The First Biden-Trump Presidential Debate of 2024: Cleanup on Aisles 46 and 45

After weeks of immense anticipation and hype, the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season aired on Thursday, June 27, on CNN and other cable and digital platforms.& When all was said and done, Democrat Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, and GOP’s Donald J. Trump, the 45th, left more questions than answers in the minds of 51.27 million viewers about who should lead America after the November election.& With CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash co-moderating the historic debate, the event brought out the good, bad, and ugly – light on the good – from Biden and Trump, who went toe-to-toe over issues facing America, but without a studio audience to convince. The questions presented to the candidates were from national polls, derived from issues most important to Americans, such as the economy, illegal border crossings, immigration policies, abortion rights, the January 6 insurrection, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and drifting foreign relations with China and Russia. Biden fielded the first question. “What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency than they were under President Trump?” Tapper asked. “You have to take a look at what I...