China ridicules Biden’s disastrous debate performance, while Putin slept through it

Chinese commentators basked in the wake of President Biden’s widely panned debate showing Thursday, savaging the 81-year-old on everything from his appearance to his voice to how often he blinked.

Even media from America’s closest European allies lambasted the president’s “horrific’’ performance — while Vladimir Putin’s rep claimed the Russian dictator slept through the trainwreck showdown.

“This debate was very entertaining for many Chinese people,” Hu Xijin, an influential pundit and ex-state media editor, wrote on X early Friday, brutally characterizing Biden’s and GOP foe Donald Trump’s Atlanta showdown as “a negative advertisement for Western democracy.”

Some outlets took Trump to task for playing fast and loose with the truth in a number of his statements, while the narrative about Biden’s performance was squarely focused on his cognitive state.

State-run outlet Beijing News called Biden “habitually confused,” and a posting surfaced on Weibo — China’s equivalent to X — calling out the president as “looking like a robot and barely blinking.”

Others in the blistering thread on the Chinese microblogging site wrote that Biden showed “obvious signs of dementia.”

Popular Chinese blogger Housha Moonlight, who has nearly 4 million followers on the platform, put it in stark terms, saying “Trump won” the first of two planned debates.

“It doesn’t matter what the debate was about. The key is that the witty and flexible Trump successfully highlighted the old and dying appearance of the sleeping king,” Moonlight wrote.

Other users piled on in the comment thread, likening Biden to a “Teletubby” and calling it a “miracle” that he could stand for the duration of the verbal sparring match.

“To be honest, Trump is 78 years old, but his quick thinking and reaction ability are far better than many young people in their thirties and forties,” one commenter observed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile issued a non-statement statement through his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“Well, look, I don’t think you expect the president of Russia might set an alarm clock, wake up before morning and watch the debates in the United States of America?” Peskov told reporters who asked whether Putin had watched, according to Reuters.

“We have a lot of issues that are really important for our country, which are relevant for us. These are the issues that our president is dealing with. Debates in the United States are not part of the main issues on the agenda.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping had not publicly weighed in about the debate by early Friday afternoon.

Biden didn’t fare much better in the European press, even among close US allies.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra said Biden seemed “confused” and took note of his “hoarse voice.”

Swedish broadcaster SVT called the commander-in-chief’s showing “near-catastrophic,” while Onet in Poland described the debate as “sad to watch,” Newsweek said.

France’s Le Monde called Biden’s frequent difficulty getting through complete sentences a “shipwreck,” and Britain-based The Economist lambasted Biden’s performance as “horrific,” even ominously warning it “casts his entire candidacy into doubt.”

A flash CNN poll conducted immediately after the debate had 67% of respondents saying former President Trump had won the evening compared to 33% who called the contest for Biden.

The candidates are set to face off again in this election cycle’s second and final debate Sept. 10.