Haisten Willis of the Washington Examiner looks back at promises the current and former president made during their 2020 debates.
President Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump said a lot of things during their 2020 debates, not all of which have aged well.
In their two appearances during the last cycle, COVID-19 dominated the proceedings. Both candidates were asked about the pandemic directly several times, and it colored the discussion of nearly everything else. But both Trump and Biden made plenty of claims and campaign pledges, too, on topics ranging from healthcare to immigration to electric vehicles.
The initial showdown was held in late September, more than three months later in the year than this cycle’s first, which will take place June 27. It was mostly remembered for Trump’s talking over Biden and moderator Chris Wallace and for Biden’s “Will you shut up man?” one-liner.
Despite being relatively short on substance, the debate featured a number of policy squabbles. In one, Biden proposed to expand the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, while preserving private health insurance. Trump shot back, “Your party wants to go socialist medicine and socialist healthcare,” claiming Democrats wanted to end private health insurance. …
… Four years later, both Obamacare and private health insurance remain intact, though Trump is still talking about replacing Obamacare, while Biden is still arguing Trump would rip away people’s healthcare. …
… The problem with Biden pledging in 2020 to eliminate the Trump tax cuts was that they don’t expire until 2025. Biden has not majorly overhauled the tax code during his first term in office, but he says that if reelected, he will let Trump’s cuts expire, meaning millions could expect to see tax hikes as high as 4%. …
… [Trump] finished with 234 appointed judges rather than 300. More importantly, Biden is on pace to beat his record, with 201 appointments as of June 14, which is more than Trump had at this point in his term.
