Speaker 1: Welcome back to Bloomberg's special coverage of the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four CNN presidential debate right here on Bloomberg Television and
Speaker 1: Radio alongside Joe Matthew, I'm Kaylee Lines, and we just
Speaker 1: witnessed ninety minutes of debate between a current and former
Speaker 1: president for the first time in history, a debate in
Speaker 1: which the incumbent, Joe Biden, often struggled, stumbling over his words,
Speaker 1: misstating figures, at times freezing at one point, whereas Donald Trump,
Speaker 1: who did appear this evening, Joe, much more energetic and forceful,
Speaker 1: often said things that were not factually correct. Joe Biden
Speaker 1: continually accused him of lying, and yet with a hoarse
Speaker 1: voice that many in the Democratic Party are now attributing
Speaker 1: to a cold Joe Biden at eighty one perhaps played
Speaker 1: into fears about his age this evening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is an interesting exercise. We're probably going to
Speaker 2: hear a lot more about performance than we are about substance.
Speaker 2: Following ninety minutes. To Kayley's point, there, we had one
Speaker 2: break in the middle of this exercise. One toward the
Speaker 2: end before closing statements, the president actually seemed to struggle
Speaker 2: through his closing statement, which is an opportunity to get
Speaker 2: into something that would be more rehearsed. But look, the
Speaker 2: CNN moderators who we just watched and listened to did
Speaker 2: not make any attempt to fact check either of the
Speaker 2: candidates here, and I guess that will be the job
Speaker 2: of our panel, Kyley.
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, Joe Biden did at times attempt to
Speaker 1: fact check Trump, at least accusing him of lying, not
Speaker 1: always though providing what he says are actually the facts.
Speaker 1: And many times, interestingly, these candidates were asked questions that
Speaker 1: they simply just did not answer, talking about other subjects entirely.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump did that on multiple occasions. When asked if
Speaker 1: he would accept the results of the election, it took
Speaker 1: multiple tries from the moderator and he said, ultimately not
Speaker 1: yes or no, but if it's a fair and legal election, absolutely.
Speaker 2: We're going to walk you through some of the highlights,
Speaker 2: if we can call them that, of this first debate
Speaker 2: in the cycle, and we'll have analysis ahead with Rick
Speaker 2: Davis and Kristen Hank.
Speaker 1: First, though, let's check in on the Spin room in
Speaker 1: Atlanta with Lomberg's correspondent David Gera, who is there on
Speaker 1: the ground, So David, that was something to behold at times. Frankly,
Speaker 1: it was uncomfortable. How do things feel in the spin
Speaker 1: room in the aftermath.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the two of you have laid that
Speaker 3: out just as I witnessed it. It was a really stark contrast,
Speaker 3: and there were moments that were, as you said, quite awkward.
Speaker 3: The contrast really start between these two candidates in terms
Speaker 3: of their presentation. I think that something is you mentioned
Speaker 3: that there wasn't any fact checking. You did notice that
Speaker 3: with the former president, with Donald Trump, when asked a question,
Speaker 3: he would often take that moment to go back to
Speaker 3: something else that was talked about in the question before that.
Speaker 3: I did note a few times that Dana bash reintroduced
Speaker 3: the questions and this is what we're talking about now,
Speaker 3: and give him another opportunity to do that. But I
Speaker 3: agree with your assessment too that we didn't get a
Speaker 3: whole lot of substance here, a substance that was new.
