WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump have engaged in a heated exchange of insults during their first debate ahead of the upcoming presidential election. 
The presidential debate on Thursday night turned intensely personal as Biden and Trump exchanged sharp barbs. The two candidates clashed on their records, with the economy, abortion, and immigration taking center stage, but it was the personal insults that dominated the headlines.
The debate, a rare face-off between a sitting and former president, unfolded at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, without a live audience.
The candidates did not shake hands, and their microphones were muted while the other spoke.
 President Joe Biden’s allies scrambled to contain the damage from his feeble debate performance with Republican rival Donald Trump, as some Democrats considered whether they could replace him as their candidate for the 2024 U.S. election.
Biden’s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses in the debate heightened voter concerns that the 81-year-old incumbent might be not be fit to serve another four-year term.
Biden, the oldest U.S. president to ever hold office, faced only token opposition during the party’s months-long nominating contest, and he has secured enough support to guarantee his spot as the Democratic nominee for the Nov. 5 election.
Former president Trump, 78, likewise overcame his intra-party challengers early in the year, setting the stage for a long and bitter general election fight.
The Trump campaign released a video on Friday highlighting Biden’s stumbles. One adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the debate would help them compete in Democratic-leaning states like Virginia and Minnesota.
Questions about Trump’s fitness for office have arisen also over his conviction last month in New York for covering up hush money payments to a porn star, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his chaotic term in office.
But despite a litany of falsehoods and deflections from Trump during the debate, the focus afterwards was squarely on Biden.
The 90-minute debate at CNN headquarters in Atlanta took place far earlier in the campaign than any modern presidential debate, more than four months before the election.
That could mitigate the damage for Biden, as the memory of his performance fades and news events generate fresh headlines.
Trump, for instance, is scheduled to be sentenced in New York on July 11, just days before his party convenes to formally nominate him. He still faces three other criminal indictments, though none appears likely to reach trial before November.