Was an energetic Biden speech today enough to overcome debate damage?published at 19:48
Nomia Iqbal
Reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina
You’d be forgiven for asking, was that a different man?
President Biden’s performance today was a glaring contrast to last night. But perhaps that was intended after waking up to a torrent of dreadful headlines suggesting it was over for him.
There is no doubt the friendly and cheering audience helped power him. He also spoke from a teleprompter.
Biden was beaming and confidently addressed his debate failure directly by saying he wasn’t a young man: “I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong.”
He was simply everything critics said he wasn’t last night.
Sharp, energetic, peppy, passionate, cracking jokes and very clear on what he thinks is the threat from Trump.
For many supporters, today was “Joe being Joe”.
Corey Branch, a Raleigh City council member, said: “Our President has a lot of info in his head. When you know so much and you’re so prepared, it’s hard to fit in a short time frame. He was more loose here. We have a few months to go.”
The big question is will this quell the fears in his own party that he isn’t fit and that decline will only continue.
Many will say Biden gave a great post-game analysis after a terrible loss, and it was a good recovery. But for others, the damage is done.
This article was originally published by a www.bbc.com . Read the Original article here. .