‘Jaw-dropping’: O’Reilly, Rivera analyze Biden-Trump debate
- Trump and Biden clashed on immigration, abortion, economy during the debate
- Rivera on Biden's performance: 'What happened here cannot be minimized'
- O'Reilly: 'Turning point' occurred when Trump attack Biden's border policy
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(NewsNation) — NewsNation hosts Dan Abrams, Elizabeth Vargas, Chris Cuomo were joined by Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera on Thursday night to analyze President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump‘s heated first presidential debate of the 2024 election.
O’Reilly pointed out that Biden and Trump “hate each other personally,” noting their lack of handshakes during the opening and ending of the debate and lack of eye contact.
He also highlighted Biden’s slip-up when he mistakenly said he created 15,000 jobs instead of 15 million.
“Right away I knew, as a professional who has debated thousands of people, myself, that Biden was off his game,” O’Reilly said. “Twelve minutes in, he melts down totally — the president starts to babble and he doesn’t know what he’s saying, he loses his train of thought.”
During the debate, Biden struggled at times to finish his sentences or complete a talking point. He was also reminded by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash to use the rest of his time when he cut his answers and responses to Trump short.
Rivera echoed O’Reilly’s observations about Biden’s debate performance.
“When President Biden stumbled and totally lost his train of thought, and almost dropped his head in resignation, only to be saved by Jake Tapper asking the follow-up question of President Trump, that That was a moment where I said, ‘oh my God, has he had a stroke? What has happened?'” he said. “It was so dramatic. It was jaw-dropping.”
Rivera added that Biden showed “the true grit that we love,” especially when speaking about his son and calling out Trump as a liar.
“I think that what happened here cannot be minimized,” Rivera said.
Meanwhile, O’Reilly emphasized that the “turning point” of the debate occurred when Trump attacked Biden’s policies on the border and the deaths of three young girls in the last few weeks, including 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray. Two migrants from Venezuela who illegally entered the U.S. have been charged with killing the girl.
“Biden had no response. Trump could have been worse. He could’ve said to President Biden ‘you didn’t call any of the families,’ which is true, and Trump called them all,” O’Reilly said.
A CNN flash poll of debate watchers found that 67% of those surveyed said Trump won the debate, compared to 33% who said Biden won.
