| 'ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE': The reviews of last night's debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are in, and they are brutal. To say that Biden was not on his game would be a serious understatement. In a hoarse voice, the president stumbled and stammered through the debate, at times seeming to lose his train of thought, giving disjointed answers that trailed off inconclusively. As Biden struggled to make the point that illegal border crossings were down under his new policy, Trump said, "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said, either." The cringe-inducing 90 minutes provided plenty of material for a low-light reel released by the Trump campaign. There was no denying Biden looked feeble and did nothing to reassure voters who questioned whether he was too old for the job. As one observer noted on social media, Biden looked like "he had one foot in the grave." If Biden loses to Trump in November, many will point to this debate as the moment his campaign went off the rails. DEBATE DISASTER FOR BIDEN A FACT-FREE PERFORMANCE: There was no real-time fact-checking during the debate, and that gave Trump a free hand to repeat many of his rally-tested talking points that were inaccurate, misleading, and, at times, flat-out untrue. Biden, too, was cited for at least nine times when he made false or misleading claims. After the debate, CNN fact-checkers counted more than 30 times when Trump repeated falsehoods, including claims that the "U.S. has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe, Democratic-led states allow babies to be executed after birth, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 National Guard troops for the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, that there were no terrorist attacks during his presidency." Biden falsely claimed that "no U.S. troops have been killed on his watch, baselessly claimed that Trump wants to eliminate Social Security, falsely said that the unemployment rate was 15% when he took office, inaccurately said that the Border Patrol union had endorsed him," according to CNN. BIDEN INACCURATELY CLAIMS NO TROOPS DIED DURING ADMINISTRATION IN TRUMP DEBATE TRUMP CLEARLY WON: According to the flash polls taken right after the debate, 67% of viewers thought Trump won, while only 33% thought Biden came out on top. Biden's favorability rating also dropped from 37% to 31%, while Trump's increased slightly from 40% to 43%. "Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish. And what became very clear through the course of the night is that Joe Biden is fighting on behalf of the American people, on substance, on policy, on performance," Vice President Kamala Harris said on CNN, a comment that received immediate pushback from CNN's Anderson Cooper. "I'm sorry on substance and policy and performance tonight, I mean, the president's performance tonight clearly was disappointing for his supporters,” Cooper said. "CNN is reporting Democratic lawmakers watching the debate were worried about the president's performance. One said it was a disaster. Another called it a train wreck." The flash polls showed that 81% of viewers were sticking with their preferred candidate, while 14% said they were reconsidering, and 5% said they now preferred the other candidate. "Biden is about to face a crescendo of calls to step aside," a veteran Democratic strategist told the New York Times. "Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has run dry." OPINION: IN THE BATTLE BETWEEN TRUMP THE NARCISSIST AND BIDEN THE GHOST, THE GHOST LOST Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Stacey Dec. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE NOTE TO READERS: Daily on Defense will not publish Thursday, July 4 or Friday, July 5 as we celebrate an extended Independence Day weekend. We'll be back in your inbox and online Monday, July 8. WHAT WAS ACTUALLY DEBATED: As historian Heather Cox Richardson observed, "Stage performance has trumped substance in political coverage in our era." However, some issues of substance were discussed, at least superficially, such as Ukraine. 'I’LL HAVE THAT WAR SETTLED': Trump was asked if he's okay with Russian President Vladimir Putin's main conditions for ending the war in Ukraine: Russia keeps the Ukrainian territory it has already claimed, and Ukraine abandons its bid to join NATO. Trump's initial answer was to launch into a diatribe about how Biden's weakness led to the Russian invasion in the first place. He repeated his counterfactual argument that the invasion would not have happened under his watch. "If we had a real president, a president that knew — that was respected by Putin, he would have never — he would have never invaded Ukraine." "I've never heard so much malarkey in my whole life," Biden said when it was his turn to speak. But then he digressed into a defense of his Afghanistan withdrawal before trying to turn Trump's recent threats about withholding military assistance to NATO countries he considers deadbeats against him. "If you take a look at what Trump did in Ukraine, he's — this guy told Ukraine — told Trump, do whatever you want and do whatever you want. And that's exactly what Trump did to Putin, encouraged him, do whatever you want. And he went in." Pressed to answer the original question, Trump said Putin's terms were unacceptable. "They're not acceptable. But look, this is a war that never should have started … I'm only saying, the money that we're spending on this war, and we shouldn't be spending, it should have never happened." "I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelensky as president-elect before I take office on January 20th," Trump insisted. "I’ll have that war settled." TRUMP BLAMES FOREIGN POLICY CRISES ON BIDEN WEAKNESS DURING DEBATE BIDEN: PUTIN