Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump accused President and Democratic candidate Joe Biden of getting funded by China and called him a “Manchurian candidate” in his ruthless attack during a US presidential debate held on Thursday (June 27) at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta.
During the debate, Trump said that “the largest deficit in the history” of the country.
“We now have the largest deficit in the history of our country. We have the largest deficit with China. He gets paid by China. He’s a Manchurian candidate. He gets money from China,” he said.
“China is going to own us if you keep allowing them to do what they’re doing to us as a country. They are killing us as a country, Joe, and you can’t let that happen. You’re destroying our country,” Trump said to Biden.
He called the military policies of Biden as “insane,” claiming that leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un do not fear or respect Biden. “They have nothing going with this gentleman and he’s going to drive us into World War III,” said Trump.
What does ‘Manchurian candidate’ mean?
The term “Manchurian candidate” is a reference to the character of an American soldier in Frank Sinatra’s 1962 film, which had the same name.
The movie revolves around American soldier Raymond Shaw who was captured and brainwashed by communist forces after which he became a sleeper agent and committed a political assassination.
Frank Sinatra plays Shaw’s commanding officer Major Bennett Marco who begins uncovering the sinister plot with the help of disturbing nightmares.
Watch: Biden vs Trump US Presidential Debate: Biden-Trump fiercely clash over Russia-Ukraine
In 2004, the film was remade with Denzel Washington in the role of Major Bennett Marco.
In the presidential debate, the two presidential candidates clashed on different issues which included the economy, abortion, and immigration.
81-year-old President Biden started by criticising Trump’s presidency but stumbled several times during the debate.
Trump, meanwhile, seized on Biden’s phrasing as he blamed him for the Ukraine war. “If we had a leader, this is a war that never should have started,” he said.
He further slammed Biden for giving “$200 billion or more to Ukraine”, and claimed that it was a lot of money and that there was never “anything like it”.
(With inputs from agencies)