WASHINGTON – Nevada voters likened President Joe Biden's campaign to elder abuse.
One Georgia voter was so disgusted by comments made by Democratic incumbent and former President Donald Trump that he stopped watching, walked to a liquor store and bought a six-pack of beer.
Another Wisconsin voter called it a “painful experience.”
Americans reacted to the first 2024 presidential debate with a mix of fatigue, anxiety and disgust.
The showdown between the current president and his predecessor was the earliest televised debate in American history, taking place before both men were formally declared their parties' nominees at their national conventions.
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Biden and Trump spent 90 minutes onstage in Atlanta answering questions from CNN hosts and trading insults, at times in highly personal terms.
“You have the morals of a stray cat,” Biden told Trump, referring to the former president's sexual adventures with former porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump called Biden “the worst president ever” and went on to call his opponent a liar who cannot tell the truth.
“You're a whiner,” Biden told Trump, referring to his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. “You can't stand to lose. Something broke inside of you the last time you lost.”
Trump said the US had “become like a Third World country” under Biden and said what he had done to the US was “completely criminal.”
Near the end of the debate, the candidates got into an argument over golf scores.
“Let's stop acting like children,” Trump said.
“You're a child,” Biden retorted.
Reporters from USA Today's network partners interviewed residents in battleground states immediately after the debates to ask them how they evaluated each candidate's vote share.
Here's what they said:
'Good luck, America': Debate raises concerns among Wisconsin voters
Voters attending a debate viewing party in Madison, Wisconsin's liberal capital, lamented the choice before them.
Noah Anders, 24, grimaced when asked what he thought about the debate.
“It's been painful to sit and listen,” Anders said. “Neither candidate is inspiring our country.”
Anders, who will soon be entering law school at the University of Wisconsin, said the debate left him with concerns about Biden's cognitive abilities, but he also questioned Trump's intellectual acuity.
“There are a lot of difficult issues that go into being president, and I don't know if they have the capacity to navigate the nuances and difficulties of the job,” he said. “Good luck, America.”
Timothy Sanders, 48, said he remained optimistic about Biden despite the president's shaky performance, but acknowledged the president's words hadn't been as clear at a time when appearances could matter in the election.
“I'm not worried about his age at all,” he said. “If your grandpa took you fishing and he had a stutter, you'd trust him. If I could avoid it, I wouldn't put him on live TV debates. It's entertainment. It's not fair.”
Sanders has vowed to campaign for Biden because he doesn't want to see Trump re-elected.
“I think we're in a very dangerous situation,” he said.
Jesse Clingan, a 42-year-old construction worker from Milwaukee, also wasn't happy with the Biden-Trump matchup.
“It's like choosing the worst of two evils,” Clingan said. “I resent having to choose one or the other. But at the end of the day,[Biden]is better on his worst day than Trump.”
Arizona voters rally behind their candidates
In Arizona, the reaction to the debate reflected the deep partisan divisions and rancor that have characterized the campaign so far.
At a Biden-Trump debate viewing party in the Phoenix metropolitan area, attendees rallied around their candidate and criticized the other as a liar or worse.
Trump fans mocked Biden's age. During the debate, several viewers at a viewing party yelled out, “He'll poop his pants!” in reference to Biden's age.
At halftime of the debate, Angela Diliberto, 51, of Phoenix, said Trump was beating Biden by a landslide.
“I want Trump to say, 'It's cruel to put him on this stage,'” she said, commenting on Trump's age.
Friend Ann Campbell, 69, of Phoenix, said she was concerned about Biden's age.
“It's sad because I have elderly parents and he has to stay home,” she said.
Amelia Garritano, 58, of Phoenix, defended Biden's performance during the presidential debate on CNN.
“I appreciate that he's gone on the attack, he's exposed the lies, he's called Trump a liar and he's not backing down and is on the defensive,” Garritano said at a viewing party for Biden supporters.
Asked about Biden's health ahead of the election, she acknowledged it was a difficult situation but also noted that both candidates are elderly.
“People are accepting of Trump,” Garritano said. “At the end of the day, it's about the results of them running the country. Biden has done a great job, and Trump has been a disaster.”
With age and eligibility to hold office being big issues for many voters heading into November, Harvey Bryan, 75, of Tempe, said he sees some issues with both candidates.
“They're a little older than me, but when you get to my age you definitely start to have issues,” Brian said.
'I want real solutions': Nevada voters doubt debate will change people's minds
Nicole Helis, a Republican from Reno, Nevada, said while watching the presidential debate, she felt like the country was being lost.
“My dad always told me to understand how a company is doing, look at the executives,” she said. “And now we have President Biden looking like this? This is elder abuse. It's been hard to keep up with his tweets.”
