London – The results of the November presidential election will be important to US allies and adversaries around the world, so there was global interest in the debate between President Biden and former President TrumpForeign media reporting on the debate can provide insight into the priorities and positions in other countries.
Below you can read how a number of international media reported on Thursday evening’s debate.
United Kingdom: The Times of London and The Guardian
Three stories on the homepage of The Times of London, generally considered a right-wing newspaper, covered the debate. One story outlined key moments and spoke of Democrats’ concerns about President Biden’s performance.
One was a commentary and one was an explanation that outlined whether it would be possible for the Democratic Party to replace Mr. Biden as its candidate before the election.
The Guardian, a left-leaning newspaper, published several stories about the debate, focusing on Mr. Biden’s performance and his resistance to calls for him to resign as the Democratic candidate. It also published an article outlining media responses to the debate, headlined: “10 Minutes to Destroy a Presidency.” How the media viewed the Biden-Trump debate
France: Le Monde
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, President Biden was “hoarse and sometimes hesitant” during the debate and called Trump “bombastic” and “heaved his voice” with personal attacks.
Germany: Der Spiegel
In addition to a fact-check article about the debate and an editorial commentary, Der Spiegel published a story on its homepage with responses from German politicians.
“This night will not be forgotten. The Democrats must now change course,” Norbert Röttgen, a foreign affairs expert and lawmaker with the center-right Christlich Democratic Union party, told the newspaper.
Left-wing German Member of the European Parliament Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann was quoted as saying: “The Democrats must react immediately and bring a new candidate into the race. The fact that a man like Trump could become president again because the Democrats are not To be able to field a strong candidate against him would be a historic tragedy that the whole world would feel.”
“Joe Biden presented many facts unclearly and was sometimes difficult to understand linguistically,” said Michael Link of the liberal FDP party. “That’s a shame, because unlike Trump, he presented many important facts. But he didn’t get his message across sufficiently.”
Ukraine: Kiev Post
In Ukraine – which will need continued US support at home ongoing struggle against the Russian invasion, regardless of who wins in November. The only coverage of the debate in the Kyiv Post was an editorial piece analyzing other media’s responses to the debate.
It stated that neither President Biden nor Trump had taken a position on the war in Ukraine that differed from their previous positions.
Russia: RIA Novosti
The main article on the homepage of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti was about the French parliamentary elections, but attention was also paid to the American presidential debate.
That story not only touched on specific topics from the debate, but also began with a comment about Democratic officials potentially seeking to replace President Biden as the party’s nominee.
Israel: Haaretz
The lead story on Haaretz’s website was an editorial calling the debate a “sad night for America.”
Coverage of the event focused on what both candidates had to say about the war between Israel and HamasIt said the fact that the topic was raised in the first 35 minutes of the debate “shows how outrageously important Israel will be in the upcoming elections.”
South Korea: Yonhap News Agency
Yonhap’s reporting called the debate “rancuor” but did not address President Biden’s performance beyond one mention of his “hoarse voice.”
The story on the website’s homepage covered the topics covered in the debate, including immigration, inflation and foreign policy.
Iran: Iran Republic News Agency (IRNA)
Iran’s state news agency IRNA did not appear to report on the US debate at all. Iran has its own country presidential electionsthat dominated the headlines.
Nigeria: Punch Newspaper
Nigerian newspaper Punch Newspaper reported the debate on its front page with the help of AFP News Agency Reporting. The headline of the article was: “Biden struggles in fiery debate with Trump.”
Mexico: El Universal
El Universal’s reporting focused on Biden’s performance and Trump’s emphasis on immigration.
The newspaper labeled Mr Trump the winner and said Mr Biden made “erratic statements” and had a “hoarse, weak voice”.
A number of issues raised by the two politicians in the debate were discussed, and it was said that Trump had told numerous lies and demonstrated that his strategy was to undermine his opponent’s competence and portray it as a major problem facing the US.
