After the U.S. presidential election debate: The internet mocks Biden, is it time to buy Trump memes?

Author: jk, Odaily Planet Daily

On Thursday evening, June 27, local time in the United States, the well-known media CNN hosted the first face-to-face debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. In this presidential debate, U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump engaged in a fierce confrontation in CNN's studio in Atlanta. This 90-minute debate marked the first direct clash between the two heavyweight political figures in the new round of campaigning.

The debate process was generally regarded by American media as "a big disappointment." Compared to expressing political views, the debate often devolved into baseless accusations and discussions based on misinformation, and Biden clearly lagged in momentum, frequently unable to respond to Trump's various accusations, giving the impression that Trump had the upper hand. After the debate, Trump's winning probability on the crypto prediction market Polymarket reached 65%, setting a new historical high; the meme coin related to Biden, BODEN, plummeted by 38.6% within 24 hours.

Before the Debate: Tripping Each Other Up, Rumors Abound

Before the debate, the setup of the venue underwent significant changes compared to previous debates. According to CNN's official announcement, during this 90-minute debate, campaign teams were not allowed to interact with their candidates. Considering that Biden is already 81 years old and Trump is 78, the lack of a supportive environment was evidently a huge challenge for both.

The two candidates agreed to stand at the same podium, with their podium positions determined by a coin toss. The microphones would remain muted throughout the debate unless it was the candidates' turn to speak. Although props or pre-written notes were not allowed on stage, candidates would be provided with a pen, a piece of paper, and a bottle of water. No live audience was arranged for the debate. Many of these setups differed from past debates.

It is reported that both teams agreed to these conditions because they had made mutual concessions: the Biden team felt that being interrupted by Trump during the 2020 debates was very unpleasant, so they requested that microphones only be turned on during their speaking time; while the Trump team believed that Biden's age affected his memory and on-the-spot reactions, thus disallowing pre-written speeches.

At the same time, just hours before the debate, media outlets reported that President Biden refused to undergo a drug test before the debate (mainly to check for the use of stimulants and drugs). As a result, many users on the X platform made a big deal out of this, claiming that Biden might use stimulant-type drugs.

During the Debate: Mutual Accusations, Trump Full of Lies, Biden Confused

CBS News characterized this debate as "defined by the lengthy responses of the current president and the lies and false statements of the former president."

Reportedly, the candidates answered questions about the economy, abortion, the Middle East, the January 6 Capitol attack, and Trump's recent criminal convictions. Biden made several mistakes while answering questions early in the debate, his voice sounding hoarse, possibly due to a cold. Although his performance improved later, he frequently lost his train of thought, struggled to clearly express his positions on various issues, and mumbled, showing no strong response to Trump's aggressive attacks. This left many Democratic colleagues shocked. A Democratic member of the House claimed, "I have never seen such a panicked situation."

An image widely circulated on the X platform. Source: X

In contrast, Trump appeared energetic, accusing Biden of issues during his term on many topics, but he repeatedly lied on several issues, including abortion, his recent criminal convictions, and Biden's immigration record. In the aftermath, many media outlets published fact-checks of the debate, finding that Trump made at least 12 "false statements, misleading claims, or exaggerated statements." On the other hand, Biden also had two or three similar issues.

It is worth mentioning that cryptocurrency-related topics were not mentioned during this debate.

In terms of macroeconomics, although both candidates touched on the topic during the debate, their discussions were very simplistic, lacking any new or in-depth information, and were merely mutual accusations and slander. Odaily excerpts part of Trump's original remarks during the debate for readers' appreciation:

(The moderator asks both candidates about their views on inflation)

Donald Trump:

We have the greatest economy in history. Our country has never been so prosperous. Everyone is surprised by this. Other countries are imitating us.

We faced COVID. At that time, we spent the necessary money to avoid falling into a Great Depression like in 1929. When all this was done— we did very well. We received a lot of praise economically, and we received a lot of praise militarily, with no wars, and many other things. Everything was going very smoothly.

But we never received the praise we deserved, and what we should have received was for bringing us out of the COVID crisis. His (referring to Biden) mandates were a disaster for our country.

Besides, we handed over a stock market that was actually higher than before COVID. No one thought that was possible. The only jobs he created were for illegal immigrants and jobs that naturally recovered from COVID.

He did poorly. He performed badly. Inflation is destroying our country. It is absolutely destroying us.

A user on the X platform soulfully questioned, "After watching the presidential debate, does America still have hope?"

After the Debate: Biden's Meme Concept Plummets, but Trump's Meme Also Drops?

Real-time support rates for Trump and Biden, source: The New York Times

It can be seen that after this debate, the general consensus is that Trump won the debate, whether in terms of momentum, fluency of speech, or other factors. A post-debate survey released by CNN also showed that over 67% of viewers believed Trump won the debate. Some members of the Democratic Party openly stated, "We have big problems."

At the same time, Polymarket data showed that as the first televised debate between Biden and Trump progressed, the probability of Trump winning the election on this prediction market rose to 65%, a historic high, with a clear lead (Biden dropped to 28%). This may represent a positive outlook for Trump's victory and various related assets (especially his NFTs).

Additionally, various meme tokens related to Trump and Biden ($BODEN, $BIDEN, several $TRUMP) all plummeted after the debate, with declines generally exceeding 20% or 30%, possibly due to voters being generally dissatisfied with both candidates' performances, and it cannot be ruled out that some large holders sold off during the debate.