Helis said she doesn't expect the debate will change people's minds. “I think people are tired of the status quo and they want real solutions,” she said.
Reno is in Washoe County, one of the most polarizing counties in one of the most polarizing states in the country. At a viewing party hosted by Democrats, the audience of about 60 people booed and yelled “answer the question” every time Trump spoke. “He can't keep a conversation going,” said Allison Ford. “He rambles on and on, he can't focus, he can't answer the questions that are being posed to him. He keeps throwing around things that have been disproved over and over again.”
Kim Backus was pleased that the Trump she wanted to see at the debate showed up.
“I thought Trump was overwhelming,” the Reno Republican said. “He looked physically healthy, he was very focused, very sharp, very knowledgeable, very assertive, very confident. I thought he was in control of the debate.”
'They wouldn't give us any information': Georgia voters disappointed with both candidates
On the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta, where the debate took place, local residents expressed disappointment with both candidates' performances.
Nathan Cox, a recent college graduate, said he found the debate “unpleasant” and stopped listening when the candidates began discussing Ukraine and Israel. He instead went to a nearby liquor store and bought a six-pack of beer.
“It's been like a foreign policy mess. To me, these issues are really important because I'm scared of the repercussions,” Cox said. “I'm scared of escalating tensions with Russia. I'm scared of aid being cut off to Ukraine, which might happen under a Republican administration. I'm scared of what's happening to the Palestinians. I don't think this is fair at all to the civilians that are being killed.”
Cox said he believes another Trump presidency would do more harm than good, but that Biden's foreign policy decisions have been disappointing. “I'm angry,” he said. [Biden] “That's who I would have voted for,” he said.
Georgia Tech student Steven Belay was also disappointed with the debate and stopped watching early.
“I feel like they ignored a lot of questions,” Belay said. “I didn't get the answers that I really wanted, which is what I expected, to be honest. With these candidates, I'm not sure we have great options.”
Like Cox, he expressed dissatisfaction with both candidates.
“It was all a political stunt,” he said. “To be honest with you, they weren't trying to give us any information. They were just trying to get us to not vote for someone else.”
Zachary Ellis, another Georgia Tech student, said the debate reinforced his concerns about Biden's ability to serve another term in office.
“I came into this debate as a supporter of Donald Trump simply because I was nervous about Joe Biden's ability to continue to lead our county for the next four years,” Ellis said. “I think that nervousness has turned into certainty.”
'Business as usual': Pennsylvania voters disappointed by debate
Philip Seaver Hall, a 28-year-old lawyer and chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party's youth division, said he felt exhausted after watching another Trump debate.
“I feel exhausted and heartbroken that we've come to this point after everything Donald Trump has done,” he said.
Seaver Hall said Biden had essentially won the election. The president just needed to prove he could “take off the gloves and get tough,” and he thinks he has.
Seeber-Hall said she thought Biden's strongest rebuttal came when he defended American troops after Trump allegedly called them “morons” and “losers” during a visit to France in 2018.
“I think he did better than most Americans expected,” he said of Biden. “He was spewing fact after fact, whereas Trump was spewing lie after lie. We know who Joe Biden is. We know he's had a stutter his whole life. We know he's in his 80s. This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody.”
Scott Elper, 30, grew up outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's central Pennsylvania capital, and worked in landscaping and other manual labor before taking his current job at the credit union.
Elper did not vote in the 2020 election, but the “very progressive” Democrat said he would vote for Biden in November, and the debate did not change his mind.
“There is only one candidate I support,” Elper said.
Biden appeared to “frozen” at times during the debate, but Elper said that could have been a way of dealing with a disability he and Biden share: a stutter.
Elper said he was not impressed with the debate overall and doesn't think it will have a big impact on voters.
“Honestly, it's always been the same way on both sides,” he said. “I'm a little disappointed that Biden has continued to get caught up in the (Trump) insanity.”
In southeastern Pennsylvania, Mark McKee, a former Warminster Township supervisor and retired drywall contractor, has supported Trump since 2016 and plans to vote again in November.
McKee, 58, said he believes Trump's performance in the 2020 debates is what caused him to lose the election. The Bucks County resident said he saw a more subdued candidate Thursday night.
“Overall, I think Trump won the debate by a landslide. (Biden) looked weak and confused, but that was after five days of debate preparation,” McKee said.
McKee said the debate covered most of the issues that are important to him, but he would have liked to hear more about the economy and felt there was little discussion about crime.
“I was disappointed that crime wasn't raised. Maybe it will come up in the next debate,” McKee said.
Biden and Trump are scheduled to face off again on September 10th.
