The presidential election debates are an American invention, more specifically, an invention of American television. Since the first debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon, watched by some 70 million viewers, these live television encounters have had the potential to turn elections. With the US presidency’s potential to impact the fate of the world, the debate is watched across the globe now. During these encounters, US voters judge candidates not just on the basis of the policies they promise to bring to the table, but also on their clothes, their tone, their fumbles and pauses, and their body language. By these metrics, incumbent candidate President Joe Biden appears to have lost the election already. Panic has gripped the Democratic Party that the 81-year-old Biden spoke haltingly, could be barely heard, and seemed lost for words at several points.