Speaker 3: I think of sort of ways that President Trump in
Speaker 3: particular reframed things that were novel, particularly when it comes
Speaker 3: to January sixth. Yes, there is what we've heard from
Speaker 3: him before about those who participated in that insurrection in
Speaker 3: that action on Capitol Hill, but then kind of using
Speaker 3: January sixth, this is kind of pivot moment for the
Speaker 3: economy and all that he inherited then, and sort of
Speaker 3: what happened on January sixth to the economy and the
Speaker 3: country as a whole was a shall we say, creative
Speaker 3: spin on what happened on that day. A bit of
Speaker 3: news also from the former president on abortion. Of course,
Speaker 3: that's been in the news so much over these last
Speaker 3: few weeks, and we had that Supreme Court decision this
Speaker 3: week on the heels of the reporting the Bloomberg did
Speaker 3: yesterday about the Supreme Court allowing the allowing abortions in
Speaker 3: emergency circumstances to happen in Idaho. You did have Donald
Speaker 3: Trump on the record today again saying that he defers
Speaker 3: to the States, but says that he is somebody. He
Speaker 3: is a candidate who's in favor of exceptions in a
Speaker 3: kind of Reaganite mold. Has he put it. That's what
Speaker 3: stood out to me. I noted with Donald Trump in particular,
Speaker 3: there were three or four things he kept coming back
Speaker 3: to that. Of course, the migrant crisis as he sees it,
Speaker 3: quantity of people coming into this country, he blaming Joe
Speaker 3: Biden for that and talking a bit about sort of
Speaker 3: what he inherited. What Joe Biden inherited was this great economy,
Speaker 3: this great country.
Speaker 2: Let's talk about creative spin for a moment, David, because
Speaker 2: you're right in the middle of it here as you
Speaker 2: join us live from the spin room. This is great
Speaker 2: giving us a little bit of a walk around. How
Speaker 2: are the two campaigns representing themselves? This is a pretty
Speaker 2: quiet spin room, if we can be honest. Before the
Speaker 2: debate started, what are you seeing around you? Now?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is a bit quiet, and once it ended
Speaker 3: there was an ear quiet to the room as well.
Speaker 3: But you have Mattur camermon focusing here on Sarah Hockey Sanders,
Speaker 3: who's speaking to reporters now on the floor here now
Speaker 3: filling up with more reporters and more surrogates. Let me
Speaker 3: see if I can get my microphone a bit closer
Speaker 3: and we can pick up anything that she's she's having
Speaker 3: to say here, Joe, and if you just way with.
Speaker 4: Resimblest, it's a clear contest and it's a win win
Speaker 4: overwhelming me for president.
Speaker 3: Forgive me, yes, I saw her from Afar chrisident Biden
Speaker 3: will still be the Democratic nominee.
Speaker 5: By the time we get to November, he is.
Speaker 4: The Democratic nominee.
Speaker 6: He will be on the ballot.
Speaker 4: And we are going to defeat him this November and
Speaker 4: elect President Trump the next president of the United States,
Speaker 4: and the American people see crystal clear Joe Biden's fail policies,
Speaker 4: whether it's the border crisis, Biden inflation, or his weak
Speaker 4: role as commander in chief leading to chaos and weak
Speaker 4: in national security. This was an absolute, overwhelming knockout victory
Speaker 4: by President Trump against a failed, feckless and weak Joe Biden.
Speaker 3: What do you just step away here? As she continues again,
Speaker 3: that's the least Stefanic the congressman from New York. And
Speaker 3: as I kind of walk around the floor to see
Speaker 3: who else is out here, she principally there the only
Speaker 3: surguit that I'm seeing on the floor right now. But
Speaker 3: you just picking up there on what she's saying about
Speaker 3: the economy. Again, that was something I think that the
Speaker 3: former president returned to time and time again. And you saw,
Speaker 3: as you mentioned the top, Joe Biden, the current president,
Speaker 3: trying to context you lize sort of the economy that
Speaker 3: he inherited when he was president. I found it kind
Speaker 3: of halting in the way that he was able to
Speaker 3: deal with that issue too, David, that was great.
Speaker 2: Thanks for the peak behind the curtain, mayor of Bloomberg's
Speaker 2: David Gura with us in the spin room. These are
Speaker 2: the conversations that are going to lead to the coverage tomorrow,
Speaker 2: and you just got anice peak at it right there.
Speaker 2: As we now reassemble our political panel, Rick Davis, Republican
Speaker 2: strategist and partner at Stone Court Capital, that's with us,
Speaker 2: along with Democratic strategist Kristin Hahn, partner at Rock Solutions.
