President Joe Biden's performance was weak, according to two political scientists who followed the debate against former President Donald Trump.
This was not a good evening for Biden, says Chris Galdieri, a political scientist at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, USA, to TT.
Christian Christensen, a Swedish-American professor of journalism with a focus on American media at Stockholm University, is on the same track.
For voters who have not made up their minds, this has not helped Biden. He has not convinced anyone, he says.
Both Galdieri and Christensen emphasize that Biden had a very hard time asserting himself, especially in the first part of the debate ahead of the presidential election in the USA. He searched for words, was forced to correct himself several times, and could not counter lies and unfounded claims from former President Trump.
Difficult for the Democrats
Christian Christensen believes that the lasting impression and aftermath of the debate will be precisely how weak and old Biden seemed.
This was what the Democrats were afraid of, that he would make a weak performance, he says.
Nor does Chris Galdieri think that Biden convinced anyone of his health and ability to sit for four more years.
He seemed older than when he gave his speech to the nation earlier this year, and in the first part of the debate, he struggled to get the words together, says Chris Galdieri, who, however, thinks that Biden improved during the rest of the debate.
Getting Away
Chris Galdieri thinks that CNN's moderators let Trump get away too easily with lies or pure fabrications. Not least on the topic of the many charges against him, including his role in the storming of Congress in 2021.
Dag Blanck, a professor of North American Studies at Uppsala University, says that the debate has put Biden and the Democrats on the defensive.
Some Democrats think this is a disaster and that Biden cannot remain a candidate, he says.
According to Blanck, most people have already formed an opinion about the candidates, but the debate can be significant for a small group in the middle, and since the election is so close, it can make a difference.
No Challenger
Even before the debate, there has been whispering about other candidates for the Democrats. But Blanck thinks it is unlikely that Biden will be replaced in time for the election in the fall.
He has, after all, won the primaries and has a majority of the delegates. Before the 2020 election, Biden talked about how important it was to defeat Trump and hand over to the next generation. But he has not done that, and no one has dared to challenge him.
One of Biden's main arguments has been "I defeated Trump, do you have anyone else who can take him on?". But the moment he steps back, there are those who are ready to step forward, says Dag Blanck.
