It's apparent that Joe had a "special killer speech" that he had obviously rehearsed many times. It was supposed to start off as a tear jerker and then end in a thunderous denouncement of Trump --- a one-two punch of pathos plus righteous indignation. And it was supposed to be the #1 most replayed video in the MSM tomorrow. But alas for poor Joe.....
He started talking of "his son" without ID-ing which one. But it was immediately obvious (to political junkies like us, anyway) that he was talking about his older son Beau, who died of a brain tumor 6 years after returning from military service as a JAG in Iraq. It's obvious his plan was to speak glowingly of his son's service to his country, the medals he received, etc, etc, and then to segue directly into holding his son in his arms as he died, in such a way that the vast majority of viewers - who never heard of Beau Biden - would assume he died for his country.
And then this carefully rehearsed speechette, delivered with all the convincing emotion that a man with 47 years of daily acting experience knows how to deliver, was to instantly pivot from him wiping away his tears, to turn and face Trump in a towering rage, demanding "How DARE you call my son, my hero a loser!??!"
But he was totally knocked off his stride when Trump interrupted, mentioning Hunter, not Beau by name and saying "He was tossed out of the military for drug addiction" ... and went on to bring up Burisma and China and the Russian oligarch who's the widow of a Moscow mayor, and so on.
And Biden was floundering as he first said, "No, I'm talking about Beau!" and then instead of resuming his pre-planned canned speech, he just couldn't resist veering off the track to follow the Golden Apple Trump threw out, by pivoting to defend Hunters' abominable record.
And so Biden's Killer Soundbite / Debate-Takeaway went POOF in a cloud of smoke.
Interesting observation.