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Former US President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed incumbent Joe Biden for his administration’s “poor job” on the economic front in his opening remarks during the first debate of the 2024 election cycle at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta.

With the economy as the central focus of the debate, Trump said, “Inflation is ‘killing our country.’ He has not done a good job. He’s done a poor job. And inflation is absolutely devastating us.”

Biden detailed what he described as an American economy “in freefall,” while Trump talked about the state of the economy while he was in office. Trump said that under his 2017-2021 leadership, “we had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” and that inflation under Biden today is “killing” the United States.

About 3 in 10 Americans said the economy was the most important problem facing the country in a May Gallup poll. About 1 in 10 pointed specifically to the high cost of living or inflation. About 2 in 10 Americans said immigration was the top problem facing the country and another 2 in 10 said the government/poor leadership were the most important problem.

The stakes are high as Trump holds a narrow national lead over Biden, polling at 45 percent to Biden’s 44 percent, according to Decision Desk HQ/The Hill aggregate polls. The two rivals did not shake hands as they took their positions at podiums just feet apart in a studio with no live audience.

Biden, 81, faces ongoing concerns about his age, the rising cost of living, and his administration’s handling of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Trump is dealing with fallout from his conviction in a New York hush money trial, multiple federal indictments, and scrutiny over his involvement in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.