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The world was watching Thursday’s U.S. presidential debate, and it cringed.
Foreign diplomats and officials expressed disappointment and even alarm at Joe Biden’s performance in particular. While Trump made his typical outlandish statements, Biden’s seeming feebleness stood out even more. Some hinted at concern that the current U.S. president was ready for a second term as the leader of a nuclear-armed superpower.
“Enormous lies by Trump,” one Western diplomat said. “On the other hand, at least we understood what he says. Maybe we are witnessing a turning point” for Biden.
Some of it was about expectations. International officials and diplomats were ready for Trump to spout falsehoods. But Biden, they’d hoped, would present as stronger and more vigorous. By the end of the debate some were questioning whether either was fit to lead.
“Internationally this isn’t a great look for America, at the risk of stating the obvious,” a European diplomat texted.
Foreign policy rarely plays a big part in U.S. presidential debates, but the wars and threats from adversaries such as Iran and Russia played a large role in the first half of the event, which touched on Afghanistan, Gaza and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s designs on Ukraine and the future of NATO.
Neither man broke significant ground in terms of policy substance, and neither was able to articulate new ideas for how to fix the wars in Europe and the Middle East that are dragging on with no end in sight.
Trump accused Biden repeatedly of potentially leading America into World War III, and claimed that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Hamas militants’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel would never have happened if he were still president, while Biden accused Trump of fumbling numerous global policies and abandoning America’s allies.
“The debate on foreign policy is shallow. Biden cannot present his case, and Trump is overstating it,” a second European diplomat said.
The debate came just two weeks before Biden will host Western leaders in Washington for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit. He and his team hoped to use the moment to showcase his leadership of the alliance and present himself as a statesman with a steady hand on the wheel. But Biden’s debate performance could undermine that plan.
The foreign diplomats and officials spoke after having been granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. People in such positions usually avoid commenting on other countries’ internal politics.
Several noted that Trump appeared more vigorous than Biden and spoke more clearly even as he bent facts. “Frankly, he looks more and more like a guy we can do business with,” an African diplomat said.
Trump raised eyebrows when he claimed that he would settle the war between Russia and Ukraine while still president-elect.
“I’m not sure what that means,” an adviser to a European government said.
But the main talk of the night among the diplomatic set was about how wooden and tired Biden came across.
“It’s no secret that Biden is old, and he’s showing his age,” a European official said.
