Analyzing the First Presidential Debate

At Case Western University in the battleground state of Ohio, President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden faced off for the first time before the November elections. The Presidential debate was split into six 15 minute sections. Each of the six sections covered a topic chosen by debate moderator and Fox News anchor, Chris Wallace. According to the debate’s rules, Wallace gave each candidate 2 minutes to answer a question without interruption. Each candidate spent the remaining time in open discussion. Wallace welcomed both candidates to the stage, and the debate kicked off.

The debate started rather civilly but quickly descended into chaos. Both candidates talked over each other, with Wallace confronting Trump about breaking the rules of the debate several times. Trump interrupted Biden or Wallace 128 times in total, igniting the dumpster fire of a debate. Biden threw fiery and unexpected insults while Trump accused him of being in line with the “radical leftists.” Both candidates lied and dodged incredibly important questions. The debate was incredibly tumultuous and unfiltered, with Wallace having an incredibly hard time moderating thanks to Trump’s interruptions. Overall, the debate was a total mess.

The Supreme Court

After the tragic death of civil rights icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Trump immediately nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. Wallace first asked Trump to defend his nomination. Trump stated that he and the Republicans were elected by the American people. Therefore, they were obligated to choose a new justice. Some view his point as invalid since Democrats won the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election by 3 million. In 2016 and 2018, over 10 million more Americans voted for Democrats than Republicans in the Senate. However, Republicans strengthened their control in the Senate in the midterm elections. In other words, the American people aren’t fairly represented in the White House or the Senate. Biden echoed this sentiment. He suggested waiting for the election results so that the American people could finally express their views in the government.

Turning against Trump, Biden argued that a Republican-controlled Supreme Court would eliminate the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This would eliminate insurance for 20 million Americans in the middle of a pandemic. Once again, insurance companies would be able to discriminate against women and millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions with higher rates.

Open Discussion

The first period of open discussion in this section quickly broke down. Despite the section being about the Supreme Court, the candidates argued mostly about completely different topics, including COVID and healthcare.

Healthcare

Early on, Trump falsely claimed that Biden’s “socialist” healthcare plan would eliminate private healthcare for 180 million Americans. He labeled Biden and the Democrats as socialists, referencing Democratic candidates who argued for eliminating private healthcare during the primaries. Biden reinforced his longstanding stance on keeping private insurance by saying that whatever the other Democratic candidates said was irrelevant. Since Biden won his party’s nomination, he and his policies will represent the Democrats this election.

Then, Wallace confronted Trump on his administration’s inability to repeal Obamacare and come up with a new healthcare plan. Trump did not let Wallace finish his question, talking over him repeatedly. Regarding a comprehensive health plan, Trump dodged the question. He instead bragged about getting rid of the ACA’s individual mandate and lowering drug prices. An example he used was insulin, calling it as cheap as water. However, insulin costs have continued to rise. Trump also lied about wanting to protect pre-existing conditions.

Next, Wallace asked Biden about his healthcare plan’s public option, arguing that it would eliminate private insurance. Biden clarified that it’s only meant to expand Medicaid to the very poor who aren’t already enrolled because of their state’s unwillingness to enroll them. Everyone else will be able to keep their private insurance. Trump would not let Biden answer, accusing him of agreeing with Bernie’s “manifesto” on socialist healthcare.

Frustrated, Biden went on the attack. He said that he wouldn’t try to identify Trump’s lies because “everyone knows he is a liar.” Wallace then asked Trump to please let Biden finish. Biden responded, “he doesn’t know how to do that.” Next, Biden berated Trump for trying to take away healthcare from millions of Americans by eliminating the ACA and for his inaction and lack of a comprehensive healthcare plan.

Packing the Courts

Lastly, Wallace ended the section by switching back to its original topic of the Supreme Court. Wallace asked Biden if he supported a Democratic Senate expanding the Supreme Court or ending the filibuster if Barret were successfully appointed. Biden largely avoided the question, arguing that the American people should decide if they support those ideas by voting in Senate elections. Trump interrupted Biden’s answer, criticizing him for evading the question.

