OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:41 PM – Friday, June 28, 2024
Following President Joe Biden’s heavily criticized debate performance on Thursday, foreign pundits and commentators gloated, critiquing the 81-year-old on everything from his appearance to his voice to the frequency—or lack thereof—of his “blinks.”
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The president’s closest European allies even criticized the “horrific” performance in the media, while Vladimir Putin’s representative insisted that the Russia’s leader did not pay attention to the “train wreck” back-and-forth discussion.
“This debate was very entertaining for many Chinese people,” said Hu Xijin, an influential Chinese pundit and former-state media editor who wrote on X (Twitter) early on Friday, describing Biden and Donald Trump’s Atlanta appearances as “a negative advertisement for Western democracy.”
While the story surrounding Biden’s performance was centered on his declining cognitive state and age, some foreign outlets criticized Trump for “lying in some of his assertions.” However, non-U.S.-based news and media outlets mostly stole talking points from state-funded U.S. outlets like left-wing NPR.
NPR made attempts to fact-check one of Trump’s debate statements when he said: “migrants crossing are committing crimes.”
On June 28th, NPR wrote: “There is no doubt that some migrants who have crossed the border without authorization have committed crimes. This has been something Republicans have been hammering on recently, after two Venezuelan immigrants were charged with capital murder for killing a 12-year-old girl. But data shows a vast majority of immigrants do not commit crimes. In fact, a study by Northwestern University examining a 150-year period found that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.”
However, social media users on X (Twitter) chimed in on the simplistic “fact-check,” expressing that the outlet seemed to be grasping at straws, so to speak, due to the fact that even with the millions of illegal crossings into the U.S. by unvetted foreigners, that group still does not even come close to making up the majority of those living in the U.S.
If one demographic is a much smaller percentage of the country in comparison to legal citizens, it’s already assumed that they would not be committing the most crimes as a whole.
Two insiders who recently reached out to the New York Post gave their own opinions on the current immigration vetting process under the Biden administration.
“We run checks, but unless they have an actual database hit or have interactions with law enforcement in the U.S., we really don’t know,” one Border Patrol source told reporters. “If by vetting he [Alejandro Mayorkas] means fingerprinting and doing some half-a**ed background check that has access to almost nothing outside of the United States, then yeah it’s a great process,” the agent added sarcastically.
“In February 2024, the foreign-born population in the United States hit a new high of 51.4 million and [account for] 15.5 percent of the U.S. population—surpassing all prior records,” the Center for Immigration Studies organization reported. However, 15.5% is still nowhere near close to the majority of the overall population.
Additionally, “the average increase in the foreign-born under President Biden is four times the 42,000 average monthly increase under Trump before COVID-19 hit and double the 68,000 average under Obama,” the organization continued.
France 24, a publicly funded French news outlet based in Paris, posted an article with the headline: “Biden stumbles, Trump lies in first US presidential debate of 2024.”
However, only two statements were mentioned in regards to Trump’s alleged debate lies.
“Migrants have carried out a crime wave and that Democrats support infanticide,” were the two claims deemed to be lies by the French outlet.
The outlet essentially highlighted the same argument as NPR: “Studies show [illegal] immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.”
In addition, Trump’s infanticide comment at the debate had been referencing previous remarks made by former Democrat governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam. In a past interview, Northam stated that: “when we talk about third-trimester abortions… it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities; there may be a fetus that is non-viable.”
Northam had faced heavy backlash from both Republicans and Democrats after he voiced support for a state bill that would significantly loosen restrictions on late-term abortions.
Another analysis by NBC News also focused on the infanticide claim and merely reported that: “While some Democrats support broad access to abortion regardless of gestation age, infanticide is illegal…”
Meanwhile, back in the sphere of foreign pundits and reports, Biden was described as “habitually confused” by state-run Beijing News in China. The president was further criticized for “looking like a robot and barely blinking” in a post that appeared on Weibo, China’s version of X (Twitter).
In the scathing discussion on the Chinese microblogging platform, several others claimed that Biden had shown “obvious signs of dementia” and that those who denied that were living in a delusion. Additionally, well-known Chinese blogger Housha Moonlight, who has around 4 million followers on the platform, declared that “Trump won” the first of the two scheduled debates in 2024.
“It doesn’t matter what the debate was about. The key is that the witty and flexible Trump successfully highlighted the old and dying appearance of the sleeping king,” Moonlight stated.
In the online thread, other individuals weighed in as well, comparing Biden to a “Teletubby” character and declaring it a “miracle” that he was able to endure standing up during the whole heated debate.
“To be honest, Trump is 78 years old, but his quick thinking and reaction ability are far better than many young people in their thirties and forties,” one Chinese commenter said, which was translated to English.
On the other hand, other foreign leaders did not seem too interested in the one-on-one televised discussion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Dmitry Peskov, his spokesman, to release a “non-statement” regarding the matter.
“Well, look, I don’t think you expect the president of Russia might set an alarm clock, wake up before morning and watch the debates in the United States of America?” Peskov told reporters that asked whether or not Putin had tuned in,” Reuters reported.
“We have a lot of issues that are really important for our country, which are relevant for us. These are the issues that our president is dealing with. Debates in the United States are not part of the main issues on the agenda,” the Russian added.
Additionally, the Italian publication Corriere della Serra observed that Biden had a “hoarse voice” and that he appeared very “confused.”
The commander-in-chief’s display was also dubbed “near-catastrophic” by the Swedish station SVT and “sad to watch” by the Onet outlet in Poland, according to Newsweek.
Biden’s habit of having trouble finishing sentences was labeled a “shipwreck” by France’s Le Monde outlet, and the British publication The Economist blasted his performance as “horrific,” threatening to “cast his entire candidacy into doubt.”
In a posted CNN poll taken right after the debate, 67% of CNN-viewer poll takers declared that Trump had won, while only 33% declared that Biden had come out on top.
On September 10th, the candidates will square off once more in the second and final debate of this election season.
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