Las Vegas:

President Joe Biden hits the campaign trail Tuesday for the first time since the assassination attempt against Donald Trump, seeking a balance between criticizing his rival while heeding his own calls to cool down American politics.

As Trump rides a wave of support at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Democrat Biden — who is trying to salvage his reelection bid — is in Las Vegas to reach out to a key constituency of Black voters at the NAACP advocacy group.

The 81-year-old president will also record an interview with Black broadcaster BET, the latest in a series of one-on-ones as he works to ease concerns over his age and mental acuity following his dismal debate performance against Trump last month.

Amid calls for Americans to “lower the temperature” of politics in the wake of the attempt on Trump’s life, Biden canceled a campaign trip to Texas on Monday but continued with his Nevada visit.

Biden narrowly won Nevada in his 2020 election victory over Trump.

The trip comes as Democrats push ahead with plans to rush through Biden’s own nomination ahead of the party’s conference in August, despite calls to postpone it while the party remains torn over his candidacy.

While the attempt on Trump’s life has briefly silenced the drumbeat of Democrats who called on Biden to step aside, tensions are still bubbling beneath the surface as the president trails in the polls.

Biden’s campaign insisted the virtual roll-call was necessary before the August 19 convention as Republican-led Ohio had moved its filing date to August 7, otherwise Biden risked not appearing on the ballot.

‘Play games’

“There have been virtual roll calls in previous presidential elections” Democratic deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told a press conference on the sidelines of the Republican gathering in Milwaukee.

“Ohio Republicans decided to play games… it is our obligation as a campaign to make sure that President Biden is on the ballot.”

The move is however only likely to fuel questions about whether Biden can win a second term after a faltering showing at the debate where he mangled his words and lost his train of thought.

Biden, who says he “screwed up” due to jet lag and illness, forcefully defended his fitness for the job in a second major US network interview on Monday night.

“I’m old,” Biden told NBC. “But I’m only three years older than Trump, number one. And number two, my mental acuity has been pretty damn good.”

Biden also defended his rhetoric about Trump after Republicans accused him of stocking divisions ahead of the shooting in which the former president’s ear was hit.

FBI investigators are still probing 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’ motivation for the attack on a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bystander was killed and Crooks was shot dead.

Biden admitted it was a “mistake” to tell donors in a call last week that it was “time to put Trump in the bullseye” of his election campaign.

But Biden doubled down on what he said was the need to “talk about the threat to democracy” posed by former president Trump.

Trump was impeached and faces criminal charges over the deadly January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by supporters seeking to overturn his election loss to Biden.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Atlanta, United States:

There will be no studio audience, depriving candidates of the momentum that comes from ginning up supporters. Microphones will cut out when a candidate’s speaking time is over. Thursday night’s presidential debate will not be business as usual.

CNN, which is hosting President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump for their first debate of the 2024 campaign in Atlanta, wants to avoid the chaos seen when the two men squared off in 2020.

Here are some facts about the 90-minute debate, a key moment in the race for the White House, but one whose impact is difficult to predict.

 Averting mayhem 

In their first war of words four years ago, Trump repeatedly cut off the veteran Democrat, launched into lengthy diatribes and taunted his rival, who ended up shouting at one point: “Will you shut up, man?”

It was hardly the height of presidential decorum.

To cut down on the hijinks, CNN has set up a series of rules, to which both campaigns agreed.

Among the most notable: When the candidates take the stage at the network’s Atlanta studios at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Friday), there will be no one in the audience.

Microphones will be muted except for the candidate asked to speak. There will be two commercial breaks during the showdown between 78-year-old Trump and 81-year-old Biden, the two oldest presumptive White House nominees in history.

Moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, both regular CNN on-air presenters, will “use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion,” the network said.

Trump gets last word 

Biden won the coin toss, allowing him to choose either his podium position or whether he preferred to speak first or second in final statements.

