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Biden’s performance during Thursday’s debate earned him little praise in the US.
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Both Trump and Biden are not liked in China, but people are mainly focused on the latter’s behavior.
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He is being ridiculed on Weibo for “looking like a robot” after people said he barely blinked.
As the first presidential debate of 2024 concluded Thursday evening, China began criticizing President Joe Biden for his oratory skills.
His performance, marked by confusing remarks, mumbling and a hoarse voice, was so lackluster that prominent Democrats raised questions about their support for him. Business Insider’s Bryan Metzger and Brent D. Griffiths called it a “complete disaster.”
Neither presidential candidate is popular in China. Former President Donald Trump is often the subject of memes claiming he is secretly a member of the Communist Party and is trying to destroy the US from within.
As both men walked onto the stage in Atlanta, people joked that one was “trying to prove he’s not crazy, and the other was trying to prove he’s not stupid.”
But Biden took the brunt of the jokes on Weibo, China’s version of X. Minutes after the debate ended, a thread broke out in which people said he “looked like a robot and barely blinked.”
It didn’t matter what either man said about the economy, veterans’ affairs or foreign policy; all the Chinese cared about was how they looked and sounded.
“Clear signs of dementia,” one person responded to a report by Russian state media RT that showed a clip of Biden’s furrowed brow.
“Trump won the first TV debate today,” wrote popular blogger Housha Moonlight. “It doesn’t matter what the debate was about. The key is that Trump, with humor and flexibility, successfully emphasized the old and dying appearance of the sleeping king.”
“I’m afraid Deng Deng will suddenly die during this debate,” another poster wrote, referring to a nickname for Biden.
While Weibo is a heavily moderated platform, it can be useful to study stories and language that survive the test of censorship.
A common criticism in China of American democracy is the question of how old the leaders are. Biden is 81 this year, while Trump is 78. Xi Jinping, the leader of China, is 71.
Indeed, Thursday’s debate prompted hundreds of posts and comments commenting on the ages of both candidates.
“Thanks for the hard work of two old veterans,” one person joked.
Read the original article on Business Insider