Because of Trump’s continued interruptions, Biden responded by saying, “Will you shut up, man?” and calling him unpresidential. Wallace tried to calm things down by announcing the end of the first section. In response, Biden quipped, “that was a really productive segment, wasn’t it?” sparking laughter from the audience. He then turned to Trump and told him to “keep yapping.” Trump responded by saying that Biden accomplished nothing after 47 years in government.

Much later in the debate, to support the idea of his administration’s record, Trump said that his administration filled over 100 federal judge vacancies left by Obama. This is misleading, since the Republican Senate refused to confirm many of Obama’s picks. So, while many Republicans are condemning Democrats of wanting to pack the Supreme Court, many have pointed out that Republicans already packed the federal courts.

COVID-19

Wallace first described the situation in the US, with 7 million infected and 200,000 dead due to the virus, saying that it could take very long to return to normalcy. He asked each candidate why voters should trust him more than his opponent to deal with the virus.

Biden Attacks Trump’s COVID Response

Biden said that while making up only 4% of the global population, the US has 20% of global coronavirus cases. Every day, 40,000 Americans contract the virus, and about 750 to 1000 die from it.

Biden then referenced a viral interview Trump had with Axios a few months before. When  confronted with similar statistics in the interview, he said, “it is what it is.” Biden lambasted him for this indifference.

Next, he referenced the Woodward tapes. These were conversations in February between Trump and journalist Bob Woodward. Trump painted a worrying picture of the virus to Woodward, concerned about how infectious it was, especially since it is airborne, and how it was killing young people too. Despite knowing the seriousness of COVID early on, Trump chose not to tell the American people. Biden said that Trump downplayed it instead and continues to do so.

Trump Attacks Biden’s COVID Plans

First, Trump claimed that if he had followed Biden’s plans, millions would have died rather than just 200,000. Next, he went on to blame the virus’ spread on China, contradicting his early praises of them. Trump then suggested that the US is actually doing better with COVID compared to the rest of the world because other countries are lying or manipulating their statistics. This may be true for countries like China or Russia, but the suggestion paints a cynical view of the world and our allies.

Trump then returned to his first argument that Biden’s plan would have been worse for the country. He said that Biden criticized him for closing the country because it was xenophobic and because it would hurt the economy. Biden actually supported Trump’s implementation of travel bans. Biden has called Trump xenophobic before, but not in reference to his travel bans. Additionally, as reported by the New York Times in April, about 40,000 people from direct flights from China entered the US from February to April. This was in spite of Trump’s supposed China travel ban.

Next, Trump bragged about receiving open support for his COVID response from prominent Democrats, specifically mentioning Democratic governors. However, Trump has on many occasions threatened to withhold vital personal protection equipment (PPE), funding, and other resources from states whose governors have disagreed with him.

Swine Flu

Trump then brought up the swine flu (H1N1) outbreak of 2009. Trump said that Obama’s own chief of staff criticized his administration for its response. Biden interrupted, saying that only 14,000 died of H1N1 instead of 200,000 that have died of COVID. He said that Obama didn’t want to shut down the economy since the US was recovering from the Great Recession. However, one could argue that a shutdown could have dramatically lowered the 60 million H1N1 cases during the year of the outbreak. Biden then attacked Trump for generating his own recession.

A COVID Vaccine

More importantly, Biden turned to the subject of a vaccine. Trump has repeatedly suggested that he could begin phasing in a vaccine before the election. Biden affirmed his trust in science, criticizing Trump for spreading misinformation about a potential vaccine.

Wallace then asked the candidates about their vaccine plans. He stated that Trump has repeatedly contradicted his top scientists on the timeline for a vaccine. In September, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield said that it would take until next summer for a vaccine to be publicly available. In response, Trump said that Redfield and others were wrong. He doubled down on this during the debate. Trump said that after speaking with various companies, a vaccine could be available by election day. He accused Biden and the Democrats of trying to gain political points from the issue rather than save lives.

