ゴルフの腕前でもののしり合い、米大統領選討論会

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】２７日に行われた米大統領選の第１回目のテレビ討論会は、史上最高齢の候補者２人が９０分間、侮辱と非難の応酬を繰り広げた末、ゴルフの腕前をめぐる口論にまで発展した。（写真は、米ジョージア州アトランタで行われた第１回米大統領選候補討論会に臨むジョー・バイデン大統領〈右〉とドナルド・トランプ前大統領）
　握手を交わさずに始まった討論会では、民主党の現職ジョー・バイデン大統領（８１）と共和党のドナルド・トランプ前大統領（７８）が、互いに米国史上「最悪の大統領だ！」とののしり合った。
　終盤に差し掛かると２人は、ゴルフのハンディキャップをめぐって言い合いを始めた。
　「彼はボールを５０ヤード（約４５メートル）も飛ばせない」と言って、火をつけたのはトランプ氏だ。「彼は私にゴルフの勝負を挑んできた。でも、ボールを５０ヤードも飛ばせない」。そして自らについては「以前と変わらずずっといいコンディションだ」とし、バイタリティーは十分あると自慢した。
　これに対し、バイデン氏はパッティングの腕前では負けていないとし、自らの見せ場はグリーン上だと対抗。「ドライビングコンテストは喜んで受ける」とし、「副大統領時代にハンディキャップを６まで下げた」と付け加えた。
　するとトランプ氏は、小ばかにするように「ハンディキャップ６だって？　私はあなたがどんなスイングをするか知っている」と返した。
　討論会でトランプ氏は、バイデン氏が「弱く」、「リーダーにふさわしくない」と強調するチャンスをほとんど逃さなかった。
　トランプ氏はまた、世論調査で有権者が繰り返し懸念事項として挙げているバイデン氏の認知能力についても言及。
　「私は認知機能テストを２度受けた。両方とも高得点だった」とし、「彼（バイデン氏）は一度も受けていない。一度でいいので受けるのを見てみたい。５問くらいのごく簡単なやつでいい。たぶん、できないと思うが」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/06/28-18:54）

A bad tempered and unedifying US presidential debate between the two oldest candidates ever to run for office degenerated into a squabble over golfing prowess on Thursday.
The first head-to-head in an already painfully long campaign saw 81-year-old Joe Biden and his 78-year-old challenger Donald Trump trade insults and accusations for 90 minutes on prime time television.
There was name-calling: You're the worst! No, YOU'RE the worst!
There were accusations: You're a whiner!
And then they fought over their golf handicaps.
He can't hit a ball 50 yards, said Trump, on one of the few occasions the two men directly addressed each other.
He challenged me to a golf match. He can't hit a ball 50 yards.
Trump's own vitality was never in question, he boasted, insisting I'm in as good a shape as I was years ago.
Not to be outdone over his putting prowess, Biden insisted he was game on the green.
I'd be happy to have a driving contest, he said. I got my handicap when I was the vice president down to a six.
Trump scoffed.
A six handicap? he snorted. I've seen your swing. I know your swing.
The exchange came towards the end of the CNN-hosted debate, which had started without the handshake that is customary on such occasions and gone downhill from there.
The animosity between the two men was palpable, with Biden taking an early swing at a man he said had the morals of an alley cat.
How many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties for molesting a woman in public... for having sex with a porn star... while your wife was pregnant, he said, in reference to Trump's alleged dalliance with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The Republican former president again denied adultery, but a New York jury found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments to her.
Trump wasted few chances to hammer home his claim that Biden was weak and not a leader.
He also took aim at Biden's perceived mental frailties, an issue that polls repeatedly show voters are concerned about.
I took two tests, cognitive tests. I aced them, both of them, as you know, we made it public, he said.
He took none. I'd like to see him take one, just one, a real easy one, like go through the first five questions. He couldn't do it.