WANTS ALL OF UKRAINE: In what amounted to a battle of confusing, disjointed arguments, Biden tried to argue that if the U.S. abandoned Ukraine, an emboldened Putin wouldn't stop there. "He has made one thing clear: He wants to re-establish what was part of the Soviet Empire, not just a piece. He wants all of Ukraine," Biden said. "And then, do you think he'll stop there? Do you think he'll stop when he, if he, takes Ukraine? What do you think happens to Poland? What do you think of Belarus? What do you think happens to those NATO countries?" Belarus, an ally of Russia, is not a NATO country. As for the money and weapons the U.S. is providing Ukraine, Biden missed an opportunity to correct Trump's inflated claims, but did push back on the assertion that the U.S. gives more than Europe. "Our NATO allies have produced as much funding for Ukraine as we have," Biden said, "By the way, all that money we give Ukraine and from weapons we make here in the United States, we give them the weapons, not the money at this point." Later in the debate Trump returned to the subject of Ukraine and Putin. "They took a lot of land from Bush. They took a lot of land from Obama and Biden. They took no land, nothing from Trump, nothing," Trump said. "He knew not to do it. He's not going to play games with me. He knew that. I got along with him very well, but he knew not to play games. He took nothing from me, but now, he's going to take the whole thing from this man right here." TRUMP: BIDEN 'HAS “BECOME LIKE A PALESTINIAN': Trump attacked Biden for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Biden insisted he is providing Israel with everything it needs to fight Hamas, while pushing for a peace plan that would free the remaining hostages, and lead to a permanent ceasefire. "Everyone from the United Nations Security Council straight through to the G7 to the Israelis and Netanyahu himself have endorsed the plan I put forward," Biden said. "The only one who wants the war to continue is Hamas." "The only thing I've denied Israel was 2,000-pound bombs," Biden said. "They don't work very well in populated areas. They kill a lot of innocent people. We are providing Israel with all the weapons they need and when they need them." "He said the only one who wants to keep going is Hamas," Trump countered. "Actually, Israel is the one, and you should let them go and let them finish the job. He doesn't want to do it. He has become like a Palestinian. But, they don't like him because he is a very bad Palestinian. He is a weak one." Such was the level of discourse. TRUMP: 'HE NEVER TOOK OUT MY TARIFFS': The only context in which China was mentioned was a discussion of tariffs. There was no mention of the burning question of what either Trump or Biden would do if China invaded Taiwan, and Taiwan was never mentioned. Instead, Trump cowed about the tariffs he imposed on China when he was in office. "Do you notice? He never took out my tariffs because we bring in so much money," Trump said. "He never took them away. He can't because it's too much money. It's tremendous. And we saved our steel industries. And there was more to come, but he hasn't done that." "You have not, in fact, made any contact, any progress with China. We are the lowest trade deficit with China since 2010," Biden said, while making another hard to follow argument about how additional tariffs proposed by Trump will hurt middle-class Americans. "This 10 percent tariffs. Everything coming into the country … That's going to cost the average American $2,500 a year and more because they're going to have to pay the difference in food and all the things that are very important." "He's got the largest deficit in the history of our country, and he's got the worst situation with China. China is going to own us if you keep allowing them to do what they're doing," Trump said, before slipping into more name-calling. "He gets paid by China. He's a Manchurian Candidate. He gets money from China. So I think he's afraid to deal with them or something." TRUMP: NEVER SAID 'SUCKERS AND LOSERS': When Biden tried to use the anecdote told by former Trump chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, about Trump's disrespect for American war dead during a trip to Normandy, Trump simply denied it. "I went to the World War II cemetery — World War I cemetery he refused to go to. He was standing with his four-star general, and he told him — he said, "I don't want to go in there because they're a bunch of losers and suckers," Biden said. "My son was not a loser. He was not a sucker. You're the sucker. You're the loser." "That was a made-up quote, 'suckers and losers.' They made it up," Trump said. "We had 19 people that said I didn't say it." "I'm so glad this came up, and he brought it up. There's nobody that's taken better care of our soldiers than I have," Trump said. "It was made up by him, just like 'Russia, Russia, Russia' was made up, just like the 51 intelligence agents are made up." "Fifty-one intelligence agents said that the laptop was Russia disinformation," Trump said. "It wasn’t. That came from his son, Hunter. It wasn’t Russian disinformation. He made up the 'suckers and losers,' so he should apologize to me right now." Trump also said at another point, "I didn’t have sex with a porn star." JANUARY 6: Trump doubled down on his largely debunked account of what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and portrayed the violent mob as peaceful protesters. "What they've done to some people that are so innocent, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, what you have done, how you've destroyed the lives of so many people," Trump said. "I was all set to bring in the National Guard. They heard that. They saw them coming, and they left immediately. What he said about this whole subject is so off. Peacefully patriotic." "The fact of the matter is what he's telling you is simply not true," Biden replied. "The fact is that there was no effort on his part to stop what was going on up on Capitol Hill. And all those people, every one of those who were convicted deserves to be convicted. The idea that they didn't kill somebody, just went in and broke down doors, broke the windows, occupied offices, turned over desks, turned them over, statues, the idea that those people are patriots? Come on." