Political attention has been heightened this week as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump prepare for their first in-person debate on Thursday.
Yahoo Finance senior columnist Rick Newman explains what viewers can expect from the showdown and explores the key topics that are likely to be the focus of the debate.
To learn more about expert insights and the latest market trends, click here to watch this full episode of Catalysts.
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Video Transcript
President Joe Biden is set to face off against former President Donald Trump in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election this Thursday.
To find out more, we're joined by Rick Newman from Yahoo Finance.
Thank you so much for being here with us.
What can we expect heading into Thursday?
Well, we all know what we're looking for.
Everyone will be watching.
I think a lot of spectators will come to see if either of these two will have a senior-like moment.
I mean, that's what we all want, right?
I honestly say.
Well, obviously they'd both try really hard not to do that.
So the most important thing that can happen is that one of these people makes some kind of mistake and it spreads.
And somehow, this is where the election is decided.
Going forward, if that doesn't happen, what Biden will have to do is win over voters on the economy and immigration.
These are his two weakest issues.
Well, if Trump sticks to his plan, it's probably going to take up a lot of his time.
Well, they're trying to remind voters about the inflation under Biden, and they're trying to remind them that there was no inflation under President Trump.
Gasoline prices were also cheap.
Um, but, um, you know, it's pretty unpredictable.
So, I think it's very likely that Biden will try to bait Trump.
And if Biden can get Trump to rant and get Trump to go a little erratic and start going off the rails as he always does at his rallies, Biden will win.
Ah, that's probably what Biden is going to do.
Well, what Trump needs to do is convince his audience that he is fit and able to serve as president for another four years.
So I think the presidential debates are going to be pretty interesting.
So there's a lot of tension as to whether they can last for 90 minutes, but we've seen them go up against each other before.
They're obviously four years older and have certainly both been through a lot in the last four years, but what does their performance so far tell us about what to expect on Thursday?
Or are you saying it's completely different?
Given to me?
So I think it's important to note how different the formats are.
From what people are used to seeing.
That's because of events that happened in 2020. For example, Trump constantly interrupted Biden during the first debate, and after the debate ended, Dana Bass famously called it a “shit show.”
Um, it was a complete mess, I mean, it was painful to watch, so, I mean, they're going to be able to turn off the mics.
I mean, I was like, so how does that happen?
I'm sure it will be interesting.
How many times will each candidate be muted?
Um, well, does that seem like a bias to you as much as it does to me?
So, by the way, Trump has already kind of set low expectations that the Trump campaign, um, Biden might actually do.
Well, maybe he's not as old as we think.
Well, spin is just as important as what actually happens during the debate.
Incidentally, it seems like incumbent candidates often perform poorly in presidential debates, at least the first one.
Well, the same thing happened to President Obama in 2012, for example.
He was completely unfazed in the first debate with Mitt Romney.
That's probably because the president is busy being president.
And he probably hasn't prepared as well for the debate as his challenger.
So I think that's something to note. Again, who really seems to be in control of their abilities?
I think that’s what we’re looking for.
