A raspy President Joe Biden repeatedly sought to confront Donald Trump in their first debate ahead of the November election, as his Republican rival countered Biden’s criticism by leaning into falsehoods about the economy, illegal immigration and his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

CBS News, 45 minutes into the debate, reported that “a source familiar with the president’s debate prep confirmed that Mr. Biden has had a cold for the past few days. Hence the raspy voice.” CBS News said souces say Biden tested negative for COVID.

In first half hour of debate, Biden delivered rambling answers that sometimes trail off as he defends his policies and record.

Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while giving one answer, drifting from an answer on tax policy to health policy, at one point using the word “COVID,” and then saying, “excuse me, with, dealing with,” and he trailed off again.

“Look, we finally beat Medicare,” Biden said, as his time ran out on his answer.

Trump picked right up on it, saying, “That’s right, he did beat Medicaid, he beat it to death. And he’s destroying Medicare.”

AL.com contributed to this report.