questioning the?state?of his cognitive health.?

The host of?state?owned Russia-1’s “60 Minutes” program,?Olga Skabeeva, gave the debate a critical and sarcastic review, dubbing it “an American reality show about the life of pensioners” and describing the live broadcast as “disastrous.”

On Friday, the Kremlin spokesperson downplayed the significance of the Biden-Trump debate, stating that?Russian?President Vladimir Putin did not watch it as it “is not on the list of the main issues on (Putin’s) agenda.”

Despite this,?the debate received extensive coverage on?Russian?state?media with Skabeeva’s portrayal aligning?with the broader narrative in?Russian?state?media.?On Russia-1, Skabeeva depicted Biden as weak and mentally unsteady, highlighting moments where he appeared to struggle.?The program also mocked the president’s physical condition, noting sarcastically that he managed to get on stage without tripping. “Old Biden made it onto the stage without tripping or falling. In that sense, he did well,” Skabeeva said. In contrast, Trump was portrayed as more energetic.?

Alexey Martynov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Russian government,?told state news agency RIA Novosti that the whole point of the debate “was to show the United States and the whole world the absurdity of what was happening.”

European?media?reacted to the United States presidential debate on Friday morning where the night before, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump stood head-to-head against each other, their first showdown of 2024, where the two sparred over the economy, immigration and levied personal attacks against each other.

Collectively,?European?outlets highlighted the precarious position US Democrats are now in, with newspapers and reporters indicating the Democrats are calling for Biden to stand aside after his performance.?

British tabloid newspapers The Sun, the Mirror and the Daily Mail lambasted Biden’s conduct at the debate saying it was a “disaster” for the president as he appeared “confused” during the debate.

Italian newspapers Ansa and La Repubblica shared a similar tone as some UK newspapers criticizing Biden’s performance at the debate saying Democrats are now in “severe panic” and are “looking for an alternative.”??

French newspapers reiterated similar headlines, with Le Monde’s French language newspaper saying Biden was “drowning” during the debate and Libération saying he has spread “panic” adding that the debate was “doubly disastrous.”

Greece also stayed critical of Biden saying last night’s debate turned into a referendum for the US president.?

“The debate of shame (for Biden),” Greek newspaper To Vima headlines. “Biden’s time to exit the race – but how?” Greece’s ‘Protagon’ newspaper said.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on March 23 walking toward the Senate Chambers in Washington, DC.?

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has a blunt message for his party after President Joe Biden’s debate performance: “Chill the f**k out,” he wrote on X (not utilizing the asterisks), saying he knows firsthand that “a rough debate is not the sum total of a person and their record.”

“Morning-after thermonuclear beat downs from my race from the debate and polling geniuses like 538 predicted l’d lose by 2. And what happened? The only seat to flip and won by a historic margin (+5). Chill the f**k out,” Fetterman wrote.

President Joe Biden speaks during the CNN Presidential debate on June 27.

Joe Biden’s?spotty debate performance?immediately triggered new questions from worried Democrats about whether he would leave the presidential race.

It would not be an easy process since Biden is?already the Democrats’ presumptive nominee?and the overwhelming choice of primary voters. He faced little opposition during the primary season, and the fact that he won nearly all of the party’s delegates means it’s very unlikely he’d be forced out of the race against his will.

As we?first wrote?back in February,?if the leading candidate was to drop out of the campaign after most primaries or even during the convention, individual delegates would need to select the party’s nominee on the convention floor (or, potentially, during a?virtual roll call).

You can assume, for instance, that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a top contender to be on the ballot in such a scenario. But there would be other potential candidates who previously argued they could run a more effective campaign against former President Donald Trump.

Would someone like California Gov. Gavin Newsom –?who offered unqualified support for Biden in the wake of Thursday’s debate –?challenge Harris at the convention? Settling on a replacement could be divisive and ugly. It would be up to the delegates to decide, in a series of votes after frantic lobbying, who to pick.

Read more on what would happen if Biden decided to leave the race.

Former President Trump and President Joe Biden attend the CNN Presidential debate on June 27.

Multiple Biden advisers have told CNN they are frustrated with the falsehoods promoted by former President Donald Trump during Thursday’s debate, including Trump’s attempt to discredit the Charlottesville white nationalist rally and the January 6 storming of the Capitol.

The airing of these frustrations comes as the Biden campaign grapples with responding to widespread criticism of Biden’s performance from the outset of the debate, which surrogates have attempted to defend as a “slow start.” In private, Democrats universally panned?Biden’s performance, which set off alarm bells that the president appeared, at worst, unfit for another term, or at best – unprepared.?