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: Trump blames foreign policy crises on Biden weakness during debate Washington Examiner: Biden inaccurately claims no troops died during administration in Trump debate Washington Examiner: Opinion: In the battle between Trump the narcissist and Biden the ghost, the ghost lost Washington Examiner: Israel urges evacuation of northern Gaza neighborhood Washington Examiner: State Department reiterates Americans should 'reconsider travel to Lebanon' Washington Examiner: Trump invokes 'Biden migrant crime' in debate border clash Washington Examiner: Opinion: Xi signals Taiwan ambitions with public defenestration of former PLA officials Washington Examiner: Opinion: SXSW badly misses the mark with Army repudiation AP: Debate expert: probably the worst performance of an incumbent candidate ever New York Times: Russia Sends Waves of Troops to the Front in a Brutal Style of Fighting NBC News: The U.S. readies to evacuate Americans from Lebanon if fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies AP: Iran votes in snap poll for new president after hard-liner's death, but turnout remains a question Breaking Defense: Africa's Sahel Is 'Less Safe' After Troop Withdrawal: AFRICOM Commander The War Zone: Conflicting Claims Surround North Korea's Test of Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle CNN: US Air Force Veteran Charged with Disclosing Classified Information on US Military Aircraft and Weapons Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Confirms Its F-35As Were Mission Capable About Half the Time in 2023 Air & Space Forces Magazine: China 'Actively' Working to Disrupt U.S. Defense Industry SpaceNews: Russian Satellite Breaks Up, Creating Debris in Low Earth Orbit Air Force Times: Can Four Big Commands Prepare the Air Force to Win Wars? Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Training Program Gives One MQ-9 Maintainer the Skills of Three Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Releases First Video of XQ-67 Drone, a CCA Prototype, in Flight National Security Journal: Analysis: Hezbollah's Missiles And Growing Military Might Are A True Threat National Security Journal: Opinion: Israel And Hezbollah Are On Brink Of War: What Should Joe Biden Do? National Security Journal: Opinion: North Korea Sending To Troops To Fight In Ukraine: It Looks Like A Mess THE CALENDAR: FRIDAY | JUNE 28 9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW — Atlantic Council discussion: “Production diplomacy for Indo-Pacific deterrence, readiness, and resilience,” focusing on increasing the defense industrial bases of allies and partners https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/production-diplomacy-for-indo-pacific-deterrence 10 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “Germany and the World,” with German State Secretary Thomas Bagger and Peter Rough, director, Hudson Center on Europe and Eurasia https://www.hudson.org/events/germany-world-foreign-policy 12 p.m. 8100 Loisdale Rd., Springfield, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association discussion with National Guard Chief Information Officer Kenneth McNeill, director, National Guard Command, Control, Communications, and Computers Systems Directorate. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afcea-belvoir-june-2024-luncheon 12 p.m. 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security book discussion: The National Security Constitution in the 21st Century, with author Harold Koh, professor of international law at Yale Law School and former State Department legal adviser https://events.americanbar.org/event TUESDAY | JULY 2 8 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va. — Association, U.S. Army Hot Topic "Hot Topic" discussion: "Cyber and Information Advantage," with James Rubin, special envoy and coordinator for the U.S. State Department's Global Engagement Center; Young Bang, principal deputy assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology; Maj. Gen. Paul Stanton, commander, U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence; and Peter Singer, strategist with New America and founder and managing partner of Useful Fiction https://www.ausa.org/events/hot-topics 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution in-person and virtual discussion: "Force Design: A conversation with Gen. Eric Smith, 39th commandant, US Marine Corps," and Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Brookings https://www.brookings.edu/events/force-design 10 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies "Aerospace Nation" webinar: "Want Better Results in Ukraine? Senior Leader Views," with retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies; co-author Dr. Christopher Bowie; retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, former supreme NATO commander; and retired Air Force Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, former commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa https://go.afa.org | | | | "Let's not act like children," said former President Donald Trump. "You are a child," replied President Joe Biden, at last night's debate. | | Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden at the 2024 presidential debate on June 27. |
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