Biden and Trump did not shake hands at the beginning of the debate, "seemingly breaking tradition."

ChainCatcher News, the first candidate television debate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election took place on the 27th at around 9 PM local time (around 9 AM Beijing time on the 28th). The current president and Democrat Joe Biden faced off against former president and Republican Donald Trump for the first time in nearly four years after previously exchanging barbs from a distance. According to ABC News, Biden and Trump did not shake hands at the beginning of the debate. The media noted that this seemed to break with tradition, although there have been instances in the past where debaters did not shake hands. For example, during their debate in 2020 amid the pandemic, the two did not shake hands. In 2016, Trump and Hillary also did not shake hands during their debate.

U.S. President Biden and former President Trump engaged in their first presidential election debate, starting with a back-and-forth on economic issues, with both candidates accusing each other of being responsible for rising grocery and housing costs. Voters view the economy as one of the decisive issues in this election battle. Polls show that despite strong job growth and robust manufacturing and infrastructure investment, voters are skeptical of Biden's record due to historically high inflation levels impacting American households. "Our economy is in free fall, and the pandemic was handled so poorly," Biden accused Trump. Biden promised to take more action to address the high costs of household goods and housing, which is one reason voters have rated him poorly on economic issues. Trump defended the tax cuts (set to expire next year), claiming they paved the way for a booming stock market.