One instance that received a lot of media coverage was when he gave a rambling, incoherent answer about healthcare ending with, “We finally beat Medicare.” At another point in the debate, Biden falsely claimed that no American soldiers have died on his watch.
“I’m the only president this century, that doesn’t have any, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world, like [Trump] did,” he said. On Friday, Deputy Defense Department Press Secretary Sabrina Singh acknowledged Biden’s statement was wrong.
Carry 46 rounds concealed? (comfortably)
“We have certainly had service members pass during this administration,” she said.
Singh mentioned three American service members died in a drone strike in Jordan in January believed to have been carried out by an Iranian-backed militia based in Iraq, according to The Guardian. Additionally, two Navy SEALs died that same month while trying to board a ship carrying Iranian weapons to Yemen, The Associated Press reported.
The most high profile incident of American casualties on Biden’s watch was the deaths of 13 American troops in a suicide bomb blast during the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, Biden admitted he does not speak or debate as well as he used to.
But, he argued, “I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.” Former President Barack Obama came to Biden’s defense on Friday posting on X, “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” referring to his poor first debate performance against then-GOP nominee Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential race.
The New York Times reported Biden campaign officials said the president has no intention of stepping aside so Democrats can nominate another candidate and he does plan to debate Trump again on Sept. 10.
