Many eyes and ears were attuned Thursday night to what Northern Nevada Democrats and Republicans thought about the first 2024 debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
That’s because Washoe County is the most swing county in one of the nation’s most swing states and could decide which one returns to the White House.
John Corbin was not impressed with either candidate’s debate performance.
“I don’t think it was either of their best moments, for sure,” the Sparks Democrat said. “I don't think too many Americans are going to be overly impressed.”
Trump looked obviously more physically fit than Biden, Corbin said, “but on the other hand, he just shot from the hip with a thousand different statements that nobody is going to believe half of them.”
Corbin watched video of Biden after the debate at a watch party in Atlanta.
“It was like the old Joe Biden,” he said. “His voice was strong. He sounded good, and you wouldn't believe it was the same person you just watched 15 minutes earlier.”
Reno Republican Kim Bacchus was pleased that the Trump she wanted to see in the debate was the one who showed up.
“I thought Trump dominated,” she said. “He looked physically healthy, and he was very focused, very sharp, very informed, assertive, confident. I thought he was very much in control of the debates.”
She didn’t think the split-screen of the candidates side by side created good optics for Biden.
“He looked confused at times,” Bacchus said. “He looked pale and frail.”
At a debate watch party at the Democratic Party of Washoe County headquarters, an audience of about 60 booed and often shouted “Answer the question” whenever Trump spoke.
“He can’t stick to a subject,” Allyson Ford said. “He’s just rambling, he can’t focus, he can’t answer a question that’s posed to him. He’s just throwing out accusations, many of which have already been disproved many times.”
Khalid McClure, who also attended the Democratic watch party, thought Biden’s rough voice sounded like he might have a cold.
“But when you look at his mental acuity, he was right on point, like when he talked about the immigration law they wanted to pass but it got stopped because of Trump’s influence,” he said.
McClure wished Trump had admitted he’d made some mistakes instead of dodging questions.
“I look at Biden, and he’s got character of steel,” he said. “We can tell he’s a person who cares for us.”
Nicol Herris, a Reno Republican, said she felt like the whole country lost while watching the presidential debate.
“My dad used to tell me that to understand how a company is doing, look at its leadership,” she said. “And now we have President Biden looking like this? It’s elder abuse. Trying to follow his mumblings was hard.
“I don't think this debate is going to change people's minds. I believe that people are sick and tired of what's happening and we want real solutions.”
Mark Robison is the state politics reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal, with occasional forays into other topics. Email comments to mrobison@rgj.com or comment on Mark’s Greater Reno Facebook page .
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Reno-Sparks Democrats and Republicans share reactions to Trump-Biden debate
Most Popular
Comments / 0