Speaker 2: All right, guys, we need some honest talk here about
Speaker 2: what we just saw. Both of your phones were blown
Speaker 2: up through that whole debate, as you heard from your
Speaker 2: colleagues from both sides of the aisle. Kristin. Anyone's talking
Speaker 2: about is Joe Biden's voice tonight.
Speaker 6: I think he was unfortunate that he had a cold
Speaker 6: and that he you know, the delivery may not have
Speaker 6: been what we wanted, but honestly, the thing that struck
Speaker 6: me the most was just I mean Trump might have
Speaker 6: been delivering, you know, had a more booming voice, but
Speaker 6: I was trying to take notes of all the lies
Speaker 6: he was not and my hand started hurting. So, I mean,
Speaker 6: it's really remarkable. He's taking credit for the you know,
Speaker 6: the the insulin prices going down again, making you know,
Speaker 6: claims that the election was a fraud, wildly wrong claims
Speaker 6: about women healthcare. And it's funny because I'm like, you know,
Speaker 6: if we're talking about, as your correspondent mentioned just a
Speaker 6: second ago, he made news saying he would be okay
Speaker 6: with exceptions for a rape and incests in that type
Speaker 6: of thing. But we just saw the man lie for
Speaker 6: an hour and a half, I mean, blatant, Liz, And
Speaker 6: we'll see all of that debunked in the next if
Speaker 6: you don't already know, over the next several days. So
Speaker 6: why would we ever believe him? Why would any woman
Speaker 6: ever believe him? I certainly don't. I also thought it
Speaker 6: was interesting that he kept saying that, and it's a
Speaker 6: big point in his campaign, you know that he talks
Speaker 6: about how the president's you know, weaponizing the judicial system
Speaker 6: and coming after him, But he actually said, I quote,
Speaker 6: he has no idea what these cases even are. So
Speaker 6: is it that he's too old and can't remember what
Speaker 6: the cases are or is he weaponizing his judicial system?
Speaker 6: So there were so many I don't know. I wasn't
Speaker 6: expecting anything different from President Trump. But despite the delivery,
Speaker 6: I think, you know, there there couldn't be two more,
Speaker 6: you know, distinct choices, And wasn't that was true before tonight,
Speaker 6: It's still true now and it will be true tomorrow.
Speaker 1: But despite all of these factual inaccuracies, Trump did indeed
Speaker 1: lie at times, and Joe Biden attempted to call him
Speaker 1: out on that, And yet at times Joe Biden himself
Speaker 1: struggled to articulate what exactly the facts were, even his
Speaker 1: own facts, misstating the number of jobs, for example, created
Speaker 1: in his administration, at one point calling into question his
Speaker 1: own policy on Medicare after freezing for a substantial period
Speaker 1: of time. Rick, I'm looking at the traffic on social media,
Speaker 1: other reports I'm seeing, and many are suggesting that the
Speaker 1: Democrats are going to have to put someone else forward
Speaker 1: as the nominee after tonight.
Speaker 5: Yeah, when you think back about what we were trying
Speaker 5: to handicap this debate going into it, what was Trump
Speaker 5: going to need to do? Trump two point zero needed
Speaker 5: to be more disciplined, He needed to be less aggressive,
Speaker 5: he needed to not talk over Biden. You know, those
Speaker 5: things he accomplished, right. I mean, he got hot toward
Speaker 5: the end of the debate, and I think it actually
Speaker 5: took something away from his performances. But at the end
Speaker 5: of the day, Trump kind of delivered on the style
Speaker 5: at which everyone set the expectation to. And the only
Speaker 5: thing anybody expected Joe Biden to do was convinced us
Speaker 5: that his age is not a factor in being a
Speaker 5: candidate for president or potentially a president for another term.
Speaker 5: And he did not accomplish that task. You know, You've
Speaker 5: mentioned it very clearly, his halting, inability to finish the sentences.
