Donald Trump is a liar. A flawed character. He’s mean, a jerk, and very unlikable. That was obvious at last night’s presidential debate.
Now the hard and heartbreaking part.
The president had to reassure America that he was up to the job at his age.
I have been a surrogate for some presidential candidates in my time, and I know what the job is after a debate for a surrogate. And I’ve never wanted to be a surrogate more than I do right now. Because when you’re a surrogate, you have to focus on the positives. But, as I have said very clearly and very plainly — and my job now is to be really honest — Joe Biden had one thing he had to do last night, and he didn’t do it.
The president had to reassure America that he was up to the job at his age. And he failed.
Does that mean that Biden is not the right candidate? I think we’ll know a lot more in a few weeks. But I know I’m not the only one who watched the debate last night and felt terribly for Joe Biden. How did we get here?
And I don’t know how the rest of this story will be written. I don’t know if things can be done to fix this. They might. Trump is so terrible that this might heal itself. But based on what I’m hearing from a lot of people, some in high elected offices in this country, there is a lot more than hand-wringing going on. I do think people feel like we are confronting a crisis.
This debate felt like a gut punch to most people in this country, especially to those who are paying close attention and know how dangerous Trump is. And I think it’ll take a couple of days for people to recover from that punch. In the end, it may be that Biden’s campaign can repair this damage. Maybe the president can come out, show more vigor and show the ability to stay on track. But there were some moments during that debate when all of us were holding our breath. That’s not the kind of thing you want to happen 130 days out from an election when you have Donald Trump on the other side of the equation. This is an adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s special presidential debate coverage on June 27, 2024.
Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. She is currently an MSNBC and NBC News political analyst.
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