Biden stumbles amid fierce attacks from Trump

This combination of photos shows former President Trump and President Biden during a debate hosted by CNN on Thursday in Atlanta. Biden called Trump a “sucker” and a “loser” — labels that one of Trump’s former staff members said he had once applied to veterans killed in war. After an exchange about their relative skills on the links, Trump muttered: “Let’s not act like children.” Retorted Biden: “You’re the child.” A sharp contrast between the two candidates emerged from the first moments. “The largest television audience for presidential debates historically occurs at the beginning of the evening before many tune out and possibly even go to sleep on the East Coast,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan and co-author of “Debating the Donald.” “Anyone that watched the first 15 minutes of tonight’s debate would have been extremely concerned by President Biden’s meandering slog through the early questions.” Kall said the middling performance by Biden probably would not assuage concerns of some voters about his ability to fill the most powerful post in the world. Elizabeth Ashford, a longtime California political consultant, said the debate should remind people what an “unmitigated disaster” Trump’s presidency was for “for democracy.” But Ashford added: “I don’t think that tonight helped.