WASHINGTON: After more than a year of circling each other, Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden met on the debate stage Tuesday night in Ohio.
The 74-year-old president and the 77-year-old former vice president are similar in age, and they share a mutual dislike. But they differ starkly in style and substance. All of that was evident from the outset on the Cleveland stage.
Here are key early takeaways from the first of three scheduled presidential debates before Election Day on Nov. 3.
POTUS INTERUPTUS
Trump has been itching to attack Biden for months, and he wasted no time going on offense. He repeatedly interrupted Biden mid-sentence, sometimes in intensely personal ways.
Theres nothing smart about you, Trump said of Biden. 47 years youve done nothing.
While Trump played into his reputation as a bully, it may have been effective at breaking up the worst…