May 30, 2025

The June 2024 presidential debate was a turning point in crucial ways for President Biden and the beginning of inquiry and reflection about his candidacy. In this episode, Open to Debate’s moderator-in-chief John Donvan and chief content officer Lia Matthow sit down with the co-moderator of that historic debate, CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson to discuss their book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” As a debate organization, we wanted to know more about what transpired before, during, and after that night and what lessons can be learned for journalists, Democratic and Republican party leaders, and, of course, what can be gleaned about the importance of presidential debates in determining elections. 

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