Plus: The Supreme Court's been busy, the joy of Nerds candy, and more.
June 28, 2024 [View in browser]( Happy Friday! Last night was a doozy of a presidential debate. Senior correspondent Andrew Prokop is here to break it down.
âCaroline Houck, senior editor of news [trump and biden at the debate] Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images 2 winners and 2 losers from last nightâs debate So many important issues are at stake in the 2024 election: [foreign policy](, [reproductive rights](, [immigration](, the [future of American democracy](. But coming out of the first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, one topic has crowded all those out: Bidenâs performance. Bidenâs rationale for agreeing to this historically early presidential debate was, in part, to try and put concerns over his age to rest. Instead, theyâve been supercharged. Multiple reports soon after the debate claimed that top Democrats were downright panicked by how Biden came off onstage. Major media outlets wrote that Biden â[struggled](â and appeared â[shaky](.â Biden is the oldest president ever, and Republicans have long been trying to push an exaggerated narrative that he is senile. He didnât seem senile on stage â but he didnât seem sharp, either. He spoke very softly, his answers were often messy on the substance, and when he did have decent lines they were usually hampered by his halting and understated delivery. Sources told NBC News midway through the debate that Biden [has a cold](, implying his affect was a one-off fluke. The risk, though, is that voters determined after watching that he is simply not up for the job he wants to keep. This was, after all, the most prolonged look at Biden in an adversarial setting weâve gotten in some time, and he didnât come off well. Trumpâs performance was no great shakes: He said absurd and untrue things, rambled and lost coherence. But he did it more energetically â and, more to the point, he was typical Trump, no one would be surprised by what he said or how he said it. On one level, all of the above is so shallow and superficial that I feel somewhat embarrassed to have written it. Politics should be about more than theater criticism and affect. Itâs about important issues that will affect the lives of millions of people. Unfortunately, the question of what a relatively small group of swing voters thinks about Joe Bidenâs age may well be what the 2024 election hinges on. Many Democrats think they have a winning argument against Trump on the issues, but theyâre worried that Biden simply canât make the case. So the most immediate consequence of Thursdayâs debate will be a revival of chatter about [whether Biden should even stay]( in the race or [whether thereâs still some other option]( for Democrats. And that consequence makes for a pretty clear set of takeaways for the race in the wake of this debate. [joe biden] Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images Loser: Joe Biden No need to belabor the point: If the debate ends with your party debating whether you should even stay in the race, itâs pretty obvious you lost. The Biden âage issueâ is really a conflation of a few separate things. Again, thereâs the exaggerated right-wing narrative that heâs senile. There are normal concerns about aging slowing people down somewhat mentally and physically. Thereâs the question about whether his health would hold up in a second term. There are questions about whether any of this has impaired his decision-making or governance (I donât believe it has; itâs hard to point to an example of any administration that would be different if he was Joe Biden but younger). But thereâs also a more difficult concern for Biden to rebut: that he has failed to appropriately âperformâ the role of president or presidential candidate. That he hasnât been good at seeming like heâs in command, like heâs energetic, can handle tough questioning, and is up to the job. This is where he failed most glaringly during the debate. For many elite Democrats, the worry about Bidenâs age is mainly a meta-worry: Itâs about what swing voters will think about Bidenâs age. If thatâs your rubric, it doesnât matter if you think heâs doing a great job as president; what matters is what the swing voters will think. And itâs hard to believe many liked what they saw on Thursday. Winner: Donald Trump By default, in a two-person contest, Trump won the debate due to Bidenâs weakness. But his performance was not particularly impressive. As usual, Trump got sidetracked into his perennial grievances (âRussia Russia Russia,â âthe laptop,â James Comey, false claims of 2020 election fraud). He lied, said ridiculous things, and dodged questions. He also missed opportunities: Biden was shaky enough that a more disciplined and savvy Republican candidate could well have embarrassed him far more â by, for instance, posing questions directly to him and truly throwing him off. Trump did benefit from the relative lack of focus on his attempt to steal the 2020 election and his recent criminal conviction. And perhaps the way he won most was that the debate seemed to normalize him: His attack on American democracy was just one issue among many, only showing up halfway through. [donald trump] Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Loser: Substantive issues Look, it never seemed particularly likely that with these two candidates on stage this debate would be an enlightening and nuanced exchange about policy issues. Neither are wonks, Trump lies constantly, and every debate he has participated in ends up devolving into a mudslinging contest. Still, for anyone interested in substance, this debate was a truly desultory affair. On abortion, Trump accused Biden of wanting to kill 9-month-old babies and Biden [struggled to explain]( Roe v. Wadeâs three-trimester framework. On climate change, Trump bragged that while he was president the country had clean air and âH2O.