The incumbent chose the podium on the viewers’ right, and Trump opted to have the last word.

No live fact-checking 

CNN has not revealed the debate themes and does not plan to fact-check candidate statements in real time — even if Trump repeats the baseless charge that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

For Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania, “one problem with a debate that features Donald Trump is that the moderators don’t fact check in real-time, nor should they.”

“It’s highly risky to try to do that and it would be disruptive of the debate if they did,” she told AFP. “The danger is instead of informing, a debate could actually increase the amount of inaccurate knowledge.”

Biden and Trump will not have teleprompters and they cannot bring pre-written notes to the stage, although they will be provided with paper and pen. Consulting with campaign staff during commercial breaks will not be allowed.

Debate airs on all networks 

Both candidates rejected the oversight of the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates formed in 1987 to manage such events.

Instead, they made a direct deal with CNN. The news network, now owned by media conglomerate Warner Bros Discovery, afforded its rivals the opportunity to broadcast the debate live in the name of public service, under certain conditions.

The screen must bear the CNN logo and outside commentary is forbidden.

Fox News — which regularly attacks CNN as biased against Trump — plans to hit the airwaves two hours before the event, with talk show hosts Jesse Watters and Sean Hannity providing pre-game insights.

In the past, Hannity has called Tapper a “radical left-wing partisan talk show host masquerading as a journalist.”

 Impact on campaign? 

The debate will certainly be a key moment in the campaign, watched by tens of millions: a record 84 million tuned in to watch Trump’s first battle with Hillary Clinton in 2016, and 73 million saw Trump and Biden duke it out in 2020.

But it will not necessarily be a game-changer.

This is the first time a debate has been organized so early in the race, more than four months before Election Day, and even before the candidates have been formally nominated by their respective parties.

“The worry is that the public in the United States doesn’t pay much attention to news in summer,” said Jamieson.

“In general, presidential debates don’t affect a sufficient number of votes to decide the outcome of an election. But when an election is close, as this one may be, debates can play an important role.”

ABC is scheduled to host a second debate on September 10.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

President Joe Biden pauses while leaving after delivering remarks on the verdict in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial and on the Middle East, from the State Dining Room of the White House.
| Photo Credit: AP

President Joe Biden said on Friday that Donald Trump being found guilty in his New York hush money case reaffirms “the American principle that no one is above the law,” and he said “it’s reckless” and “dangerous” for his predecessor to suggest the legal system was rigged against him.

“Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state case, not a federal case and it was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House, a day after a jury in New York found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts in a case stemming from the 2016 election.

He added that Trump’s “jury’s chosen the same way every jury in America’s chosen,” noted that jurors heard five weeks of evidence and after “careful deliberation” reached “a unanimous verdict: They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts.”

The President said Trump could appeal the case “just like everyone else has that opportunity” then pointedly said, “It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, It’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”

“Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America,” Mr. Biden said. “The justice system should be respected. And we should never let never allow anyone to tear it down.”

As the President left the podium after his remarks, a reporter shouted if he had any reaction to Trump calling himself a political prisoner and blaming the President directly for what’s happening to him. Mr. Biden stopped and flashed a grin, but did not answer the question.

He similarly didn’t answer when another reporter asked if he thought Trump should appear on November’s ballot.

None of the developments changed Trump’s defiant tone as he looked to galvanize supporters ahead of November. Moments after Biden spoke, Trump sent a fundraising email declaring, “I WAS JUST CONVICTED IN A RIGGED TRIAL. I AM A POLITICAL PRISONER!”

Mr. Biden was at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, marking the anniversary of the 2015 death of his grown son, Beau from brain cancer when the jury reached its verdicts on Thursday, and he offered no personal reaction to the trial at the time. But he returned to Washington on Friday for an event at the White House with the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, and spoke to reporters about the situation in the Middle East before answering questions about Trump’s case.

In comments to reporters at his namesake tower in Manhattan earlier Friday, Trump tried to cast himself as a martyr, suggesting that if he could be convicted, “They can do this to anyone.”