Biden responded by casting doubt on Trump, mentioning Trump’s history of dubious claims on COVID. Trump said early on that, “like a miracle,” the virus would disappear by Easter. He also referenced when Trump suggested injecting bleach to combat the virus. Trump argued he was being sarcastic, but the video of his speech suggests otherwise. Biden then argued that companies could potentially develop a vaccine before the end of the year, but that mass rollout of the vaccine would take until early or mid-2021.

Trusting the Science

While answering a question, Biden said that the pandemic would only worsen unless Trump got smarter with his COVID response. Offended at Biden’s suggestion that he was dumb, Trump attacked him for forgetting the name of his college and for graduating among the lowest in his grade. However, Trump ironically misremembered Biden’s college. Trump ended by saying, “Don’t ever use the word smart with me … because you know what, there is nothing smart about you, Joe.”

Reopening the Economy

Wallace then changed the subject to reopening the economy, asking Biden why he was more reluctant than Trump to do so. Biden responded with what he said earlier about securing PPE for businesses. Trump interrupted by saying that Biden should “tell that to Nancy Pelosi … and Chuck.” Biden countered, saying that Trump would rather golf than negotiate with Senate Democrats.

Trump then attempted to explain his plan of keeping the economy open rather than shutting it down. Biden interrupted, but Trump quipped that he would shut down Biden for a second so that he could speak. Trump then said that the US was recently learning about the severity of the disease. This goes against what he said in the Woodward tapes, which show that he already knew about its gravity in February. He then argued that Biden and the Democrats, specifically governors, want to shut down the economy to hurt him in the election.

Effectiveness of Masks

Biden tried to give a response to the claim but Wallace did not let him. Wallace then asked Trump about his statements regarding his skepticism on the efficacy of masks. Trump showed his mask, saying that he puts it on when he thinks it is necessary. Notably, Trump’s family refused to wear masks while seated in the debate. Then, Trump attacked Biden for overusing masks, saying that Biden wears “the biggest mask I’ve ever seen” everywhere he goes. These statements proved immensely ironic given Trump’s positive test for COVID only days after the debate.

Wallace then turned the question to Biden. He claimed that if everyone wore a mask, the number of potential cases by the end of the year, which could be as high as 200,000, could be reduced by half. Biden mistakenly attributed this claim to Redfield instead of the University of Washington. Trump retorted by saying that many in the CDC, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have refuted masks. After the debate, Fauci clarified that the CDC initially did not recommend masks because they did not want to cause a shortage. They then learned of the effectiveness of masks in stopping asymptomatic spread, making them vital.

Ironically, a good example of masks being effective is Barrett’s official nomination. Attendees included many high-ranking Republicans, including Trump. Very few wore masks or socially distanced, with Utah Senator Lee seen hugging people. As a result, Lee and many other attendees tested positive for the virus the week after.

The Economy

Wallace started the next section by addressing how the economy appears to be recovering much faster than expected from the pandemic and from the shutdowns.

Trump’s Economy and a Biden Shutdown

Trump touted his administration’s economic successes in building the “greatest economy in history,” stating that it was a hard decision to close it down because of the “China plague.” He falsely claimed, again, that Biden did not want to close down the economy and that 2 million would have died by now under Biden’s COVID plan. He also listed his administration’s record-breaking recovery from the shutdown. Between April and August, 10.4 million new jobs were created. While certainly impressive, it is only half of the 22 million jobs that were lost between February and April.

Trump painted Biden as a threat, saying that he wants to destroy the country by shutting it down. Trump mentioned the psychological side effects of shutdowns, an often-overlooked problem. Lastly, he suggested again that Democratic governors want shutdowns to continue to hurt his electoral chances. He claimed that the people are responsible enough to social distance and wear masks. Unfortunately, various social gatherings across the country without COVID regulations have already caused issues. Additionally, Trump casting doubt on mask-wearing during the debate contradicts his claim that people are responsible enough to wear masks.

