What will be the consequences of Biden's debate failure?
"Disaster," "Failure," "Horrific" and even "We're f***ed." No, this is not a random collection of expletives, but several quotes from Joe Biden's fellow party members who have evaluated his performance in this year's first presidential debate.
It currently looks like these debates will mark the beginning of Donald Trump's triumphant return to the White House.
Or – the lowest point in the Democrats' election campaign. The party is already unofficially calling for Biden to be replaced by a more promising candidate.
Read more about the debates, what the presidential candidates said about the war in Ukraine and countering "war criminal" Putin in the article by Oleh Pavliuk, a European Pravda journalist – Disaster on live TV: How Biden failed the US presidential debate and what's next.
Although the impact of presidential debates on US election results has diminished over the years, the current ones between Biden and Trump are unprecedented in their own way.
For the first time since 1960, when televised debates were lauched in the US, the candidates spoke before their nominations were officially confirmed at party conventions.
Secondly, these debates took place under relatively strict conditions.
Without an audience and notes, with clear time limits and microphone cutoffs, and at the same time, with the opportunity to respond to the opponent's attacks.
The moderators' questions from CNN had no clear sequence.
Biden emphasised the issue of abortion. And, of course, the trials of Trump.
Trump, on the other hand, primarily attacked Biden because of his age and whether he still suits for the presidency.
On top of that he pointed out immigration issues on the border with Mexico and failed foreign policy: from the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to the war in Ukraine.
The issue of Ukraine deserves separate attention, as it became the subject of a heated dispute between Biden and Trump.
The candidates' statements were actually quite predictable. Trump emphasised the weakness of his Democratic opponent, claiming that Biden "encouraged Russia to go to war," and if he (Trump) had remained president, Putin "would never have invaded Ukraine" (Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. – EP).
The only newsworthy statement from Trump was that he called the proposed "conditions for peace negotiations" by Putin, which de facto imply Ukraine's capitulation, "unacceptable."
Joe Biden's line was no less predictable.
Biden emphasised that Putin is a "war criminal," and if allowed to capture Ukraine, it would be the beginning of World War III. Yet the Democratic president focused more on personalised criticism of Trump, specifically his intentions to "leave NATO."
A CNN snap poll immediately after the debate showed that the unequivocal winner was Donald Trump. 67% of respondents found the Republican's performance more convincing than Biden's.
The current president indeed appeared highly unconvincing: he was confused in formulating his thoughts, made unfortunate slips and often looked into the camera with a vacant gaze during Trump's speech.
The Democratic Party has assessed it a very harsh way.
It's still too soon to discuss the prospect of replacing Biden. The Democratic Party will nominate a candidate for the presidential election on 19 August.
Moreover, according to the same CNN snap poll, over 80% of registered voters did not change their opinion on whom they will vote for in November 2024.
But for observers in Ukraine, the presidential debate served as a reminder: the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the US presidency is quite real.