Media Common Ground After the Trump-Biden Debate May Surprise You

The first presidential debate between Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden was held on Thursday, and media outlets were quick to analyze the debate and declare a winner.

First, let’s address the elephant (or donkey?) in the room: the big story in left and right-rated media outlets was Biden’s age and fitness to remain in office for four more years.

Mother Jones (Left bias) asserted that “[Biden] stumbled through 90 minutes, muffing answers, often looking uncertain, speaking in a low, gravelly voice that did not convey strength… Biden was not the Biden that Democrats wanted.”

“Any voter who has wondered about the abilities of this 81-year-old-man would not be reassured.”

And it wasn’t just Mother Jones — many outlets on the left described Joe Biden’s age and performance as underwhelming, to say the least. 

• HuffPost (Left bias) said that “Biden looked and sounded like an old man. Especially in the first 20 minutes…”
• An opinion writer for USA Today (Lean Left bias) indicated that “CNN’s panel [after the debate] — except for the Trump supporters — sounded like they just got back from a funeral.”
• Slate (Left bias) said “Biden frankly looked like Trump’s caricature of Joe Biden”
• An opinion piece in MSNBC (Left bias) argued that Biden “failed to complete thoughts, made awkward and confusing statements and looked lost when not talking. It was clear almost immediately that Biden simply wasn’t capable of a strong debate performance. At least not on Thursday night.”

Right-rated sources have long voiced concerns about Biden’s age and mental faculties, and after the debate, some expressed deep concern for Biden’s second term if he were to be re-elected. “During a second term, our president would continue to deteriorate, incapable of making proper decisions. That would be a disaster for the United States,” stated New York Post Opinion (Right bias). “No wonder the White House keeps him hidden, away from the press and public events.”
 

Who Won the Debate?

Some news outlets selected a winner. Few, if any, chose Biden.

National Review Opinion (Right bias) argued in its headline that “Trump May Have Done Too Much Winning Tonight.” It attributed Trump winning partly to Biden being a “tremendously weak candidate.”

Like National Review, much of the conversation in media outlets was not about who won the debate, but about who – and maybe even both – lost.

MSNBC stated that “Donald Trump may not have 'won' the presidential debate. But Biden lost.” It continues, “Debates have been shown to have very little impact on election outcomes, but this one may test that trend.”

Another outlet on the left, Vox (Left bias), said “If the debate ends with your party debating whether you should even stay in the race, it’s pretty obvious you lost.”

Throughout the debate, Biden’s performance was called into question on social media and in the news. And it was often about Biden’s actions in the debate – from appearing to look off into the distance with his mouth open to pausing during a comment.

NPR (Lean Left bias) indicated that “Elections aren’t won in transcripts. The reality is, fairly or not, debates are often about optics — how the candidates present themselves, defend their records and parry attacks.”
 

New Moderation Style – How Did it Affect The Debate?

Thursday’s debate was moderated by CNN (Lean Left bias) and instilled a new structure and rules not seen in presidential debates before: it included measures such as muting microphones to prevent someone from speaking out of turn and the absence of a live audience. The network said its goal was to tone down disruptions seen in the 2020 presidential debates.

NPR argued that the muting of candidates helped Trump, saying “it had the effect of making Trump seem more sedate than usual.”

NPR also argued the “moderation, or lack thereof, also allowed Trump to spread falsehoods and hyperbole without being interrupted or corrected.”
 

Both Trump and Biden Accused of Lies and False Claims

Misleading claims were rampant throughout the debate, which was fact-checked by various news media outlets.

Mother Jones reported that “Trump stuck to the usual stuff. He was combative and dishonest.” The outlet also voiced skepticism about Trump’s statement about cognitive tests he said he’s taken. “Trump bragged that he had aced two cognitive tests (really?) and had recently won two golf club championships. (Factcheck: He cheats at golf.) He absurdly asserted he was in as good physical shape as he was 30 years ago.”

HuffPost also described what it felt were lies from Trump: “Over and over, on issues including the economy, health care and foreign policy, Trump spun lies about Biden’s policies and his administration’s record. He claimed Biden is ‘going to destroy Social Security’ by allowing undocumented immigrants into the program, that Biden would raise taxes on Americans fivefold, that ‘everyone’ wanted to repeal Roe v. Wade, that Biden ‘made up the Charlottesville story’ about inspiring his run for president after Trump defended far-right extremists who rioted in Virginia, and that police officers allowed violent attackers into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to name just a few examples.”

The economy was the first topic of the debate, and both candidates hurled insults at the other about how the other’s domestic policy was bad for America. “Biden claimed Trump destroyed the economy in 2020, while Trump claimed Biden solely caused inflation… all false,” claimed Vox.

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (Lean Right bias) argued that Biden made many misleading claims: “Mr. Biden tried numerous times to bait Mr. Trump into explanations or arguments about Democratic accusations (many false or exaggerated): that he admires neo-Nazis; that he called veterans ‘suckers and losers’; that he’s a ‘whiner’; and that he has the ‘morals of an alley cat.’”

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This piece was written by Andrew Weinzierl, AllSides' Bias Research Manager and Data Journalist. He has a Lean Left bias.

Reviewed by Editor-in-chief Henry A. Brechter (Center bias), News Assistant Malayna J. Bizier (Right bias), and Content Intern Olivia Geno (Lean Right bias).