Trump’s Failed Economy

Biden stated that while millionaires and billionaires have done very well during the pandemic, thanks in part to Republican tax cuts, average citizens are struggling. He argued that financially struggling voters shouldn’t vote for Trump, a millionaire who has probably paid less than them in income taxes, referencing the New York Times report on Trump’s finances. Trump got defensive and interrupted again, forcing Wallace to step in.

Switching to back to the economy, Biden claimed that if Trump loses in November, he would be the first president to leave the office with fewer jobs than he started. This is somewhat untrue since records on jobs only go back until 1939. To be more accurate, Trump will be the first to leave with fewer jobs since Herbert Hoover, who lost reelection in 1932 after the onset of the Great Depression. Biden argued that Trump should not reopen the economy while half of the states have rising cases and deaths. Stopping COVID spread is, for Biden, a prerequisite for economic recovery.

Trump’s Taxes

The biggest headline heading into the debate was the New York Time’s report on Trump’s finances. The article reported that Trump only paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017. Wallace asked Trump if this was true. Trump claimed that he paid millions in income taxes. Biden interrupted, asking Trump to release his tax returns. Trump claimed that since he was under audit, he couldn’t. He used the same excuse in 2016, and the IRS has clarified that one can release one’s tax returns even while under audit. Trump was the first presidential candidate not to release his taxes since 1976, and his unwillingness to do so has been suspicious to many. Trump defended his unwillingness to pay taxes and his use of loopholes to avoid taxes because he is “not stupid.”

Increasing Taxes

Next, Wallace asked Biden specifically how his plan of raising $4 trillion in taxes in the coming decade on those making over $400K would not hurt an economy coming out of a COVID-caused recession. In response, Biden said that his plan, according to analyses by Wall Street firms, would create 7 million more new jobs than Trump’s plan and $1 trillion in economic growth. He also promised to eliminate the Republican tax cut and raise the corporate income tax back to 28%. Trump again attacked Biden on his inability to pass his plans while he was in office.

Trump defended his tax cut, saying that his administration got the economy booming. In response, Wallace pointed out that Obama’s last three years created 1.5 million more jobs than Trump’s first three years before COVID started. Trump ignored this, claiming that Obama’s administration had the slowest recovery since the Great Depression. Trump claimed that if Biden eliminated Trump’s tax cuts, many companies would leave the United States, causing another recession.

Hunter Biden

Trump changed the subject to Biden’s controversial son Hunter. He alleged that Hunter while working with a Ukrainian energy company, received $3.5 million from the wife of Moscow’s mayor. Trump and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani have sown conspiracy theories regarding Hunter. They allege that the Obama administration’s foreign policy was influenced to protect Hunter. Similar to Hillary Clinton’s emails, Republican committees found no solid evidence of wrongdoing. Their report concluded that “the extent to which Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s [the Ukrainian company’s] board affected U.S. policy toward Ukraine is not clear.” Additionally, there is no evidence that Hunter directly received the $3.5 million, which was given to a firm linked to him.

Trump pressured Biden into answering his questions about Hunter, only to interrupt Biden as he tried to answer that the allegations were discredited and untrue. Trump arguably interrupted the most during this part of the debate. Biden stopped talking so as to not talk over Trump, prompting Wallace to tell Biden that he would have the final word. Frustrated, Biden said, “it is hard to get any word in with this clown.” Biden said that if he wanted, he could talk about the Trumps all night. Biden argued that he and Trump shouldn’t argue about each other’s families since they are not on the ballot.

Later on, Trump switched again to talking about Hunter, including the fact that he was dishonorably discharged for drug abuse. Many criticized Trump for what seemed like a very low blow to Biden and his son. Biden proudly defended Hunter and commended him on his success in fighting his addiction.

