Biden Gives Poor Debate Showing Despite Weeklong Prep at Camp David

US President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate with former US President Donal
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Joe Biden gave a poor showing at the debate against Trump on Thursday night despite a weeklong prep at Camp David.

As the New York Times noted this week, the president had a rigorous debate prep ahead of his showdown with former President Trump that should have made him good and ready.

At Camp David, a movie theater and an airplane hangar have been outfitted with lights and production equipment to create a mock debate stage. At least 16 current and former aides, summoned from Washington and Wilmington, whiz back and forth on golf carts to join President Biden in strategy sessions.

Mr. Biden is entering his fifth day of preparations at the presidential retreat in the woods of northern Maryland for Thursday’s debate against Donald J. Trump. Camp David has become the epicenter for an administration and campaign effort to help Mr. Biden shake off the rust that often comes with being an incumbent on the defense, and combat widespread voter concerns that he is too old to be an effective president.

Both candidates are out of practice as debaters. And Mr. Biden’s top advisers, including Ron Klain, who is managing the debate preparations, are aware of the missteps incumbents have made in the past. In 2012, President Barack Obama flailed in his first re-election debate and had to quickly reorient for the second one.

Yet, during the debate with former President Trump, Biden froze on several occasions and had trouble speaking during others. Democrats and media figures were nearly unanimous in their opinion that Biden had a poor debate performance and even floated the idea of replacing him at the convention.

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