Democratic presidential candidate, President Barack Obama (R), and Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (L), smile after the Presidential Debate at the University of Denver on October 3, 2012, in Denver, Colorado. | Source: Win McNamee / Getty
A social media video contrasting the presidential debates from just 12 years ago with the “disastrous” one held this week in Atlanta has drawn attention to stark differences between the candidates then and now and, perhaps more pointedly, the substance of the debates’ discourse.
The carefully edited footage intersperses clips of President Barack Obama and then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney debating in Denver in 2012 with clips from Thursday night’s debate featuring President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“What a difference 12 years makes,” noted the post on X, formerly Twitter.
The video starts by showing Obama and Romney not only shaking hands at the start of their debate but also going on to exchange humorous anecdotal pleasantries in a demonstration that presidential candidates as recently as a dozen years ago were able to put aside personal differences in favor of decency and civility as a nation of citizens watched.
But just as quickly as those kumbaya images are shown, the footage abruptly cuts to Thursday night’s debate in which Biden and Trump exchanged insults and were seemingly focused more on dishing out personal affronts than discussing presidential policy — again, as a nation of citizens watched.
President Joe Biden and Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. | Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty
For instance, Biden mocked Trump’s status as a convicted felon from a criminal case centered on a porn star and remarked that his opponent has “the morals of an alley cat.”
Trump, for his part, predicted Biden would similarly be found guilty of a crime and told more than 30 lies during the debate, according to a tally from CNN.
Watch the video below.
What a difference 12 years makes pic.twitter.com/RxSxHoGBGx
— Irish Patriot
(@IrishPatri0t) June 29, 2024
As of Sunday morning, the video had been viewed more than 30 million times.
The video underscores what’s at stake for democracy as we get closer to the general election in November.
Obama and Romney debated four times in 2012, upholding the traditional number of debates presidential candidates have been participating in for decades.
Biden and Trump, however, are scheduled to debate just one more time in September, and that meeting isn’t guaranteed after Thursday night’s performance.
The fact that Biden lost his train of thought multiple times and, in some instances, wasn’t even able to finish answering questions in full, certainly didn’t help the optics any, either.
However, it also doesn’t necessarily spell his doom in November.
Obama was largely panned after debating Romney in Denver in October of 2012, after which the Washington Post remarked how the first Black president “was virtually unrecognizable to the person who swept to victory in 2008 or even the man who had built a narrow-but-clear edge in the 2012 race.”
CNN wrote that “Romney trounced Obama.”
And much like following Thursday night’s debate, Democrats back in 2012 conceded Obama’s defeat to Biden.
But, as Obama’s campaign eventually proved, one bad debate performance doesn’t mean a presidential reelection campaign will be completely derailed.
He said as much on Friday following the Biden-Trump debate.
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” Obama posted on X. “But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 28, 2024
This is America.
SEE ALSO:
‘Appalling’: Cornel West Rips ‘Senile’ Biden, ‘Trump’s Lies’ At Presidential Debate
Biden And Trump Debate: 5 Takeaways For Black Voters To Consider
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