Speaker 5: He looked very over prepared, He seemed to have a
Speaker 5: hard time getting the numbers out. And we have to
Speaker 5: remember this was his idea to debate this early one
Speaker 5: on one with Donald Trump, you know, in this kind
Speaker 5: of a venue with no limits on fact checking, right,
Speaker 5: and so he Joe Biden's job was to be the
Speaker 5: fact checker. But instead he kind of just accepted any
Speaker 5: topic that Donald Trump wanted to talk about and responded
Speaker 5: to it as best he could, but not with necessarily
Speaker 5: a fact check that could say, hey, you're lying about this,
Speaker 5: and this is what the real story is. It was
Speaker 5: more kind of a personal response. And that's the thing
Speaker 5: that I think most people are going to take away
Speaker 5: from this debate is this was a very intensely personal
Speaker 5: debate where there were two guys who clearly didn't like
Speaker 5: each other, who had a totally different version of America,
Speaker 5: and neither one of them really delivered any kind of
Speaker 5: a good outcome for themselves. But the performance by Joe
Speaker 5: Biden has to create questions in the Democratic Party's minds
Speaker 5: is whether or not they have someone who's up to
Speaker 5: the election they've got five months ago. And this was
Speaker 5: not a man who I would say you'd ever want
Speaker 5: to put on a debate stage.
Speaker 2: Again, let's give a taste here as part of our
Speaker 2: special coverage of the CNN presidential debate, a moment here
Speaker 2: for Joe Biden talking to Donald Trump about morals.
Speaker 7: The crime. So you are still charged with and think
Speaker 7: of all the civil penalties you go how many billions
Speaker 7: of dollars do you own? Civil penalties for molesting a
Speaker 7: woman in public, for doing a whole range of things
Speaker 7: of having sex from the porn star on the night
Speaker 7: wife's trainer. What are you talking about? You have the
Speaker 7: morals of an alley cat.
Speaker 2: An alley cat, Kristin. I'm not sure how many twenty
Speaker 2: somethings I've ever heard that word used in that way
Speaker 2: when you listen to him speaking so quickly like that,
Speaker 2: sometimes not able to get all the words out, coupled
Speaker 2: by the voice that was struggling with a cold, freezing
Speaker 2: up at times, a halting performance. As we heard from
Speaker 2: a couple of folks, Democrats are going to be upset
Speaker 2: about this, worried about this tomorrow. How can you with
Speaker 2: a straight face tell people that he's going to be
Speaker 2: in good shape four years from now running this country?
Speaker 6: I mean, I think also in addition to that, he
Speaker 6: was trying to fit too many things into his answers, right,
Speaker 6: I mean, Trump is really good at taking one idea
Speaker 6: and running with it, whether that's true or not, usually
Speaker 6: mostly false, but trying to fit too much, you know,
Speaker 6: and if you're quiet and you're you know, you don't
Speaker 6: have that booming voice, then it's hard for people to
Speaker 6: hear it.
Speaker 2: So there were a lot of questions about his travel schedule.
Speaker 2: He was in three different time zones over the last
Speaker 2: two weeks.
Speaker 6: Was that a fail?
Speaker 5: I mean the staff's part.
Speaker 6: He's the president of the United States. I wouldn't presume
Speaker 6: to know exactly where and when he needs to be
Speaker 6: where he needs to be, but he'll have some work
Speaker 6: to do after this.
Speaker 1: Of course, as we consider what this debate ultimately was about,
Speaker 1: we're here analyzing the performance of both of those candidates.
Speaker 1: But they did at times talk about policy. Joe Biden
Speaker 1: decided to close out his remarks talking about economic policy,
Speaker 1: what he wants to do in taxes and to get
Speaker 1: inflation down. Donald Trump did at one point talk about tariffs,
Speaker 1: suggesting they're not going to drive prices higher. He said,
Speaker 1: it just will force other countries to pay us a
Speaker 1: lot of money. Rick, for a voter sitting at home,
Speaker 1: do you think any of that realistically broke through or
Speaker 1: was the performance aspect ultimately to distracting?
