President Joe Biden and former President Trump took to the stage last week for the first debate in the 2024 election. Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, was interviewed by  several media outlets before and after the debate. 

“I'll be looking for whether former president Trump tries to become more 'presidential' in any respect, though the campaign trail would suggest the answer to that is no,” says Reeher in the Agence France Presse article, “Trump and Biden do battle in first US presidential debate.”

“I don’t think this is a debate where either side is coming in saying ‘I hope our guy hits a home run,’ ” Reeher tells The Globe and Mail. “They’re coming in saying ‘I hope our guy doesn’t strike out.’ ”

In The Hill article, “Biden faces high-stakes moment in CNN debate with Trump,” Reeher says, “All he can do is avoid the downside there. That’s the victory. If he goes in and he’s lively and he’s engaged and everything, that’s all good, but you’re not going to walk away and say that issue is done now.”

Reeher was also quoted in the following Newsweek articles:

“How Joe Biden Can Avoid Suffering Loss to Donald Trump in First Debate.” According to Reeher, “Biden's biggest strength is to show the contrast in leadership styles, to provoke Trump somehow into going even further over the top in his rhetoric, and through that insert concerns about Trump's mental stability when it comes to things like national security."

“Who Won the Debate? Analyst Says Biden Won 'On Points'.” Says Reeher, “Trump seemed to bring almost every issue back to immigration and the harms he asserted were coming from that—that was obviously one of his main strategies. President Biden seemed to address different policy questions more in their own terms. He talked fast and in a staccato, hoarse whisper.”

“Will Joe Biden Be Replaced? How a Contested Convention Would Work.” Reeher says Biden looked and sounded “frail and confused” at Thursday's debate, which may damage his reelection hopes. “I don't think he did very much to dispel the concerns about his age that his detractors are emphasizing, and probably added to them.”