“The war in Ukraine would never have happened with me” in power, insisted Donald Trump during the first debate against Joe Biden on Thursday. “It’s true!”, agrees Monika Rothenbuhler loudly, amid applause in a bar in San Francisco.
The vice-president of the local Republican party is on conquered ground in the pub chosen by the conservatives to watch the televised duel together, in a town where they represent a minority of voters.
Donald Trump’s numerous invectives and sarcasm aimed at the Democratic president are greeted with laughter and cries of approval, while each hesitation and throat clearing from Joe Biden makes the public exult.
Except Hazel Reitz, 80 years old. “I don’t understand a word he says,” she says, overwhelmed, to her neighbor. “Yes, it’s really sad,” she replies.
The two women do not know each other, but quickly identified each other by their reactions, which were opposite to those of the rest of the public.
“My God…” laments Adina Erridge, while Hazel shakes her head in despair, as the former president defends his actions during the storming of the Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
“At least he articulates”
And when he assures that he will “evacuate” all illegal migrants from the United States, they exclaim in their hearts: “And how are you going to do that?!”.
The two women, who will vote for Joe Biden without any enthusiasm, came with their husbands, doubtful Republicans.
Before the debate began, Hazel Reitz hoped that the exchanges between the two politicians would be “entertaining”, but an hour later, she seemed dejected. “Biden is too old,” she summarizes.
“Trump is not answering questions, and that’s typical of him. And he’s probably not telling the truth. But at least he’s articulate. He’s the one who won (the debate),” said Adina Erridge, 55.
At the Continental Club, a bar in downtown Los Angeles, the frustration of a largely Democratic crowd is also palpable.
But Mike McFarland refuses to admit the defeat of his candidate.
“There are appearances and there are facts. And what matters to me are the facts. So for me Biden won,” he declared. “Even though I know that image-wise he doesn’t look good.”
He chose the evening as his first date with a potential girlfriend, Denise Hernandez… a fervent supporter of Donald Trump. “We agree to disagree,” they joke.
“Not here!”
At the Kezar Pub in San Francisco, silence falls when the candidates are questioned about the opioid crisis, which is wreaking havoc in a city where the highly paid employees of Silicon Valley rub shoulders on a daily basis with the many homeless people often under the influence of drugs.
“The use of fentanyl declined for a time,” ventures Joe Biden. “Not here!” shouts a woman.
Republican activists clearly enjoy meeting up, even though they are usually very isolated in San Francisco. Donald Trump received 9% of the vote there in 2016, and nearly 13% in 2020.
“Did Trump win?” asks John Dennis, the party chairman for the California city, with a big smile. The room goes wild.
“I was afraid that Trump would be too aggressive from the start, but he handled it very well,” he told AFP. “You just have to give someone enough rope to hang themselves and that’s what Trump did with Biden.”
“He’s angry because the last four years have been stolen from him,” Rothenbuhler said, referring to the billionaire and his supporters’ unfounded allegations of election fraud in 2020.
But “he’s mentally and physically at the top of his game,” she enthuses. “I don’t think he can do much more.”
