 Brian Snyder/ReutersDonald Trump and Joe Biden briefly traded barbs over climate in their presidential debate Thursday night — and the weak responses from both candidates handed Trump an unexpected advantage. In response to a question from CNN moderator Dana Bash about whether the candidates would “take any action as president to slow the climate crisis,” Trump claimed that his administration “had the best environmental numbers ever” and that he wants “absolutely immaculate clean water” and “absolutely clean air.” Biden, in a shaky response, argued that Trump “hasn’t done a damn thing for the environment” and that “I passed the most extensive climate change legislation in history.” The exchange was typical of what has become the dynamic between the two contenders: Trump forceful and wrong, Biden garbled despite having plenty to brag about. “The question got asked; the answers failed the future,” Bob Inglis, former Republican representative of South Carolina and executive director of the conservative climate communications group republicEn, told Semafor. Biden’s muddled reference to the Inflation Reduction Act was a missed opportunity for him to press what should be one of his strongest arguments in swing districts: That he is overseeing the reindustrialization of the US, and is responsible for at least $200 billion in investment in job-creating industrial facilities, overwhelmingly in Republican-majority areas. Setting aside the fact that Trump’s assertions were inaccurate — his administration rolled back more than 100 pollution-related regulations — and that his narrow focus on air and water quality feels antiquated and misguided in the era of climate change, his framing is likely to be more resonant with more voters than Biden’s. | 