â On the economy, Biden claimed Trump destroyed the economy in 2020, while Trump claimed Biden solely caused inflation and has only created jobs for migrants â all false. The nadir was the supremely stupid exchange in which both candidates insulted each otherâs golf games. âIâm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag,â Biden said. Trump responded by mocking Bidenâs âswing.â Why? Winner: Kamala Harris Back in March, Bidenâs fiery State of the Union address quieted many concerns among Democrats over whether he was up to the rigors of another campaign. Now, the debate has reopened that topic of discussion. It will take more time (and polling numbers) to determine just how serious the damage to Biden is. Maybe mainly politics die-hards who have their minds made up were the people watching this very early debate. The media may focus on Bidenâs age for a while, but attention will inevitably shift to other topics. Still, the odds that Kamala Harris ends up the Democratic presidential nominee for 2024 are, in my view, higher after the debate than they were before it. The Democratic National Convention is at the end of August. Biden won the primaries and has most Democratic delegates pledged to him, so he canât be totally pushed out against his will. But if power players in the party tell him that he has to step down â and he listens â then Harris would be the obvious next in line. When this scenario has been discussed, itâs often been about an âopenâ convention, where delegates would [come together]( to somehow choose their own nominee, as in older political eras. My guess is that this would be far too messy and impractical, and coordination and consensus-building around one option would be too difficult. There have been doubts within the party about Harrisâs political strength, but if Democratic elites come to agree Biden is fatally politically flawed, theyâd be more likely to roll the dice with her. For now, dropping Biden still seems very unlikely. But it seems less unlikely than it did Thursday morning. â[Andrew Prokop, senior correspondent]( [Listen]( How Spotify picks its winners No, Sabrina Carpenter probably isnât paying the streamer to play âEspressoâ every time youâre listening to music. But the app is making changes to its business model that could impact your listening. [Listen now]( FOOD - What a time to be alive: The Nerds Gummy Cluster is candy perfection, according to the internet. Hereâs an ode/investigation into its viral popularity. [[Slate](]
- Showing my age, but now I have Subwayâs old âfive, five-dollar, five-dollar footlongâ song stuck in my head: Hereâs how that number â $5 â has now become the whole fast food industry's magic number. [[Axios](] [nerds candy display] Denise Truscello/Getty Images for ITSUGAR THE SUPREME COURTâS BEEN BUSY - They just lit a match and tossed it into dozens of federal agencies: Their decision in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, explained. [[Vox](]
- Their new abortion decision, explained: After accidentally publishing their decision in an abortion case out of Idaho on Wednesday, the Supreme Court officially released it Thursday. Itâs not a win for abortion rights. [[Vox](]
- State officials can engage in a little corruption, as a treat: The justices ruled 6-3 that state officials may accept âgratuitiesâ from people who wish to reward them for their official actions, despite a federal anti-corruption statute that appears to ban such rewards. [[Vox](] TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN - Can Democrats replace Biden as their nominee?: Eh, no, not really, my colleague Christian Paz explains. Unless Biden himself decides to drop out. [[Vox](]
- Which takes us to the argument that ... Joe Biden should save his legacy by ending his candidacy: My colleague Eric Levitz's case for somebody, anybody else. [[Vox](] Ad We can learn from a sea creature orgy Vox's Benji Jones explains how horseshoe crabs carry life on their backs (literally). [Read more »]( Are you enjoying the Today, Explained newsletter? Forward it to a friend; they can [sign up for it right here](. Love Vox podcasts? Then help us make a new one, launching this fall! Each episode will start with a question from Vox readers and listeners â ranging from the heavy to the silly, the systemic to the personal. Weâll cover culture, finance, politics, technology, and more! Anything from why dating feels harder these days to why jars are so hard to open. If you want something in your world explained, and Google canât get you the answer, submit questions to askvox@vox.com or give us a call at 1-800-618-8545. Today's edition was produced and edited by Caroline Houck. We'll see you next week! [Become a Vox Member]( Support our journalism â become a Vox Member and youâll get exclusive access to the newsroom with members-only perks including newsletters, bonus podcasts and videos, and more. [Join our community]( Ad [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( [TikTok]( [WhatsApp]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences]( [unsubscribe](param=sentences). If you value Voxâs unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1701 Rhode Island. NW, Washington, DC 20036.
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