Beau Biden

Before Trump attacked Hunter for his previous drug problems, Wallace asked both candidates why voters should trust their political records over their opponent’s. In Biden’s answer, he called Trump “Putin’s puppy.” Trump interrupted, bringing up Hunter’s unproven ties to Russia again. This prompted a frustrated Wallace to remind Trump to follow the debate rules he agreed to. In response to Trump, Biden talked about his sons, specifically his son Beau, who fought in Iraq. He referenced a story from the Atlantic, that claimed that Trump called fallen soldiers “losers and suckers.” The story was confirmed by various outlets, including a Fox News national correspondent. Biden passionately defended his son, who died of brain cancer in 2015, calling him and his fallen brothers patriots and heroes.

Racism

Wallace started by asking the candidates why voters should trust them more than their opponent on the issue of race. Biden’s answer started with Charlottesville. He said that Trump’s response, where he called white supremacists and Confederate sympathizers “very fine people,” persuaded him to run for president. He then lambasted Trump for pushing back peaceful protestors in DC, so he could take a photo op in front of a Church with a Bible. This happened this summer, leading to plenty of criticism, including condemnation from the bishop of DC.

Trump responded by pointing out the 1994 crime bill which Biden adamantly pushed for. Its effects were destructive and far-reaching. Trump then pointed to his mutual support of law enforcement and how various police groups have endorsed him. He accused the “radical left” of supporting disorder and Biden of being their puppet.

Systemic Racism

Wallace brought up the Breonna Taylor case, talking about how the grand jury did not indict any officers involved with criminal charges. After being asked by Wallace, Biden said that systemic injustice exists against minorities in education, work, and law enforcement. Biden defended the vast majority of good policemen and called for greater transparency and accountability from the police. Biden also condemned the violent protesting and called for it to be prosecuted, prompting Trump to suggest that peaceful protesting isn’t happening.

Trump argued that Biden’s presidency would threaten the suburbs, prompting Biden to call him out on Trump’s “1950s” racial dogwhistles. Biden then attacked Trump, arguing that he was the real threat to suburbs because of his mishandling of COVID and environmental disasters.

Policing

When asked by Wallace, Biden clarified that his and Bernie Sander’s vision of “reimagining policing” involves increasing funding for police so that trained professionals like psychiatrists cans assist officers to prevent the use of force. He also supported BLM’s calls for community policing, in which officers personally get to meet the community members they serve. Trump interrupted him, falsely claiming that Biden supports defunding the police.

White Supremacy and Antifa

Trump has repeatedly called on Democrats to condemn Antifa and “radical left” groups. Wallace asked if Trump would explicitly condemn white supremacist and militia groups during the debate. Trump commented, “Sure, I’ll do that, but almost everything I see is from the left,” essentially dodging the question. Wallace and Biden then pressured Trump into explicitly condemning white supremacists and the Proud Boys. In his answer, Trump told the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group tied with white supremacy, to “stand back and stand by” before deflecting to Antifa.

In other words, in the most alarming moment of the night, the President of the United States was unable to condemn white supremacy before telling a white supremacist group to “stand by.”

On the topic of Antifa, Biden said that Trump’s own FBI Director said that Antifa is not an organization but an idea or movement, prompting Trump to say that his director is wrong. This reflects Trump’s worrying trend of only agreeing with experts that already agree with his incredibly skewed worldview. The FBI’s definition of Antifa is largely accepted by the US government. On the other hand, white supremacy is organized throughout the country in the form of the KKK and other militia groups like the Proud Boys.

Global Warming

Wallace started by talking about the forest fires that raged across the Western Coast. When talking with California officials, Trump said, “it’ll start getting cooler, you just watch” and “I don’t think science knows actually.” There is nothing that suggests global temperatures cooling and the vastly overwhelming scientific consensus is that temperatures are heating due to manmade CO2. In other words, Trump is putting his feelings over facts regarding global warming. Wallace also talked about Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord and his administration’s rollback of various environmental regulations.

Wallace asked Trump what he believed on climate. Trump avoided the question twice and talked about wanting clean air and water. He also claimed that many were happy about pulling out of the Paris Accord, which he called a disaster. However, various polls showed that the majority of Americans disapproved of the move. Rather than point to global warming, Trump suggested that poor forest management was the root cause of the fires.

