# We finally beat Medicare

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"We finally beat Medicare" is a phrase spoken by United States President Joe Biden on June 27, 2024, during the first U.S. presidential debate of 2024. Biden used the phrase in response to a question about the national debt and tax policy while making a tangent on his administration's health care achievements.
Several news outlets, political commentators, and politicians specifically pointed out the phrase and general response to the question as emblematic of Biden's poorly articulated performance during the first presidential debate, describing it as lacking energy, unsuccessful in clarifying his administration's achievements and goals, and failing to counter most of Donald Trump's misleading statements.

## Background

Several news outlets reported that the debate was important in convincing voters who disapprove of both candidates to vote for them, and also important for both in convincing voters that their age was not a negative factor when considering their ability to maintain the assignments and duties of the US President.
Debate rules written by CNN allocated two minutes for answering the question posed by the moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, and one minute for rebuttals and responses to the rebuttals. CNN decided that most reporters covering the event would not be allowed into the studio while the debate was occurring and would need to watch footage from McCamish Pavilion.
CNN reported that 47.9 million people watched the first debate, down from 73 million viewers during the first 2020 presidential debate. However, the number does not include individuals who watched the debate on streaming services, social media, or listened on radio.

## Description

During the debate, Joe Biden attempted to defend the economy under his administration and talk about his key health initiatives. CNN Moderator Jake Tapper asked Biden the question:
   President Biden, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to this question about the national debt.
Biden responded to the question:
   He had the largest national debt of any president in a four-your period, number one. Number two, he – that $2 trillion tax cut benefited the very wealthy. I – what I’m going to do is fix the tax system.
   For example, we have a thousand trillionaires in America – I mean, billionaires in America. And what’s happening? They’re in a situation where they, in fact, pay 8.2 percent in taxes. If they just paid 24 percent or 25 percent, either one of those numbers, they’d raised $500 million – billion dollars, I should say, in a 10-year period.
   We’d be able to right wipe out his debt. We’d be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do – childcare, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our healthcare system, making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I’ve been able to do with the – with – with – with the COVID. Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with – look, if – we finally beat Medicare.
Time ran out on the question before Biden could clarify further. Trump responded by saying:
   Well, he’s right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare because all of these people are coming in, they’re putting them on Medicare. They’re putting them on Social Security. They’re going to destroy Social Security.
   This man is going to single-handedly destroy Social Security. These millions and millions of people coming in, they’re trying to put them on Social Security. He will wipe out Social Security. He will wipe out Medicare. So he was right in the way he finished that sentence. And it’s a shame.
   What’s happened to our country in the last four years is not to be believed. Foreign countries – I’m friends with a lot of people – they cannot believe what happened to the United States of America. We’re no longer respected. They don’t like us.
   We give them everything they want, and they think we’re stupid. They think we’re very stupid people.
   What we’re doing for other countries – and they do nothing for us – what this man has done is absolutely criminal.

## Reactions

Several news outlets specifically cited the comment as a representation of Biden's inability to clearly articulate his points and sound energized and capable for the position.
Politico reported that Biden appeared to lose his train of thought when answering the question about the national debt, stating that he struggled to articulate key health initiatives "central to his reelection bid, and froze while discussing healthcare, referencing Medicare in a "confusing manner". Concerns about his age have been significant among voters. The report noted that Biden appeared to stand without movement behind his podium when he wasn't talking, with his mouth open and eyes wide and unblinking for extended periods after his answer. CNN White House reporter Stephen Collinson called the answer "the kind of debate gaffe that Democrats had hoped to avoid", and also noted that his behavior during Trump's retorts intensified the general perception of Biden's diminishing capabilities. He lamented that the answer and his general performance made his quick-witted and assertive demeanor against Trump in the 2020 presidential debates feel like "a distant memory".
The Guardian described the “We beat Medicare” comment as a "non-sequitor" following a lengthy pause by Biden after losing his train of thought that "left people online stunned and confused", and was "a serious stumble that truly stupefied, just moments after a series of other gaffes". The report interpreted Biden's comment as attempting to express that his administration was able to "negotiate Medicare drug prices with pharmacy companies" but that the “we beat Medicare” comment did not properly articulating that. The report stated that while a transcript of Biden's responses seemed "smart and aggressive", that his delivery was unsuccessful and unclear, stating "for a visual medium like TV, that’s critical".
Yasmeen Abutaleb of The Washington Post stated that Biden failed to counter Trump's points, with reporter Dan Diamond specifically noting that he "stumbled" on delivering his prescription cost achievements, despite his team preparing the lines in advance according to his sources. He stated that the White House thought of the Biden administration's capability to cut drug prices was "one of their strongest arguments", which was "muddled" to voters.
The Associated Press stated that Biden "appeared to lose his train of thought" while making the tangent from tax policy to health policy, trailing off until time ran out for the question, and that he "fumbled" on a later question on abortion rights.
British journalist Jonathan Freedland believed that the response was one of Biden's worst moments during the debate, describing it as a "a mumbled, confused declaration" at the end of an "especially rambling sentence" that was articulated as if he was the "enemy of the very public service Democrats cherish and defend". He stated that the gaffe and other statements made prior jokes about Biden’s age and deliberately cut videos depicting him as senile real "for 90 minutes", and that "White House efforts to blame a cold" couldn't spin his belief that it was "the worst presidential debate performance ever".