Donald Trump and Joe Biden refused to shake hands ahead of their first presidential debate on CNN Thursday night.
It was the first time the two US presidents faced each other on the world stage since the 2020 election.
GOP strategist Amy Koch told Daily Express US: “Zero love lost between these two and any semblance of respect doesn’t exist.
“2020 was brutal for each.”
The current president and his predecessor haven’t spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration after leading an unprecedented and unsuccessful effort to overturn his loss that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection by his supporters.
Trump has promised sweeping plans to remake the U.S. government if he returns to the White House and Biden argues that his opponent would pose an existential threat to the nation’s democracy.
Thursday’s broadcast on CNN, moderated by anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be the earliest general election debate in history. It’s the first-ever televised general election presidential debate hosted by a single news outlet after both campaigns ditched the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which had organized every matchup since 1988.
