Joe Biden laid into Donald Trump over his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels at the first debate, slamming the former president for having the “morals of an alley cat”.
The debate in Atlanta was widely seen as a chaotic performance with the president stumbling over answers and rambling. Trump meanwhile spouted lies and falsehoods throughout, mostly failing to answer questions and had to be pressed three times on whether he would accept the 2024 election results.
Biden’s remarks, referencing Trump’s alleged affair and sexual abuse civil lawsuit brought by writer E Jean Carroll, came after he attacked his son, Hunter Biden, who was recently found guilty on federal gun charges.
“The crimes that you are still charged with — think of all the civil penalties you have,” Biden said. “How many millions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public? For doing a whole range of things? Of having sex with a porn star...while wife was pregnant?”
Biden went on to say Trump has the “morals of an alley cat.”
“I never had sex with a porn star,” Trump fired back following Biden’s attack, going on to call his recent hush money trial “rigged and politically motivated”.
A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll last year and awarded her $5m. Earlier this year, a jury also determined that Trump had defamed Carroll and awarded her another $83.3m.
Trump’s hush money trial also centered around an alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2006. In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to stop her from coming forward with her story of the affair.
The former president will be sentenced on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention, where he will be named the official GOP presidential nominee.
Meanwhile, Trump also owes money in his New York civil fraud case. Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in February that Trump, his company and its key executives had routinely misled bankers and insurers. As a result, Trump and his cohort were ordered to pay $355m in fines plus more than $110m in interest. They are also barred from doing business in New York for three years
Earlier in the debate, Trump had mentioned Hunter’s notorious laptop that was left at a Delaware computer repair shop. Before long, data on the laptop — which included purported emails, text messages and explicit photos — later reached the public eye. Ever since, Hunter’s laptop has served as fuel for right-wing opponents.
Trump was not afraid to attack Biden either. The president’s performance throughout the debate was marred by his raspy, soft voice and rambling statements.
As Biden defended his executive actions to curb immigration, Trump said: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence — and I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
