“If we continue to allow China to do what they’re doing to us, we’re going to be dominated by China. They’re killing us as a country, Joe,” the former president said, accusing Biden of being a “Manchurian candidate” in China’s flashlight..
Instead of raising prices for consumers, Trump argued his plan would result in countries like China “paying the United States a lot of money, significantly reducing our budget deficit and giving us a lot of power to do other things.”
The economy was a major focus of Thursday’s debate, with each side accusing the other of expanding the U.S. budget deficit during their respective presidencies.
Meanwhile, Biden announced new tariffs on about $18 billion worth of Chinese products, but most of these are on emerging technologies such as electric vehicles and semiconductors rather than on current trade flows.
The US president on Thursday defended his job creation record, though he occasionally stumbled over his words. “50 million new jobs. 800,000 manufacturing jobs,” he declared.
President Trump also highlighted efforts he has made to reduce America’s reliance on foreign-made semiconductors, primarily manufactured in Asia, saying $40 billion has already been invested and semiconductor factories are currently being built in the United States to create new American jobs.
The two candidates also offered starkly different visions for America’s place in the world.
Strengthening and building new alliances has been at the center of the Biden administration’s Asia policy and broader foreign policy, while Trump has been critical of alliances like NATO, repeatedly saying this year that he would not defend NATO members that are “negligent” in contributing to the alliance’s defense budget.
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US presidential debate: Joe Biden and Donald Trump argue over economy and Ukraine war
US presidential debate: Joe Biden and Donald Trump argue over economy and Ukraine war
On Thursday, Biden criticized Trump’s record, including his threat to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. Trump responded: [Biden] “The reason we can play games with NATO is because we’ve given them hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The former president responded similarly to criticism of Biden’s withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, noting that the withdrawal would have cost the U.S. “a trillion dollars” while countries like Russia and China would have suffered nothing.
Trump has rejected criticism that he is weak in engaging with other countries, claiming America’s reputation has deteriorated under Biden and that world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, neither “respect” nor “fear” the current president.
He also accused Biden of pursuing “insane” military policies that are bringing the US “closer to World War III.”
Biden, meanwhile, defended America’s reputation as his president, saying “we are the most respected country in the world. Nothing is beyond our capabilities.”
“Nobody thinks we’re weak. Nobody is trying to deceive us,” he said.
The two presidential candidates spoke before two moderators but no audience. The debate takes place about five months from Election Day, the earliest in history and just weeks before each party’s nominating convention.
Polls show a close race nationally and in key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Both Biden and Trump are the oldest candidates running for the US presidency. Biden, who turns 82 just weeks after the Nov. 5 election, has faced the brunt of questions about his age; Trump turned 78 this month. Both men were asked to defend their ages on Thursday, with Trump repeatedly criticising Biden’s age.
