For 90 minutes, tens of millions of viewers watched President Joe Biden criticize, challenge and stumble over his words with former President Donald Trump in a televised debate held in Atlanta.
It was the low point in a roller coaster of a day that started with Georgia’s Democratic elite showering Biden with support and ended with a surprise visit to Waffle House where the president blamed his poor showing on a “sore throat.”
Throughout the day, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution had up-close access to Biden along with a handful of other journalists. Here’s what it was like:
Amid scorching heat around 3 p.m. Thursday, Biden descended from Air Force One to greet former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, who was waiting in his wheelchair for the president. Biden moved down the line of 11 dignitaries, chatting with each person.
He shook hands with former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms — recently named a senior adviser to the Biden-Harris campaign and spent a couple of minutes chatting with former state Sen. Jason Carter, whose grandfather, President Jimmy Carter, entered hospice care 16 months ago and is preparing for his 100th birthday this fall.
Stacey Abrams, a two-time candidate for governor, said later that she talked with Biden about “how we’re going to make sure we get it done again” in Georgia.
(An AJC reporter was on site to watch Trump arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, but press were not granted the same level of access to his hours in Atlanta.)
On his way down I-75, Biden passed crowds of people gathered near Dobbins Air Reserve Base, some holding signs for him and others for his opponent. Then, just before reaching the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, his motorcade pulled over and he got out to talk with several dozen cheering supporters gathered on the street.
Chants from people protesting Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war could be heard in the background, but they were drowned out by his fans shouting “I believe that Joe will win” and other rallying cries.
As the president’s motorcade trekked to CNN studios, he experienced traffic any Atlanta motorist would envy: a completely cleared highway. Along the way, supporters lined the streets of Midtown, jumping in hopes of getting his attention.
The press following him were ushered from vans into a dimly lit space in the basement of the CNN building where Trump and Biden, just a few floors above, stood in debate. Aside from a few reporters grabbing snacks and clacking on their laptops, the room was quiet as two modest-size televisions broadcast the debate.
There was no in-person audience, and no journalists could view the candidates on stage except CNN moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper. A traveling White House reporter was allowed in during a 60-second commercial break.
Inside the gray-walled room lined with photos of CNN journalists, some began to shift their eyes to convey an unspoken message about what was transpiring. Moments after closing statements, the reporters were rounded up and hurled into vans again.
Following the debate, the mood around Biden turned.
As the gravity of his poor performance set in, some of his supporters searched for a silver lining. On the streets and near the press vans, one could be heard comparing Biden’s struggles with Obama’s lackluster debate and noting there was still four months to the election.
The press returned to the Hyatt as Biden visited an after-party. Local Democrats looked visibly worried but would only make positive, forward-looking comments. Meanwhile, music blared over loudspeakers in the gathering space, as if to quell any remaining concerns. Some even danced to Beyoncé's “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
When Biden and first lady Jill Biden took the stage, Democrats put on a brave face. Guests quieted their chatter and rushed close to the stage to cheer for him, some erupting in chants of “four more years.”
Holding a microphone, Jill Biden looked at the president and told those gathered: “Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question. You knew all the facts. And let me ask the crowd: What did Trump do? Lie.”
There, Joe Biden showed a bit more pep than he had on the debate, hyping up some of the forlorn staff who had been lingering about.
“Look, we’re going to beat this guy, and I need you in order to beat him,” Biden shouted into the crowd. “You are the reason why America is as good as we are.”
Biden spent at least 30 minutes greeting supporters, reading their signs and taking photos before the press was pulled back to the vans for one last stop.
Around 12:15 a.m., the press gathered in the kitchen area of a Waffle House. The aroma of crispy hash browns, syrup and freshly poured batter filled the air, as reporters dodged hot stoves to capture the scene. The location Biden visited was just beside Truist Park, which just a few years prior had been the planned site for the MLB All-Star game before the league pulled it after a new voting law in Georgia went into effect.
Patrons cheered when the Bidens walked into the restaurant.
One man who lives in Miami filmed an interaction he had with the president inside the restaurant. In the video, Biden shook his hand and jokingly said he “spends too much time in the gym.”
The first lady spoke to a worker behind the counter to pick up their food. She said the order was for “Biden” and the president slipped her some cash.
With the waffles still hot from the griddle in a to-go bag, Biden boarded Air Force One and headed to Raleigh, North Carolina. White House reporters joined him in the back of the plane while local reporters headed back to the parking lot at Dobbins, processing a historic day in Atlanta.
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