US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump fiercely attacked each other in their first televised debate before the presidential election scheduled for November.
The debate between the two presumptive nominees -- Biden for the Democratic Party and Trump for the Republican Party -- was held in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday.
The faceoff between the pair was their first since the last presidential election in 2020.
The first topic in the 90-minute debate was on inflation. Biden said Trump left him a "terrible" economy when he took over office in 2021. He said the jobless rate shot up to 15 percent at the time, and that he created jobs, ensured employment and brought things back.
Trump said the only jobs Biden created were for illegal immigrants and "bounce-back" jobs from after COVID. He said that recent inflation under Biden is "absolutely killing us."
Trump said Russia's attack on Ukraine would not have happened if he were president. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin would have never invaded Ukraine if the United States "had a real president, a president that knew that was respected by Putin."
Biden said in contrast that he has won support from 50 other countries, including Japan, in supporting Ukraine to fight against Russia's invasion.
The candidates also discussed other major issues, at times accusing each other as being "the worst president" in history.
Some US media reports said Biden lacked strength and stability, as he spoke in a hoarse voice and stumbled over his words.