The first presidential debate ahead of the November election in the United States of America has sparked a firestorm over the age and the mental acuity of Joe Biden, the country’s president. Mr Biden was mumbling and barely audible at times and seemingly confused and inarticulate during the engagement. Many long-time backers have called on him to step aside from the ballot. Meanwhile, his opponent in November, the former president, Donald Trump, stretched the limits of the truth with his comments on the debate stage. Yet, amid it all, the two oldest presidential contenders in American history also gave fleeting glimpses of their policy priorities if they were to return to power. Domestically, Mr Trump doubled down on his harsh rhetoric against immigrants, accusing Mr Biden of opening up the US border for people whom he called terrorists and murderers. Mr Trump has previously said that he would like to be a dictator for one day to crack down on immigration — even though he has also stated that he would expedite residency for foreign college graduates. Mr Biden tried to strike a balance, promising tight border security alongside humane policies towards immigrants. Mr Biden was expected to turn up the heat on Mr Trump over abortion rights — the Supreme Court justices appointed by Mr Trump had in 2022 overturned the Roe versus Wade judgment, which had made access to abortion a national right. Instead, Mr Trump pushed Mr Biden on the back foot, accusing — without evidence — that Democrats wanted to kill newborn babies.

But the debate also revealed worrying signs for the rest of the world. Mr Biden described his administration as the staunchest supporter of Israel in its war in Gaza. Mr Trump tried to portray the president as a Palestinian sympathiser. The rhetoric suggests that whichever man comes to power in November, US policy in the Middle East is likely to only amplify the tensions in the region while remaining divorced from how much of the world views the current war. While Mr Biden has imposed tough sanctions against China, Mr Trump attempted to portray him as weak in his relations with Beijing, a charge that Mr Biden returned in the case of Mr Trump and his alleged softness towards Russia. These familiar barbs indicate that politics in the US remains stuck in a time capsule. Unless that changes, the disconnect between the US and the rest of the world is only set to grow.