Biden turned US into ‘third-world nation’ – Trump

The former president has accused his opponent of damaging America’s reputation

Joe Biden has squandered America’s reputation on the world stage, his Republican rival Donald Trump has said during the first presidential debate on Thursday.

Trump tore into Biden early in the televised encounter, accusing the US president of wrecking the economy, triggering the migration crisis at the southern border, and “going after his political opponent.”

He also argued that Biden mishandled the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Such policy failures damage America’s global brand, he argued.

“Throughout the entire world, we are no longer respected as a country,” Trump said during the debate hosted by CNN. “They don’t respect our leadership, they don’t respect the United States anymore… We’ve become like a third-world nation.”

Biden defended his record as president, while insisting that Trump responded poorly to the Covid-19 pandemic and that his tax reform only “benefited the wealthy.”

READ MORE: Top Democrats urge Biden not to talk about his record – media

“The economy collapsed, there were no jobs. The unemployment rose to 15%,” Biden said of his opponent’s term in office. Trump left the country “in chaos,” he added, arguing that the current administration has been successfully rebuilding the economy.