President Joe Biden’s chances of winning a second term in the White House in November fell with major bookmakers after Thursday’s presidential debate, during which the Democratic incumbent appeared to lose his train of thought at several points.
The debate in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted by CNN without a studio audience, reportedly raised fresh concerns among Democrats about the 81-year-old’s mental fitness to serve another four years in office.
Before the debate on Thursday, Bet365 gave Biden a 13/8 (38.1%) chance of winning the November election, but that dropped to 10/3 (23.1%) as of 3 a.m. Friday. morning ET, according to betting site Oddschecker.
Over the same period, Biden’s odds of victory have fallen from 13/8 (38.1%) to 3/1 (25%) with Sky Bet, 15/8 (34.8%) to 3/1 (25%) with William Hill and 13/8 (38.1%) to 7/2 (22.2%) with Betfair.
Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said News week: “Biden’s disastrous face-off with Trump quickly saw punters lose faith that the incumbent president had five more years in his life.
“The two men were neck and neck in April; today, despite Trump’s various legal and financial troubles, he has the strong support of punters to become the next US president.”
News week reached out to representatives of Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign for comment outside of regular business hours Friday.
Biden’s age and mental abilities have been a major topic of discussion during the campaign, with a New York Times A survey released in March found that 61% of those who voted for him in 2020 think he is now “simply too old” for another term. Critics have also expressed concerns about Trump’s cognitive abilities. On June 22 in Philadelphia, Trump, 78, complained that he would be portrayed as “cognitively impaired” by the media if he said “a word that was slightly out of place.”
During Thursday’s debate, Biden appeared confused in saying that Trump posed a threat to Medicare, commenting: “Making sure that we’re able to make every single person eligible for what I was able to do with the…with COVID, excuse me, with uh, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh… Look, if we finally beat Medicare. ” At this point, CNN moderator Jake Tapper interrupted Biden by saying, “Thank you, President Biden” before passing the question to Trump, who claimed the outgoing president “beat Medicare…he beat it to death. »
Later, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while discussing immigration, saying, “I changed things in such a way that now we’re in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people who are crossing the border illegally, it’s better than when (Trump) left office. And I’m going to keep pushing things forward until we get the total ban…the total initiative on what we’re going to do with more border patrol and more asylum agents. »
Trump then replied: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knew what he said either. »
Concerns were also raised online about Biden’s voice, which at times sounded raspy and raspy. The president could be heard clearing his throat several times during the debate. A Biden aide said Newsweek He was suffering from a cold during the debate.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY
Trump’s odds of winning the 2024 election improved after the debate, but not as much as Biden’s, suggesting that oddsmakers are factoring in the possibility of another Democrat running in November.
On Thursday, before the debate, the odds of Trump winning in November on Bet365 and Sky Bet were 4/6 (60%) and improved to 4/7 (63.6%) by 3am ET on Friday. Similarly, with William Hill and Betfair, it went from 8/13 (61.9%) before the debate to 4/7 (63.6%) the following morning.
A Trump spokesperson was sent Newsweek a campaign statement on what they called the former president’s “historic debate victory.”
He said: “Tonight, President Trump delivered the greatest debate and victory in history in front of the largest voting audience in history, making clear how he will improve the lives of every American…
“Joe Biden, on the other hand, showed exactly why he deserved to be fired. Despite taking a week-long vacation at Camp David to prepare for the debate, Biden was unable to defend his disastrous record on the economy and the border. Throughout the debate, Biden lied, made up stories, and failed to articulate a single plan to make things cheaper and keep our citizens safe, choosing instead to change the subject and dwell on the past.”
After the debate, CNN chief national correspondent John King said Biden’s performance had triggered a “panic” within his party. He said: “This debate was a game changer in the sense that right now there is a deep, broad, very aggressive panic within the Democratic Party.”
“It started within minutes of the debate and it’s ongoing today. It involves party strategists, elected officials, fundraisers. And they’re discussing the president’s performance, which they think is dismal, which they think is going to hurt other candidates in the party, and they’re discussing what they should do about it.”
In a video posted on
But she added: “But we Democrats can’t do that. Joe Biden is not capable of putting a sentence on paper. We need to change candidates, and we have so many good candidates sitting on the sidelines. »
Update 6/28/24, 7:15 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with a response from a Donald Trump spokesperson.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.