“I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country and save our Constitution. I don’t mind,” Trump said.

Mr. Biden for months had carefully avoided involvement in Trump’s legal drama, looking to keep from feeding into his Republican rival’s claims that his criminal woes were the result of politically motivated prosecutions. But as the New York trial concluded, Mr. Biden’s campaign became far more vocal about it.

His campaign had released a series of innuendo-laced statements that alluded to the trial to attack Trump’s policy positions, and then Mr. Biden himself quipped that he heard Trump was “free on Wednesdays” — the trial’s scheduled day off — in a video statement when he agreed to debate Trump head-to-head.

With closing arguments underway on Tuesday, Mr. Biden’s campaign even showed up outside the Manhattan courthouse with actor Robert De Niro and a pair of former police officers who responded to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection, in what it said was an effort to refocus the presidential race on the former President’s role in the riot. That decision came as the campaign felt its message about the stakes of the election was struggling to break through the intense focus on the trial.

Shortly after Thursday’s verdict, Mr. Biden’s reelection campaign sought to keep the focus on the choice confronting voters in November and the impact of a second Trump presidency.

“A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November,” Biden spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses at an election fundraising event hosted by Indian American billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla at his residence, in Washington on May 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Taking a dig at his predecessor, U.S. President Joe Biden has said that Donald Trump should have injected himself with a little bleach, for suggesting during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that a disinfectant “injection inside” could help protect against the deadly virus.

Mr. Biden, the Democratic Party’s presumptive candidate for the presidential elections in November, made the remarks during an election fundraiser hosted by prominent Indian-American billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla on May 10.

During the fundraiser, the 81-year-old leader made several jokes about his 77-year-old Republican Party rival Mr. Trump, asserting that the former president “is in trouble, and he knows it”.

“Remember him saying the best thing to do is to inject a little bleach into your arm… I wish he had done it a little bit himself,” Mr. Biden said, in an apparent jibe about Mr. Trump’s comment during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Editorial | Square one: On the 2024 U.S. Presidential election as a Biden-Trump rematch

Mr. Trump, President at that time, had said during a White House coronavirus task force briefing, “…I see the disinfectant where it knocks it (the virus) out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? So it’d be interesting to check that.”

“We’ll never forget about the pandemic. He knew (it) was serious, and he acknowledged it … but wanted to not — just keep everybody from responding to it,” Mr. Biden said during the fundraiser.

He joked further and said, “Not everyone is feeling the enthusiasm these days. The other day this guy walked up, and said ‘I’m in real trouble, short on cash, I don’t know what to do’. I said ‘Donald I can’t help you’.” Asserting that chaos is nothing new for Mr. Trump, Mr. Biden said that Mr. Trump’s four-year presidency from 2017 was chaos.

“Trump is trying to make the country forget how dark things — and unsettling they were as he left the office. But we’re not going to forget,” he said.

Mr. Biden is set to face Mr. Trump in the November 5, 2024, presidential election, a rematch between them since their 2020 clash.

As US democrats and republicans each hand US President Joseph Biden and former US President Donald Trump wins in the Super Tuesday votes, a rematch between the two seems likely. What does that mean for US Foreign Policy, for geopolitics and for India? We will weigh up the differences.

Hello and Welcome to WorldView at The Hindu with me Suhasini Haidar. We will also speak to former US National Security Council official Lisa Curtis up ahead.

But first the US crossed a major milestone in its election year calendar- with Super Tuesday on March 5- a day that comes exactly 8 months before the Presidential election, due on November 5 this year.

“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason……that nobody has been able to do for a long time” said Trump.

President Joseph Biden did not give a speech on Super Tuesday, saying in a statement that the results gave Americans a choice between going forwards with him or backwards with Donald Trump. In his State of the Union speech in US Congress, he took a further swipe at Trump.

