Former President Donald Trump was jubilant Friday about his performance in the presidential debate Thursday night against President Biden.
"Did anybody last night watch anything called a debate?" he asked a crowd of thousands in Chesapeake, Virginia.
"We had a big victory against a man that really is looking to destroy our country," he said of Mr. Biden, referring to him as "corrupt" and "incompetent."
The president's performance in the debate alarmed many Democrats; the president spoke in a raspy voice and struggled to correct Trump's lies as he faced a national audience on prime-time television. The split screen showed Mr. Biden at times with his mouth agape, and his answers to several questions were garbled. The debate came at a time when many Americans believe Mr. Biden, now 81, may be too old for the job and too old to relate to them.
Trump mocked the president, noting that Mr. Biden had spent the week "resting, working and studying" at Camp David. "He got the debate rules he wanted. He got the date that he wanted. He got the network that he wanted," Trump added, referring to CNN. "No amount of resting or rigging could help him defend his atrocious record."
But "Joe Biden's age is not his problem," Trump said. "It's his competence."
Earlier Friday, President Biden addressed his own lackluster debate performance during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, speaking with notably more energy and vigor than he had Thursday night.
"I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to," he told the supportive crowd. "But I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth...I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up."
Trump also refuted the suggestion that Democrats could try to replace Mr. Biden on the Democratic ticket after his panned performance, suggesting that his campaign's internal polling shows that Mr. Biden performs best of all of the potential Democrats who could run against him.
"The fact is, I don't really believe that because he does better in polls than any of the Democrats they're talking about," Trump said.
Trump then took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris.
"It might have been Joe Biden's single best decision putting her as vice president. Might have been his best because nobody wants that," Trump said. "I do. I'd be very happy with it."
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