Investing.com -- U.S. Democratic President Joe Biden appeared to struggle through much of Thursday night's highly-anticipated 90-minute debate with Republican challenger Donald Trump, stumbling through questions put to him by the event's moderators.
The televised debate on CNN was billed as a showdown between two candidates who face major questions over both their age -- Biden is 81 years old and Trump is 78 -- and their temperments.
Biden's performance was marked by a hoarse voice and a series of long pauses, which largely overshadowed his attacks on Trump's recent criminal conviction and his failure to accept democratic norms. Trump, meanwhile, took aim at Biden's record on the economy and foreign policy.
"If a goal of an early debate for Biden’s team was to show President Biden was ready to take on former President Trump and put to rest some concerns he was up for the task; the goal was not met, in our view," analysts at Raymond James said in a note to clients following the debate.
Although Vice President Kamala Harris suggested that Biden had a "strong finish" after a "slow start," media reports suggested that, in the wake of the event, Democrats were becoming increasingly concerned about Biden's ability to carry out a successful campaign ahead of November's presidential election.
"Focus on whether Biden will stay in the race will heighten to likely the loudest level thus far in the campaign," the Raymond James analysts said.