Many commentators, including from the United States, reacted negatively to the debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump with a mixture of disapproval and disappointment. Biden and Trump took part in the debate, organised by CNN at the headquarters of the channel in Atlanta, without an audience in the studio and in a format where microphones were turned off when the candidates exceeded the speaking time or interrupted each other.

Debates and the Middle Eastern Crisis

Many are interested in US policy in the Middle East and how the future president will assess the situation in this turbulent region of the world. Amal Mudallali, a former Lebanese journalist and diplomat working as Lebanon’s permanent representative to the UN, was deeply disappointed by the performance of both candidates, calling it «the saddest debate» she had ever seen in her life in the US. It was not really a debate, Mudallali said. «It was all name-calling, barbs and personal attacks». Indeed, many of the exchanges, both on Middle East issues and on many others, seemed to be personal attacks devoid of depth and genuine political discussion.

During the debate, Trump criticised Biden’s border policy, saying that it allowed many terrorists to enter the US. «We have the largest number of terrorists coming into our country right now», he said. «They come from the Middle East, everywhere. All over the world, they’re pouring in. And this guy just left it open».

Trump also said that Hamas would allegedly never have launched an attack on Israel on October 7 had he been president, because the Iranian patrons of the Palestinian militant group would not have had the........

© New Eastern Outlook