--- title: Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen' description: The former president continues to back his former vice president Joe Biden despite his showing at last night's debate against Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-06-28T20:33:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:52:22.719Z article:section: Politics og:title: Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen' og:description: The former president continues to back his former vice president Joe Biden despite his showing against Donald Trump. og:url: https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907ae907664cb96e/698a5848e6e84a30f22b31b3/GettyImages-1244533183.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Biden And Former President Obama Campaign In Philadelphia For State's Democratic Candidates og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen' twitter:description: The former president continues to back his former vice president Joe Biden despite his showing against Donald Trump. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907ae907664cb96e/698a5848e6e84a30f22b31b3/GettyImages-1244533183.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen' > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=05184033-3c85-4b77-ae5c-6b7d05981f91&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Jun 28, 2024 8:33 PM UTC  Former U.S. President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden rally for Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro at the Liacouras Center on November 5, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Former U.S. President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden rally for Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro at the Liacouras Center on November 5, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mark Makela—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Jun 28, 2024 8:33 PM UTC Former President Barack Obama has reacted to President Joe Biden’s questionable-at-best showing at the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday against former President Donald Trump. “Bad debate nights happen,” Obama, 62, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday afternoon. “Trust me, I know.” > [](https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1806758633230709017) In 2012, Obama himself famously [struggled in his first debate](https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/20/obama-interview-his-disastrous-first-debate-was-a-hawaii-moment/) against opponent Mitt Romney. On both sides of the aisle, politicians said that Romney won the Oct. 3 debate, and that Obama lacked enthusiasm. Still, Obama fought back and was able to win a second term that November. In the aftermath of CNN’s presidential debate in Atlanta, many Democrats have decried Biden’s performance, some sharing that the debate “[hurt](https://twitter.com/VanJones68/status/1806544106644021439)” their prospects at retaining the White House come elections in November. Obama, though, is remaining staunch in his backing of the incumbent’s campaign. He stated that last night’s performance by Biden—in which the 81-year old mumbled, trailed off at points, and repeatedly lost his trains of thought—did not change the stakes of the election in November. He critiqued Trump, 78, calling him a liar. **READ MORE**: [_Can Joe Biden Be Replaced as the Nominee? Here’s How It Could Happen_](https://time.com/6993607/could-democrats-replace-biden-nominee-explainer/) “This election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself,” Obama continued. The [90-minute debate](https://time.com/6993360/first-presidential-debate-biggest-moments-2024/)— moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash—ran the gamut of topics, including [an argument over golf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VyAfQBV2%5Fc), Roe v. Wade, the conflict in Gaza, and the criminal convictions of Trump and Hunter Biden. Also falling in line with her support of President Joe Bident, Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on a number of late-night news shows to posit that Biden’s performance does not take away from his values and hopes for the American people. “Yes, there was a slow start but a strong finish,” said Harris, 59, on CNN on Thursday night. “Listen, people can debate on style points, but ultimately, this election and who is the President of the United States has to be about substance, and the contrast is clear.” Get alerts on the biggest breaking news stories [**here**](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=breaking-news) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/"},"headline":"Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen'","datePublished":"2024-06-28T20:33:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:52:22.719Z","description":"The former president continues to back his former vice president Joe Biden despite his showing at last night's debate against Donald Trump.","url":"https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/","keywords":["2024 Elections","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907ae907664cb96e/698a5848e6e84a30f22b31b3/GettyImages-1244533183.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt907ae907664cb96e/698a5848e6e84a30f22b31b3/GettyImages-1244533183.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Biden And Former President Obama Campaign In Philadelphia For State's Democratic Candidates","caption":"President Biden And Former President Obama Campaign In Philadelphia For State's Democratic Candidates","creditText":"Mark Makela—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-election/","name":"2024 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6993779/barack-obama-debates-bad-presidential/","name":"Barack Obama Says 'Bad Debate Nights Happen'"}}]}] ```