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Joe Biden’s performance during the debate disappointed Democrats, and even he knows it.
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Voters are concerned about Biden’s age, which became clear during the debate.
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A speech coach told BI that despite his age, it would have helped if he had been a little slower and said less.
Even President Joe Biden knows his debate performance wasn’t good.
Voters and lawmakers have long worried about Biden’s age, nervous that he may be slowing down and spitting on replacement candidates as a result.
But by slowing down and saying less, he might have even performed better in Thursday’s debate, Carmie McCook, a public speaking coach in D.C., told Business Insider.
“Less is always better. Always. The more you throw away, the more landmines you have to step into. Stay focused,” McCook said. “His team needs to know if he’s having trouble staying on target. You just have to drill down, get back to the message… Don’t let the other person sit in the driver’s seat and dictate what you’re going to say.”
Viewers seemed to agree that former President Donald Trump won the debate, even though he didn’t articulate himself very well. Both candidates are hoping voters can look past their obvious shortcomings.
McCook said Biden also takes time to express his thoughts in speech because of his lifelong stutter, which didn’t help his optics.
“I’m sure he was tired because they were probably drilling him, and he probably wasn’t feeling well,” McCook said. “He stutters, and I work with a lot of people with the same problem. I know sometimes it takes time to formulate your word, and you seem to be lost in thought trying to figure out, ‘What tongue muscles can I use? Or what alternative word can I use?'”
Max Burns, a Democratic strategist, said on X that Biden should go to rallies to “push back against the stiff and meandering image he portrayed on Thursday.”
“Biden needs better (and frankly less) preparation going forward. He was clearly bogged down in his attempts to rattle off long lists of data points rather than proceeding in a more organic manner as he did in 2020. That can be worked on, but it needs to start now,” Burns posted on X.
McCook made similar comments.
“Take it easy,” she said. “Take your time. Don’t let the other person upset you, because that’s what they’re supposed to do. Stick to your top three to five points, and that’s it.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
