Biden-Trump debate: What you didn’t see on TV from inside — and outside — the showdown in Atlanta
ATLANTA — The debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump on Thursday night was watched and streamed by millions on CNN both on television and online. But there was much more that viewers didn’t see, like the unprecedented security outside the debate hall, the giddy Trump surrogates flooding the spin room, the Robert Kennedy Jr. fans doling out lemonade on the sidewalk and the curious Georgia Tech students playing beer pong while watching the waves of media roll into a basketball arena that served as a filing center for hundreds of credentialed journalists.
Here are four things you didn't see on TV from inside — and outside — the debate hall.
Security was seriously tight around the debate
There had never been a debate between a current and former president before Thursday, and the security surrounding the debate was indicative of that. A giant steel barricade blocked the street between the debate hall and the so-called spin room, which was on the floor of McCamish Pavilion, an 1,800-seat basketball arena on the Georgia Tech campus.
There was only one entrance for credentialed journalists, who were wanded and asked to go through metal detectors.
That studio itself, across the street with the barriers, was empty save for the two candidates, co-moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, and a handful of camera operators and still photographers — making it the first presidential debate without an in-person audience since 1960, when the first televised presidential debate aired.
So the hundreds of reporters who traveled to Atlanta watched a live feed of the debate on dozens of flatscreens scattered around the McCamish Pavilion and on the jumbotron above the “spin room,” which was nearly empty throughout the 90-minute debate.
That included the traveling White House press pool, which was not permitted to enter the debate hall.
Trump campaign surrogates flood the 'spin room'
Moments after the debate concluded, Trump's surrogates — a lot of them, in fact — were on the floor of the CNN spin room. And they were in a great mood.
Among them: Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Reps. Byron Donalds and Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and Trump campaign advisers Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie and Stephen Miller, each fanning out across the McCamish Pavilion, questioning — like some Democrats — whether President Biden is fit for office.
"As president of the United States, you have to adapt, you have a lot of things coming at you at all times," Lara Trump said. "If he had a cold, maybe that's what they're gonna tell people. But I don't think that the cold is the problem."
"Joe Biden was lost on several topics," Donalds said. "They kept asking, I think the moderators asked him several times, 'You have 89 seconds left, you have 34 seconds left, President Biden. Do you want to add to your answer?' You can't have that in our country."
"I think anybody who loves the United States of America today recognizes it is a national security threat for this man to be responsible for defending the United States of America," Ramaswamy said. "This isn't just funny anymore. This is dangerous."
When Biden's surrogates, including Sen. Raphael Warnock and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, arrived about 20 minutes later, they were swarmed by reporters and camera crews. The scrum was too deep for this reporter to hear their spin.
RFK Jr. fans set up a lemonade stand outside the debate in protest
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify for Thursday night's debate. But on the streets surrounding the debate site, his fans were out in full force. One, Kyle Kemper, a Canadian who now lives in Florida, showed up in a large RV with his family. (It's the first stop on what Kemper said will be a summerlong tour that includes stops at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions as well as former President Donald Trump's sentencing hearing in New York next month.)
Another set up a lemonade stand and handed out free lemonade along with leaflets promoting Kennedy's live debate counterprogramming.
The lemonade, it should be noted, was organic from Trader Joe's — and was delicious.
And RFK Jr. did win at least one debate-related contest: the yard-sign battle outside the arena.
Fraternity row students watch the debate — and play beer pong
The media check-in for the debate was across from Georgia Tech's fraternity row, and some curious students at Phi Gamma Delta were out on the lawn early as journalists picked up their credentials.
Brandon, 20, Caleb, 22, and Michael, 21, said they were planning to have a debate watch party at the fraternity house, with some beers, of course. (Nearly every fraternity house has a beer pong table set up on its front lawn.)
The students said they were engaged but still undecided about the race.
"There's a lot going on, trying to wrap my head around everything and do my research," Brandon said. "I think that's the most important thing, is to make an informed decision."
The members of nearby Kappa Alpha, pictured below, appear to have their minds made up about the election.
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