That dynamic, they say, thrust Biden into a fact-checking role and required him, in their view, to spend much of his time on stage on the defensive – rather than employing the attack messaging they spent recent days developing.

Near the end of the debate, one Biden adviser said he was frustrated “that Donald Trump is just making stuff up. Almost everything.”

And another expressed worry that voters would take Trump’s versions of events at face value, acknowledging that Biden was attempting to correct the record in real-time. But Biden still struggled with his performance in those moments.?

Biden himself alluded to the challenge following the debate.

“It’s hard to debate a liar,” Biden told patrons at an Atlanta-area Waffle House following the debate. “The New York Times said he lied 26 times. Big lies.”

U.S. Speaker of the House?Mike?Johnson?holds a press conference at the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., on June 13.

House Speaker Mike Johnson reacted to last night’s CNN presidential debate, saying Democrats are “being forced to acknowledge the objective truth: there was only one man on that stage last night that is qualified and capable of being president in the next term and that’s Donald J. Trump.”

Johnson predicted the debate will have a positive effect for Republicans in down ballot races, predicting a Republican trifecta.

“Everywhere we are, everywhere around the country, people have had enough. They’re fed up with the Biden policies and want a change. Now, we don’t take anything for granted. We’re going to run like we’re ten points behind, but I’m feeling very bullish,” Johnson said.

The speaker said Democrats are in trouble and don’t have any viable alternative candidates to face off against Trump.

Senator Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in the spin room after the CNN presidential debate in Atlanta, on June 27.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is reportedly on former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential shortlist, said on “CNN This Morning” that “I think anybody who has the chance to serve in a position like that at a time like this should be honored by that.”

Rubio did attempt to tamp down on the speculation saying, “nobody’s told me I’m on any shortlist.”

After watching a series of clips where he attacked Trump during the 2016 campaign, Rubio sought to explain the contrast between then and now.

“First of all, I didn’t even know Donald Trump when he ran. Second, him and I were competing for the same spot,” he said. “I actually got to work near him, not alongside him but near him when I was in the Senate.”

The Republican senator used Trump’s diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as an example, claiming “it worked” and “I was proven wrong.”

Mitch Landrieu, Biden campaign co-chair, said that President Joe Biden “started off slow last night” but said when former President Donald Trump was talking “basically?everything that he said was a?lie.”

He added, “But throughout the?debate, trying to listen to?Donald Trump talk was painful?for me,” he said.

Former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who has endorsed President Joe Biden, said if former President Donald Trump had a horrible night at CNN’s presidential debate last night, Republicans would be talking about a different nominee.

He continued, “But he didn’t. He had a?great night as far as delivery.?Now the content was full of?lies and riddles and innuendos.”

President?Joe Biden?is three years and seven months older than former President?Donald Trump.

But in?their debate, the gap between the 81-year-old incumbent and his 78-year-old challenger seemed much larger.

Biden, hoarse and displaying little vocal range, was often unable to express his differences with Trump with clarity. At one point, after Biden had trailed off as he defended his record on border security, Trump said:

Trump, meanwhile, repeated his frequent election denialism. He said he’d accept the results of the 2024 election if it’s “fair and legal,” but then repeated his lies about fraud in the 2020 election.

Here are the debate highlights:

Biden’s age problem just got a lot worse:

Biden’s one-liner offense:

Trump makes news with abortion pill stance:

Inflation blamed on pandemic:

Read more takeaways.

Former President Donald Trump claimed that the United States has given more in aid to Ukraine than European countries put together.??

“The European nations together have spent $100 billion, or maybe more than that, less than us,” Trump said.???

Facts First: Trump’s claim is false. From just before Russia’s invasion in early 2022 through April 2024, European countries contributed more aid to Ukraine than the US, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany.?

The Kiel Institute, which closely tracks aid to Ukraine, found that from late January 2022 (the month before Russia’s invasion) through April 2024, the European Union and individual European countries had committed a total of about $190 billion to Ukraine in military, financial and humanitarian assistance, compared with about $106 billion committed by the US.

Europe also exceeded the US in aid that had been “allocated” to Ukraine — defined by the institute as aid either delivered or specified for delivery — at about $109 billion for Europe compared with about $79 billion for the US.?

Additionally, Europe had committed more total military aid to Ukraine, at about $76 billion to about $69 billion for the US. The US narrowly led on military aid that had been allocated, at more than $50 billion for the US to less than $48 billion for Europe, but even that was nowhere near the lopsided margin Trump suggested.?

It’s important to note that it’s possible to come up with different totals using different methodologies. And the Kiel Institute found that Ukraine itself was getting only about half of the money in a 2024 US bill that had widely been described as a $61 billion aid bill for Ukraine. The institute said the rest of the funds were mostly going to the Defense Department.