The Debate From Hell: Stumbling Biden Slow To Counter Trump's Barrage Of Lies

Donald Trump lied about the economy on his watch, about veterans care, about crime and even about the violent participants in his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt ― and was able to go largely unchallenged by President Joe Biden, who managed a weak and unfocused performance from the start.

As he did during his four years in office, Trump claimed that he created “the best economy in history.” In fact, the economy during his administration was essentially the same as that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, and actually created fewer new jobs in his first three years than Obama’s did in his final three years.

Trump claimed he had passed the Veterans Choice act, allowing veterans to go to private doctors if wait times got too long. In reality, that measure also passed under Obama.

Trump claimed crime was skyrocketing. In fact, crime peaked in Trump’s final year in the White House and has been falling every year under Biden.

Trump then claimed he had done nothing wrong in his handling of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and blamed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not stopping the violence. He then claimed prosecutions against him were brought not because of his actions but because he was running for president.

“I did nothing wrong. We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting,” he said. “He indicted me because I was his political opponent.”

Trump even claimed that Biden was taking money from China. In reality, Trump received more than $5 million from China during his presidency just through his hotel five blocks from the White House.

Through it all, the CNN moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, did not fact-check Trump, and Biden appeared unable to counter him ― frequently mangling the syntax in his responses