Trump and Biden compete in first presidential debate: Live updates

Trump turns the question of Roe v Wade around and goes after Democrats.

“The problem they have is they’re radical, because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth,” he says.

The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg reports: “Biden just lost his train of thought. Losing his train of thought will lose him the election. It’s the one thing he could not do tonight and he did it in the first 15 minutes.”

Daniel Dale, fact-checker at CNN writes: “Biden made false claims about his drug policies in Medicare. It’s a $35/month cap on insulin, not $15/month. And it’s a $2,000 per year annual cap starting next year, not $200.”

Biden answers first and touts his achievements in building the economy back after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trump claims he got the country out of the pandemic recession. This did not happen until after he left office.

CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have run through the rules and Joe Biden and Donald Trump have taken the stage.

There is no handshake between the candidates.

Melania Trump will break a long-standing tradition by not attending the 2024 presidential debate on Thursday evening.

Donald Trump’s wife was nowhere to be seen when he de-boarded his plane in Atlanta, Georgia ahead of his first debate against President Joe Biden since 2020. Now, it is confirmed she will not be attending the debate to support her husband, CNN reports.

Having not met the requirements to be on the debate stage in Atlanta tonight, independent candidate Robert F Kennedy, Jr, mounted a passionate defense of his independent campaign in an interview with Dr Phil aired on Thursday.

Josh Marcus watched the interview.

President Joe Biden has mocked rightwing conspiracy theories that he is on performance-enhancing drugs by posing with a Dark Brandon-branded can of… water.

“I don’t know what they’ve got in these performance enhancers, but I’m feeling pretty jacked up,” a tweet reads. “Try it yourselves, folks.”

A page on the campaign website reads: “The secret to a good debate performance? Staying hydrated. Get yourself the same performance enhancers Joe Biden took before going on stage. 100% water, zero malarkey.”

Donald Trump says he has picked his vice president after a report revealed he was focusing on four potential candidates earlier this month.

Trump said he will likely announce his candidate at the Republican National Convention next month, where he will be named the GOP presidential nominee.