Former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed in a nationally televised debate Thursday that his successor Joe Biden is not respected by Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The first face-off of the 2024 presidential election saw Biden and Trump trade criticism on key domestic issues, including the economy, abortion and immigration, with less focus on global affairs.
But Trump claimed that "we are closer to World War III than anybody can imagine" because Biden is not respected by the leaders of U.S. adversaries.
"They don't respect him. They don't fear him," Trump said about Biden.
The first debate, hosted by CNN, was held unusually early, more than four months before the Nov. 5 presidential election. It even came before Trump is formally nominated by the Republicans and Biden by the Democrats at their respective national conventions in July and August.
Polls continue to show that Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, the two oldest candidates ever to aim for the U.S. presidency, are locked in a neck-and-neck race.
Following the 90-minute debate, major U.S. media outlets reported Democrats were concerned about Biden's fitness to lead the country as he struggled to smoothly deliver his lines and rebut Trump, who made false and misleading claims.
The debate took place in the network's Atlanta studios without a live audience and the candidates' microphones were muted except when it was their turn to speak.
The rules, as requested by Biden, marked a departure from their last debate ahead of the presidential election in 2020, during which Trump frequently interrupted.
The two presumptive presidential nominees have agreed to an additional one-on-one debate, which will be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.
They have bypassed a long-standing tradition of three face-offs hosted by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates during each U.S. presidential election cycle.
