There were some key policies in the debate that got airtime

The 90-minute CNN presidential debate: Some issues that impacted Donald Trump and the debates on immigration, immigration, abortion, and the economy

Thursday night’s presidential debate may be remembered for what the candidates said on stage and the digs they made at one another, but there was plenty of policy that got airtime.

Why bother, then? In an election this close, if the debates make even a small difference, they could make all the difference. This is the reason Mr. Biden pressed for an early debate. There is a way for him to win it, and decisive, but he will have to overcome his instincts, defy the constraints of presidential debates and give a more compelling story about America if he returns to power.

President Biden often stumbled through his answers, derailing his train of thought. Donald Trump ignored questions about addressing climate change, accepting the results of the election and repeating false claims about immigration and his criminal trial.

Still, immigration, abortion and the economy were among the election-year questions the candidates were asked in the 90-minute CNN presidential debate. Here are a few of the issues that took center stage.

What to know about the key policies that got airtime in the presidential debate: Why did Biden and Trump try to put things back together?

Biden said he inherited from Trump, his predecessor, an “economy that was in free fall” thanks to a pandemic that roiled the economy and tangled supply chains. It was up to his administration, Biden said, to “try and put things back together again.”

In fact, government spending in the U.S. under both Biden and Trump also may have contributed to rising prices, putting more money in people’s pockets and enabling them to keep spending in the face of high prices.

Many prices were not cheap when Biden took office, making the comparison less flattering. Consumer prices have gone up by more than average wages have gone up. Wage gains have been higher than price increases in the last year, which should eventually close the gap.

The federal debt increased substantially under both Trump and Biden. Both presidents have oversaw large deficits, including periods before and after the P.N.H., during good times.

The president took credit for the return of abortion policy to the states, with exceptions for rape and incest, as well as for the life of the mother. However, some states have passed highly restrictive measures without such carve-outs.

During the debate, Trump claimed doctors execute babies born alive after unsuccessful abortion attempts. Federal data suggests that very few U.S. babies are born alive as a result of a failed abortion. During a period of 12 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 140 deaths of infants born alive during abortions.

Most abortions happen in the first 12 weeks of a fetus’s development. According to the CDC, less than 1% of births after 21 weeks are viable and some may endanger the mother.

Source: What to know about the key policies that got airtime in the presidential debate

The War in Ukraine and the United States: What have we learned from the last American president’s speech in New York, or how Israel might have done?

“The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying we’re going to turn civil rights back to the states, let each state have a different rule,” Biden said.

Trump doubled down that if he was in office, the war in Ukraine never would have happened. Biden accused Trump of encouraging Russian President Vladimir Putin. While campaigning, Trump claimed that he will have the conflict between Russia and Ukraine solved before he takes office.

“The difference is he never would have invaded Ukraine, never, just like Israel would have never been invaded in a million years by Hamas,” Trump said.

Biden said he denied Israel 2,000-pound bombs, he boasted about being the biggest producer of support for Israel in the world, and he condemned Hamas.

“I don’t need to say that,” he said. I think it’s totally unacceptable. You would say the statement I made in the Rose Garden is one of the strongest statements you have ever heard, as far as I am aware, if you saw my statements on social media at the time.

Trump denied responsibility for the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, doubling down on the argument that he encouraged people to be “peaceful and patriotic.”

“If it’s a fair and legal and good election, absolutely,” Trump said. I would have preferred not to, but we’ll have a news conference on it or another one of these in a week. But I will absolutely, there’s nothing I’d rather do.”