The first presidential debate of 2024 was a horror show that pitted a very old man against a very bad man.

For 90 minutes, former president and current felon Donald Trump lied and blustered and bullied. It was 2020 all over again, right down to his claim that Minneapolis had burned to the ground.

The only one standing between Trump and his authoritarian fever dream of a second term was the frail-looking octogenarian at the other podium, President Joe Biden.

Lord knows the mute button did nothing for us at this debate. The CNN moderators didn’t even attempt to check facts and struggled mightily to get Trump to answer any of the questions he’d actually been asked.

For 90 minutes, the former president lied with conviction, gusto and zero shame. For 90 minutes, the current president told the truth, for the most part, in the most muddled and unconvincing manner possible.

There was an excruciating detour into sex with porn stars. Donald Trump, a literal criminal, called everyone but himself a criminal. He tried to convince us that Nazis hadn’t marched in Charlottesville, Va., (they did) and that he had ridden to the rescue as Minneapolis burned after the murder of George Floyd (he did not; Gov. Tim Walz was the one who called out the National Guard, because that’s his job). The liveliest point in the whole debate was when the candidates for the highest office in the land started arguing about their golf games.

Between them, they turned in the worst presidential debate performance in history. Democrats are panicking. Trump’s base is uncritically whooping it up.

Very little makes Trump’s base rethink their life choices. Not their candidate’s felony convictions. Not his botched pandemic response. Not when the judge ordered him to pay damages for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll. Not his unhinged discourses on sharks, boats and batteries.

Trump once again casually confirmed that he will not accept the results of any election he loses. He has promised us bloodbaths if he loses. The real horror of Thursday’s debate is that he might actually win. All that stands in his way are the 161 million or so Americans who have bothered to register to vote.