Chinese critics were ecstatic after Biden’s scathing debate on Thursday, slamming the 81-year-old president on everything from his appearance to his voice to how often he blinks.
Even media in America’s closest European allies slammed the president for his “appalling” performance, while Vladimir Putin’s representatives claimed the Russian dictator had slept through the disastrous showdown.
“The debate was very entertaining for many Chinese people,” Hu Xijin, a leading commentator and former state media editor, wrote on X early Friday, scathingly labelling the Atlanta showdown between Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump as “negative propaganda for Western democracy.”
While some media outlets criticized Trump for disregarding the truth in many of his comments, commentary on Biden’s performance focused on his cognitive state.
State media outlet Beijing News described Biden as “confused all the time,” while a post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo criticized the president for “looking like a robot and barely blinking.”
In a fiery thread on the Chinese microblogging site, some wrote that Biden was showing “clear signs of dementia.”
Houshia Moonlight, a popular Chinese blogger with about 4 million followers on the platform, described the first of two scheduled debates in harsh terms, saying “Trump won.”
“The content of the debate isn’t important; what matters is that a witty and flexible Trump successfully highlighted the sleeping king’s aging and dying nature,” Moonlight wrote.
Other users flooded the comments section, likening Biden to a “Teletubby” and saying it was a “miracle” that he was able to stay on his feet throughout the argument.
“Let’s be honest, Trump is 78 years old and his ability to think and react quickly is far greater than many people in their 30s and 40s,” one commenter pointed out.
Meanwhile, President Putin did not issue a statement through his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“You don’t expect the Russian president to set his alarm and get up early in the morning to watch a debate in the United States,” Peskov said in response to reporters asking if Putin had watched the debate, according to Reuters.
“There are a lot of issues that are really important to our country and that concern us. These are issues that the president is working on. The U.S. debate is not on the main agenda.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping had not commented publicly on the discussions as of early Friday afternoon.
Biden has not been well-received by European media, even among close US allies.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that he appeared “confused” and noted his “hoarse voice.”
Swedish broadcaster SVT called the presidential debate “almost catastrophic,” while Poland’s Onett called the debate “sad to watch,” Newsweek reported.
France’s Le Monde newspaper called Biden a “wreck” with his frequent struggle to speak in complete sentences, while Britain’s The Economist slammed Biden’s performance as “appalling” and even ominously warned that it “calls into question his entire candidacy.”
A CNN poll conducted immediately after the debate found that 67% of respondents predicted Trump would win that night, while 33% predicted Biden would win.
The candidates are scheduled to face off again in the second and final debate of this election cycle on September 10.
