Biden-Trump debate marked by heated exchange of personal insults

US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump engaged in a heated exchange of insults during their first debate ahead of the upcoming presidential election. 

The presidential debate on Thursday night turned intensely personal as Biden and Trump exchanged sharp barbs. The two candidates clashed on their records, with the economy, abortion, and immigration taking center stage, but it was the personal insults that dominated the headlines.

The debate, a rare face-off between a sitting and former president, unfolded at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, without a live audience.

The candidates did not shake hands, and their microphones were muted while the other spoke.

Biden was the first to launch a personal attack, citing a report that Trump had called veterans "a bunch of losers and suckers." He defended his late son Beau's military service, stating, "My son was not a loser. He’s not a sucker," and pointedly told Trump, "You’re the sucker. You’re the loser."

Trump retorted, insisting the quote was fabricated: "To think that I would, in front of generals and others, say, ‘Suckers and losers,'" and demanded an apology from Biden, saying, "He made up the suckers and losers. So he should apologize to me right now."

The debate then veered into the criminal cases surrounding both candidates' families. Trump targeted Biden's son, Hunter, who was found guilty on multiple counts, including lying on a federal background check form.

Trump accused, "When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon. At a very high level. His son is convicted, going to be convicted probably numerous other times, should have been convicted before but his Justice Department let the statute of limitations lapse."

Biden countered by referencing Trump's recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to hush money payments to prevent a story alleging an affair with Stormy Daniels.

"Only person on this stage [who] is a convicted felon, is the man I’m looking at right now," Biden said.

He further criticized Trump's moral character, saying, "And think of all the civil penalties you have ... for doing a whole range of things, of having sex with a porn star ... while your wife was pregnant. What are you talking about? You have the morals of an alley cat."

Trump claimed that the case was politically motivated, noting his fundraising success following the verdict.

Elsewhere in the debate, Biden called Trump a "whiner" over his refusal to accept the 2020 election results, to which Trump assured that he would accept the 2024 results if they were "fair."

Biden doubted this, saying, "I doubt you’ll accept it because you’re such a whiner. ... Something snapped in you when you lost last time."

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