June 25th, 2024
2 days until the first presidential debate
Biden and his wife, Jill arrived in Atlanta, Georgia for the upcoming presidential debate. This debate was highly unusual for a plethora of reasons: it was the first debate to be held before either political parties formally nominated a candidate, there would be no live audience watching, and CNN was implementing mute buttons to avoid interruptions from either candidate.
Although he wouldn't admit it, Biden had been dealing with a suspicious tickle in his throat the past few days. He kept drinking water religiously throughout their entire flight aboard Air Force One in an attempt to conceal his emerging illness. As they were exiting the plane, Biden tried to clear his throat, but it quickly turned into a coughing spell. When the coughing subsided, Biden saw the worried look in his wife's eyes.
"I'm fine, Jill." Biden said to his wife. Although the aspiring democratic nominee boasted about his physical health, the elderly man was most definitely suffering from some kind of sickness.
"You need to make sure you're ready for the debate." His wife told him. Biden nodded held his wife's hand as they walked down the steps.
After 4 years of waiting, the day was almost here. In two days Biden would finally have the opportunity to confront Trump face to face. It was a day Biden had been dreaming of every night for years. The chance to call out Donald's lies live on national television, about policy of course.
...nothing else.
On a deeper level, however, Biden was eager to see Trump again. During the 2020 campaign, the two would talk in private, away from the cameras. They set aside the facade of being each other's enemy to enjoy some time together. Biden remembered the late nights he used to spend in Trump's hotel room, even during COVID times when the two were not supposed to be around each other.
This relationship continued until Trump abruptly cut it off on November 7th, 2020. After a long, tense week of not speaking to each other, Biden received a phone call.
Biden saw that the White House was calling him and he eagerly answered his phone, "Hey Donald-"
"It's over, Joe." Trump solemnly sighed.
Biden was thrown off guard by Trump's eagerness to accept the election results, "It was a tough election, Donald. No hard feelings-"
"No, Joe. Not the election...us." Trump corrected him.
"...Us?" Biden asked.
"I can't do this anymore." Trump hung up abruptly. Biden tried to call him back but there was no answer. Shortly after, Biden watched Trump go on live TV and accuse Biden of stealing the election. Biden was heartbroken. What ensued was years of bitter conflict between the two men, which was (mostly) political. Biden tried many times over the years to reach out to Trump, to try to get some closure.
But Trump never returned his calls.
20 minutes before the presidential debate on June 27th one of Biden's staffers asked him to take a picture with a picture of "Dark Brandon". Biden obliged, posing with a picture of himself that the children of the internet had "memed". The old man had no idea what a meme was or how this "meme" was funny, but the few Gen Z staffers working on his campaign told him it was a good campaign strategy so the old man went with it.
And then it began, Biden and Trump walked on stage. It had been many years (four) since Biden had participated in a presidential debate. In that time, the president forgot how bright the studio lights were. His feeble blue eyes were quickly overwhelmed by the light and the president struggled for a moment to see where he was going. Then he saw Trump, and time seemed to stop. Nothing else mattered in that moment. His former lover walked confidently onto the stage. He didn't acknowledge Biden or shake his hand like what would have been done in a traditional presidential debate.
But this presidential race was anything but traditional.
The two rivals made their way to their podiums. The debate moderators explained the rules of the debate but Biden's mind was long gone. His train of thought had been completely derailed the moment Trump walked into the room. Biden was caught off guard when the first question of the debate was targeted at him. He had to collect his thoughts and stop day dreaming about the long romantic nights he had spent with his opponent four years ago.
As Biden spoke, the ominous tickle in his throat came back suddenly. Biden tried to control it by clearing his through but doing so made him forget what the heck he was even talking about. Trump could sense Biden's weakness and he pounced. He launched a tirade of cruel remarks. The former president accused President Biden of ruining the country. None of this was unexpected, but it was deeply hurtful for Biden to hear these words coming out of Trump's mouth.
"He challenged me to a golf match, but he can't hit a ball 50 yards." Trump told the American viewers. It was then that Biden reached his breaking point. He was done playing Trump's games. He was tired of the facade. Instead of answering the moderators' questions, the two had a heart to heart conversation for the first time in four years.
"I'm happy to play golf with you if you carry your own bag," Biden told Trump, "think you can do it?" For a moment, and only a moment, Biden caught a glimpse of Trump's gaze. The same way Trump used to look at him when they were tangled up in bed sheets all those years ago. Although Trump couldn't show it during the debate, Biden knew the passion was still there.
In the end, the debate was disastrous for the Biden campaign. Viewers were not at all impressed by Biden's performance. It appeared that Trump had emerged victorious after this first round. Biden knew he had failed, both himself and those that believed in him.
"It's alright, Joe." Jill told him. But Biden knew it wasn't true.
"I need some time to myself." He told his wife.
"That's ok, take all the time you need, Joe." Jill responded.
Biden went back to his hotel room alone and grabbed alcohol from the mini bar. The 81 year old drank until he passed out.
When he woke up the next day he wasn't in his hotel room.
He was in Trump's...