“Now my predecessor a Republican said to Putin “Do whatever you want”. A former President bowing down to a Russian leader is outrageous dangerous and unacceptable”

Clearly global events and foreign policy will be a key part of this year’s US elections, and it is important to keep an eye on how the race goes for that reason.

Now there’s less buzz about this election for a number of reasons:

1. Both contenders have been Presidents for 1 term each- Trump from 2016-2020 and Biden from 2020-2024

2. At 81 Biden is the oldest US President, and at 77 Trump is the second oldest in the race- and concerns about their mental and physical health overshadow other concerns

3. Neither candidate has any major challengers- and one should probably have appeared by this point in the race. Trump’s last rival Nikki Haley bowed out of the race this weeks, winning only 2 state elections- Vermont and DC.

Even so a lot does hinge for the world on what the result will be- So what are the differences between them on 5 key global issues

What are the key issues for India when it comes to Biden vs Trump policies?

Both sides have prominent candidates who happen to be Indian-American- US VP Kamala Harris is on the ticket, and while former Governor and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has bowed out, Trump has kept Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped out earlier and even Tulsi Gabbard, who is not of Indian origin but identifies as a Hindu-American as possible running mates.

1.TRADE AND INVESTMENT

2. DEFENCE TIES

3. PAKISTAN AND CHINA

4.HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

5.IMMIGRATION & DIASPORA

Earlier I spoke to Lisa Curtis, who was the Deputy Assistant to President Trump at the US NSC, and now is the Director for Indo Pacific Security Programme- and began by asking her how much would hinge on 

Q: How much would change?

A: If you’re talking about a country like India, for example, I think that we would not see major changes. There’s been bipartisan support over the last 20 years, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, favouring building up the relationship with India, building up India’s capability so that it can play a stronger role in the Indo Pacific and help with that balancing with China.

Q: In 2018, India did accept the Trump administration demand to zero out oil imports from Iran, but in 2022 refused to agree to the Biden administration’s initial demand to cut oil imports from Russia….What kind of expectations would the next US government have on future conflicts from India?

A: I think the Biden administration has been incredibly patient with India on the issue of India support to Russia, you know, increasing its energy imports from Russia, taking a neutral stance at the UN and other such policies. And you also have the issue of the plot to assassinate Sikh activists in the United States…

Q: The alleged plot…

A: Yes, alleged, and the fact that these two issues, have not really disrupted the US-India relationship says something about the foundation of that relationship and how much has been invested over the last several years. When it comes to the Trump administration, I think Iran is an issue he would be tough on. On Taiwan, there wasn’t any expectation that India would send warships or get involved militarily. I think there’s an understanding that well, India could provide diplomatic support to Taiwan, humanitarian support and may even allow the US some kind of basing or logistics support. With the Trump administration, I think it’s difficult to say. President Trump did have very high expectations from India on supporting Afghanistan.

WV Take: The election of the US President this year doesn’t ignite as much interest for a number of reasons- esp. the fact that the candidates have already been in the position before, and whoever wins will only get one term- 4 years in office, and has a limited ability to take forward their policies this point on. While India has a good record of dealing with both, there’s no doubt that there is more predictability with President Biden, as opposed to the social media surprises that President Trump dealt out- a Trump administration however will take less of an interest in concerns about India’s democracy, human rights and press freedoms. The most significant part of their policies for India will no doubt be how US ties with China fare, as that will decide many developments in the region.

WV Reading Recommendations :

1. The Internationalists: The Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump by Alexander Ward

2. America in Retreat Foreign Policy under Donald Trump by Mel Gurtov

3. Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by Maggie Haberman

4. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance

5. A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead

6. The Persuaders: At the Front Lines of the Fight for Hearts, Minds, and Democracy by Anand Giridharadas

7. Open Embrace: India-US Ties : India-US Ties in a Divided World by Varghese K. George

Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar

Production: Gayatri Menon & Kanishkaa Balachandran