‘You are a child’: Biden hits back at Trump for saying he ‘can’t hit a ball 50 yards’ during bizarre row about golf and WEIGHT
- A question about age degenerated into a bickering about golf
- Trump attacked Biden’s game, then said: ‘Let’s not act like children’
The presidential debate nearly got out of hand when two older candidates ridiculed each other’s golf game.
It came after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump answered questions from CNN host Dana Bash about concerns voters had expressed about their age, on a night when Biden gave rambling answers and Trump bragged about taking a cognitive test.
“Let’s not act like children,” Trump said at the end of a debate that was peppered with insults and accusations of lies.
“You’re a child,” Biden told him.
Trump bragged about her performance during her White House medical exam.
“I took two cognitive tests, I passed them both,” Trump, 78, said, attacking Biden, 81, for refusing. Biden grinned during the attack, as the jabs became increasingly personal.
“I just won two club championships,” Trump boasted, referring to two wins at his own golf club that Biden mocked him for bragging about online.
“It’s not even senior. Two regular club championships,” he said.
He was reference winning a pair of championships at his own Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach, a club championship and a senior championship trophy.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump traded insults over golf during the debate in Atlanta
“To do that, you have to be pretty smart, and you have to be able to be very smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball far. And I do it. It does not work. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards.
Biden then appeared to mock Trump for tampering with his height and weight.
“You see, he’s 6-foot-3 and only weighs 220 pounds,” Biden replied, as Trump shook his head. “I’d like to have a driving contest with him.”
Biden said he had reduced his golf handicap to a 6, causing a painful look of disbelief on Trump’s face.
Biden defended his golf drive and said he would play against Trump if he agreed to carry his own bag
“He can’t hit a ball 50 yards,” Trump said, mocking Biden’s golf game
Trump and Biden exchanged views on golf
“I’d love to play golf with you if you carry your own bag.” Do you think you can do it?’ Biden asked him.
“Let’s not act like children,” Trump said.
“You’re a child,” Biden said, having the last word.
Long after the debate was over, golf was still on Trump’s mind. He posted a video of himself hitting a long drive.
Trump had announced the wave of attacks online before the debate, giving Biden’s team time to prepare.
Biden had wrong-footed him with an attack in March after Trump announced his golf victories at his private club.
“Congratulations, Donald. Quite an achievement,” Biden wrote on X.
The meeting between the country clubs took place in an election campaign in which voters expressed concerns about Biden’s age, and in a debate in which Biden had a duty to show decisiveness.
Instead, some top Democratic officials panicked after Biden gave meandering answers at the top of the debate and sometimes lost his train of thought and stared down during Trump’s answers.