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think it was very hard to get past the
Speaker 5: performance and also the hatred between the two individuals, right,
Speaker 5: I mean, that is a block to actually hearing anything
Speaker 5: positive coming out of their mouths. They talk to each
Speaker 5: other more than they talked to the American people, and
Speaker 5: that was a stark departure from Joe Biden four years ago,
Speaker 5: where he would take time to look directly into the
Speaker 5: camera and talk directly to the American people about issues
Speaker 5: he thought were important. So I think it was relatively
Speaker 5: void of any real policy prescriptions. I mean, even the
Speaker 5: closing statements didn't really punch through a specific policy idea.
Speaker 5: Joe Biden talked about, you know, making the tax code
Speaker 5: simpler and fairer, but he didn't give any real details
Speaker 5: behind what that would look like. And Donald Trump, I mean,
Speaker 5: you know, arguably he did what he does every single
Speaker 5: day on the campaign trail. When he goes to his
Speaker 5: big events, he just makes things up and he talks
Speaker 5: about how great they are. And I'm sure his campaign
Speaker 5: was cringing when he got into you know, a contest
Speaker 5: of wills over who's got the better golf game and
Speaker 5: how many country club championships he.
Speaker 6: Just was one.
Speaker 5: And so I don't think either one of them distinguished
Speaker 5: themselves particularly well. I mean, the idea that we're even
Speaker 5: talking about Donald Trump winning a debate is because it
Speaker 5: was such a disastrous performance by Joe Biden. And so
Speaker 5: if you were an independent voter, a swing voter from
Speaker 5: one of the key states, looking into this debate saying
Speaker 5: who's got something that I can latch onto that I'm
Speaker 5: going to be, you know, excited about voting for. I
Speaker 5: don't think either one of them were able to accomplish
Speaker 5: that goal, And if anything, I wouldn't be surprised that
Speaker 5: the double haters get bigger, not smaller. Well as a
Speaker 5: result of this debate.
Speaker 2: That's saying something. It plays poorly for both candidates in
Speaker 2: your opinion. By the way, ar Atlanta burea chief in
Speaker 2: the room, says, no Democratic surrogates on the spin room
Speaker 2: floor right now, Kristen, how long is it going to
Speaker 2: take the party to come up with an answer to this?
Speaker 6: I mean, I think they're going to have to come
Speaker 6: up with how they're going to talk about it immediately,
Speaker 6: and I think that the campaign's ready to do that.
Speaker 6: And I think if you're going to look at you know,
Speaker 6: the president is right on the issues, he was up
Speaker 6: against a liar. The performance wasn't what it needed to be.
Speaker 6: The campaign is going to have to be in full mode,
Speaker 6: you know, like out there talking to people about like
Speaker 6: what makes this president different, why these issues are so
Speaker 6: important to the American people. And it's not an easy
Speaker 6: thing to do when you have somebody that you're up
Speaker 6: against just lying as we.
Speaker 1: Are in our final minute here, I would just point
Speaker 1: out that we are now two weeks out from Donald
Speaker 1: Trump's sentencing in New York when he was convicted of
Speaker 1: thirty four felony crimes, and we are just days out
Speaker 1: from getting a decision from the Supreme Court on whether
Speaker 1: he is presidential immunity in another case with which he
Speaker 1: has been charged and in regard to January sixth, So
Speaker 1: there could still be much to develop in this race.
Speaker 1: And yet it feels like Joe that something did shift
Speaker 1: in this race this evening.
Speaker 2: We'll see how things feel tomorrow, and of course we'll
Speaker 2: be back to hash out the details on the day
Speaker 2: after our Thanks to Rick Davis, Republican strategist and partner
Speaker 2: at Stone Court Capital, and Democratic strategist Kristen Hahn, partner
Speaker 2: at Rock Solutions, a perfect panel with some smart insights tonight,
Speaker 2: Kaylee will have a lot to learn tomorrow as the
Speaker 2: campaigns get on the road. Donald Trump's going to Virginia,
Speaker 2: Joe Biden to North Carolina, and it continues other debate
Speaker 2: in September. Assuming that takes place. That concludes our special
Speaker 2: coverage of the first twenty twenty four presidential debate.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us on Bloomberg TV and radio.