‘I feel terrible for him and America’: Voters worry about Biden

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off Thursday night in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle.
Voters across the country have expressed concern about the candidates’ ages — Mr. Biden is 81 and Mr. Trump is 78 — and the debate exacerbated that concern.
Still, with the conventions weeks away when each party will formally announce its nominees, supporters of both major parties feel they are left with few options.

The BBC spoke to Democratic, Republican and independent voters who told us they were concerned about Mr Biden’s fitness for the ticket.
After Thursday’s debate, we asked him if his widely criticized performance will affect how he votes. We begin with a voter who feels he has no choice but to support the president.

For so long, Democrats have found the debate so difficult to watch, they can barely keep up with the broadcast. But regardless of how the candidates perform, she plans to vote blue in November.

I haven’t seen the whole thing.
I couldn’t handle it, what can this do to our country? I would be happy as hell if Hillary walked out in her pantsuit.
I absolutely despise Trump and everything he stands for – his lies, deceit and lack of morals.

Biden is a much better person, but I felt so bad for him (in the debate) and it was so disappointing.
I was thinking State of the Union “Jack Up Joe”. No, what we got was everything everyone was saying was wrong with him just appeared on stage.
I feel terrible for him and America, but we just have to get out of this.
Honestly, this discussion really cracked me up. I feel like I can’t do anything but vote blue, whoever it is.

Dominic identifies as a libertarian and voted third party in 2016 and 2020, but this time he is fully supporting the former president.
I’m a Trump fan and I’m going to vote for him with gusto.
Going into this debate, I thought Republicans were setting themselves up for failure. I’m actually surprised that Biden did as bad as he did, I thought he would do better.
I was mildly pleased with Trump. I thought he sounded too presidential, especially compared to the last debates.

Dominic identifies as a libertarian and voted third party in 2016 and 2020, but this time he is fully supporting the former president.

I’m a Trump fan and I’m going to vote for him with gusto.
Going into this debate, I thought Republicans were setting themselves up for failure. I’m actually surprised that Biden did as bad as he did, I thought he would do better.
I was mildly pleased with Trump. I thought he sounded too presidential, especially compared to the last debates.

He was really negative last time. I think he hit the perfect tone (in the debate).
The Trump you saw on stage was very different from the Trump you saw in 2016. The Trump of 2016 would have taken too many cheap shots in Biden’s age.
Biden looked very defeated in his body language. I think Trump seemed very presidential in how he dealt with Biden’s age.
I am enthusiastically going to vote for Trump right now and I didn’t vote for him in 2016 and 2020.

[Dominic texts a few minutes later]

In 2016, you’d almost never mistake me for a Trumper. My opinion about it has completely changed.

Conner is a Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020. He plans to do the same in 2024, but worries about the president’s age.

I’m nervous about a second term for Biden.
There is no doubt in my mind that the people around Biden are capable and capable of meeting the needs of the executive branch. There is no doubt in my mind that Biden has the best interests of this country at heart.
That being said, I have less confidence today than ever in Biden’s ability to lead this country.In 2016, you’d almost never mistake me for a Trumper. My opinion about it has completely changed.

The Biden administration’s efforts on infrastructure, bringing our allies together, amnestying marijuana offenders, investing in clean energy and forward-looking technologies, and lowering prescription drug prices are all notable initiatives. are I think this first term has been pretty successful, which is why it pains me to say that Biden may not be the best person for these policies or the moment.
I don’t think any of this could convince me to vote for Trump.
I cannot get behind a candidate who has dramatically undermined confidence in our electoral system while all his own advisers told him he was wrong.

Or a candidate who clearly lacks any moral character based on his extramarital affairs that have now been accepted as fact in court and countless other scandals. Or a candidate who enables the worst hate and politics in every aspect of our society and government. Or a candidate I’ve never heard speak intelligently or deeply about a topic.

Crystal is an ardent Trump supporter who has voted for the former president twice before and will vote again in November.

Trump seemed too superficial and presidential and Biden too weak.
I really didn’t think it was a good idea for Biden to have this debate. He actually didn’t seem mentally right to me. He was really weak and helpless.
The 90-minute debate between Biden and Trump was painful to watch.
The fentanyl crisis, border security, and of course the economy are my top three concerns, and I don’t feel like Biden has addressed those issues at all.

I am against abortion and like Trump I am against the abortion pill. I love that he is pro-life and I love that he supports Christian conservative values.
I think this country respects him and after this debate, I think he will win.
This debate reinforced that he could and would win.

Shana plans to support Biden in the upcoming election but is not happy with the current state of the country.

I was very disappointed to see the debate. I think the answers they were giving weren’t really answers to any of the questions. It was tiring to watch.
I don’t think any of them performed better than the other. Mr. Biden looked tired, he looked weak. Even if he had a cold and had nice things to say, he wasn’t getting it out and he didn’t understand. It reminds me of how Kennedy beat Nixon in the first televised debate looking healthy.

Trump was aggressive, going off on tangents. Although he looked physically strong, I don’t think he did well in the material.
I believe I am still going to vote for Mr. Biden because I do not want Mr. Trump in office. I would like it if both parties reconsider their candidates. I know this idea is being tossed around right now, it would be better for us.
Before Biden announced he was running for re-election, I was hoping he would step aside for someone else to come forward. But I would rather have a Democrat in office than Mr. Trump.

Eric is an independent voter who voted third party in 2020, but has not yet decided what he will do in November.

Trump is an old psychopathic liar who is totally on the run to keep himself out of jail and will literally say anything to protect himself.
Biden is old, frail and out of touch with his constituency.
Personally, I think President Biden does a better job of listening to different points of view. It was telling me what topics Trump would talk about when the moderators asked questions.

I’m undecided at the moment, I’ll wait and see what happens. A lot can change between now and November.
Personally, I don’t see any compelling reasons to vote for anyone there, but I do see compelling reasons to vote against people there.
I’d rather see a candidate I can get behind than vote against. I want someone who is more interested in working than getting re-elected.
Neither Trump nor Biden are young. I don’t know if any of them can be president for four years.
The fact that they were both arguing about their golf game tells me that they are more interested in other things than running the country.