The first presidential debate was a chaotic mess at best, and the worst US presidential debate in history. The purpose of Presidential debates is to educate voters about each candidates’ stance on policies; people tune in to learn what each candidate stands for, and to make an informed decision on who they should vote for, not to watch a reality TV show, which was what they saw during the first debate.
Trump repeatedly and consistently interrupted Biden, talking over him and belittling his nearly half-century career of being a public servant. At one point during the 90-minutespectacle, when Biden was implying he was smarter than Trump, Trump responded by saying “So you said you went to Delaware State, but you forgot the name of your college. You didn’t go to Delaware State. You graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class,” taking a cheap shot at Biden. Trump also outright refused to condemn white supremacists, telling one white supremacy group to “stand back and stand by,” and saying that the right is not responsible for all the violence being caused in the US.
The most shocking part of the night was when Biden was proudly talking about his sonBeau – who died from brain cancer in 2015 — being a hero and serving in the USmilitary, to which Trump responded by launching an attack on Biden’s other son, Hunter.He raised issues with him supposedly getting $3 million from the wife of Moscow’smayor, as well as raising his issues with drug addiction. A visibly upset Biden thenturned to the camera and said, “My son had a drug problem, but he’s overcome it and I’mproud of him,” demonstrating some leadership which this debate so greatly lacked.
When asked if both candidates would agree to the election results and urge theirrespective supporters to stay calm until the results are officially determined, Bidenenthusiastically said yes, whereas Trump did not. He did not directly answer the questionbut said, “If it’s a fair election, I am 100% on board. But if I see tens of thousands ofballots being manipulated, I can’t go along with that,” implying that if he were to lose, hewould not necessarily accept the results of the election.Moderator Chris Wallace, a Fox news anchor, struggled to keep control of the debate. Hecalled on the candidates to stop the back-and-fourth many times, but was mostly steam-rolled by the President. It is hard to imagine that any moderator could successfullymoderate this debate, though, seeing as neither candidate was willing to let go of thebickering.
This debate failed to educate viewers on any policies that either of the candidate plan to implement when elected, but instead was 90 minutes of shouting, interruptions, and crosstalk. This comes in the midst of a pandemic that has taken 200,000 American lives, country-wide protests and an economic downturn with a staggering 8.4% unemployment rate. It is evident that the only winner of this debate were those who didn’t watch it.
