Biden gives a forceful speech in Raleigh the day after a rough debate 

Biden’s return to North Carolina was met with a raucous crowd that hardly reflected the narrative presented in the media Friday morning that Democrats had fallen into panicked despair over the president’s uneven debate performance against Donald Trump.

President Joe Biden, who faced heated media criticism over his slow start to Thursday’s debate with Donald Trump, delivered an impassioned speech before a lively crowd in Raleigh on Friday, laying out the central message of his campaign.

“The choice in this election is simple,” Biden said. “Donald Trump will destroy our Democracy, I will defend it.”

The speech, held at the Raleigh Fairgrounds, was his first public appearance after the debate and served as the launch of a key phase of the election. But much of the preshow chatter was about Biden’s Thursday’s debate performance, which even Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged got off to a  “slow start.”

Biden’s voice was hoarse during the debate – from a sore throat, his campaign said – and his answers sometimes strayed from the point he seemed to be trying to make. While his performance improved as the night wore on, it was too late to forestall a media frenzy.

If Biden was worried about the media coverage, however, it didn’t show in his speech on Friday. And the crowd of 2,000, which cheered wildly throughout, hardly reflected the narrative presented across front pages and political panels Friday morning that Democrats had fallen into panicked despair.

While Biden tried to reassure the crowd, they didn’t seem like they needed it.

“Folks, I give you my word as a Biden: I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul I can do this job.”

Biden tried to continue, but the crowd drowned him out.

“Yes you can,” they shouted, “yes you can.”

‘Hope, optimism and possibility’

While the media response often fixated on the performative nature of the debate, the event still gave voters a clear look at the vast policy differences between Biden and Trump, differences that Biden sought to highlight again on Friday.

• While Trump has boasted of his role in the fall of Roe v. Wade, Biden repeated his vow that if he is re-elected and Democrats win full control of Congress, they would immediately pass a law restoring abortion protections nationwide. 
• Though Trump dismissed concerns about climate change during the debate, Biden reminded viewers that he pushed for and signed the largest climate change law in US history.
• While Trump was unable to pass a significant infrastructure bill during his term, Biden ensured passage of a law that is bringing billions to North Carolina to repair roads, clean up water sources, and deliver high-speed internet to the state’s rural areas. 
• Trump, Biden said, set a record for the number of lies told on a debate stage. Record or not, PolitiFact’s fact check of the debate tallied at least 15 times that Trump made false claims throughout the evening, including about the economy, his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and abortion.

And most importantly, Biden said in his speech, Trump again refused to say he’d accept the results of the election. 

“Three times Trump was asked last night by the moderator, ‘Would you respect the election results if you lost this time,’” Biden said. 

“Folks, Donald Trump refused to accept the results in 2020. We all saw what happened on January the sixth.”

The stakes were clear, Biden told the Raleigh crowd.

“Donald Trump is motivated by revenge and retribution, but revenge and retribution never built a damn thing,” Biden said to cheers, seeking to draw contrast to his own approach.

“We are a nation of hope, optimism, and possibility,” Biden said. 

A tone of defiance

The Biden administration’s choice of music throughout the Friday event didn’t fit a playlist of doom. The rappers Fat Joe and E-40 performed, and the audience, including NC state Senator Mike Woodard, bopped to the music. Biden came to the stage to Whitney Houston’s cover of “Higher Love,” and left to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” and the pauses between the rest of the speeches were filled with songs about dancing, whether in the streets, the moonlight, or the dark.

The crowd chanted Biden’s name long before he took the stage and frequently interrupted his speech with applause. 

The Rev. Dr. Elvin Sadler, a minister with the AME Zion Church in Charlotte, said in an interview before the speech that Biden’s record was too strong to worry about one debate.

“When you think about Joe Biden, and think about what he has done with healthcare, with Medicaid, with student-loan debt reduction, all the benefits from the infrastructure package that are going to bless this state and this country for years ahead, Biden provides the kind of track record that is going to be beneficial to North Carolinians and all Americans,” he said.

“The debate is a one-act. You don’t base a man’s legacy on one act. So while there may have been a little stumble, it was not something that can be compared to his body of work,” Sadler said.

‘I couldn’t be prouder.’

Cardinal & Pine spoke to more than a dozen audience members after Biden’s speech, and though many acknowledged he’d had a rough night at the debate, none of them expressed doubts about who had their vote. And none of them said Biden should drop out of the race in favor of another candidate, as some political operatives have suggested.

“He did a stand up job today,” said Cynthia Engstrom, a Democrat with Moms Demand Action, a group that tries to reduce gun violence. “I couldn’t be prouder.”

Margaret Kimber of Johnston County said that as a person with a disability, she was concerned about Trump’s previous statements threatening to cut Medicaid and other programs. She said she was not at all worried about Biden’s debate performance. 

“People talk about how [Biden] stumbles through his speech – a lot of people stumble through their speech. That should not be a concern for the American people,” she said.

“Joe Biden gave a very great speech today,” she added. 

‘When you get knocked down, you get back up.’

Near the end of his speech, Biden addressed the concerns about his debate performance.

“I know I’m not a young man – to state the obvious,” he said.

“I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to,” he said, as the crowd shouted encouragement.

“But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. I know like millions of Americans know: When you get knocked down, you get back up.”

The crowd erupted in cheers.

@cardinalandpine

President Joe Biden, who faced some criticism over his slow start to Thursday’s debate with Donald Trump, delivered an impassioned speech before a lively crowd in Raleigh on Friday, laying out a central message of his campaign: That his administration will protect Democracy while Trump would imperil it. “America itself is at stake,” Biden said. “Now folks, I don’t know what you did last night, but I spent 90 minutes on the stage debating a guy who has the morals of an alley cat.” Trump, Biden said, “set a new record for the most lies told in a single debate.” Watch here.

♬ original sound – Cardinal & Pine