Biden’s response to Wallace’s question painted a very green future for the country. He called for huge shifts to green energy in various parts of the country’s energy use. For Biden, this would create millions of green jobs that would greatly benefit the economy.

The Green New Deal

Trump interrupted Biden’s response to claim that his environmental and economic plan was essentially the Green New Deal. Trump claimed it would cost $100 trillion and try to eliminate planes and cows. For context, the Green New Deal was an incredibly broad resolution without specific provisions or laws. It called for the eventual establishment of a $15 minimum wage and universal healthcare. The environmental aspects of the deal alone are, according to many experts, very expensive but doable in the coming decade. Environmentalists argue that it they are essential to prevent further environmental degradation which will, in turn, hurt the economy even more through disasters like hurricanes or forest fires.

Biden’s Economic and Environmental Plan

Biden brought up these concerns in his argument. In response to Wallace’s concerns that his plans would be too expensive, he argued that he would rather spend money to create millions of green jobs and economic growth than continue to pay billions to repair the damage of disasters caused by global warming. He also accused the President of suggesting to nuke hurricanes, which was reported by The Atlantic. Due to the United States’ prime position on the world stage, Biden wants the country to be an international leader in green energy. One way of doing so is by rejoining the Paris Accord, which he promised would be one of the first things he’d do as President.

Trump interrupted to rant against Biden, claiming that he should have been able to persuade other countries to reduce their emissions while in office. Trump also called The Atlantic story “fake news” and accused Biden’s plan of being like the Green New Deal. He then referenced a time when Biden called soldiers “stupid bastards” on tape. Biden may have been joking, calling them a “dull bunch” for not clapping. The entire time, Wallace was trying to tell Trump to stop so that Biden could answer Trump’s question. After everything Trump had just said, Biden said, “I can’t remember which out of all those rants,” prompting Wallace to say, “I’m having a little trouble myself.”

Election Integrity

The previous sections sought to establish the candidates’ views and platforms, although Trump’s constant interruptions and rants made that difficult. However, the debate ended with the candidates talking about the integrity of electoral results. Given the pandemic and Trump’s denouncement of mail-in voting as fraudulent, this may have been the most important section of the debate.

Voter Turnout and Defending Election Legitimacy

Wallace’s first question asked the candidates how confident should voters be in the election’s legitimacy. Biden started by promoting voter turnout, asking voters to go to iwillvote.com. On a side note, anyone reading should exercise their voting rights to give their voice in the election.

On the topic of legitimacy, Biden claimed that Trump’s Homeland Security Director and FBI Director have said that there is no evidence of fraud occurring in mail-in balloting. Various studies and reports from many different respectable sources have shown that fraud in mail-in voting is almost nonexistent. Despite this, Trump and prominent Republicans have called it rigged. Many are worried that, since Democrats are significantly more likely to vote by mail, Trump is trying to discredit their votes by calling mail-voting fraudulent.

Biden echoed this notion, claiming that Trump and others want to delegitimize the results. He also pointed out that Trump himself has voted by mail. He called for more voter turnout and ended by saying that he would accept the results of the election, whether he wins or loses.

2016 Election and Delegitimizing 2020 Election

Trump began his response by claiming that the 2016 election was rigged against him. He claimed that Obama, Clinton, and other Democrats did everything they could to stop him from winning. For proof, he claimed that they were all caught on tape. None of this is true and it borders on conspiracy theory.

Regarding mail-in voting, Trump cited several examples of it being fraudulent, saying that they’ve been found in creeks and wastebaskets. Trump seemed to be referring to two separate incidents where mail was discarded. Trump also referenced a county in Virginia where 1000 people were given 2 ballots instead of just 1. However, investigations proved that these incidents were accidental and not part of a coordinated plan to rig the election. Trump then mischaracterized how mail-in votes may be received after Election Day. As long as they are postmarked for Election Day, they will be counted, even if they arrive late. This is due to the historic backlog that the Postal Service is expected to experience.

Involving the Supreme Court

Wallace then asked Trump how he felt about 30 million Americans voting by mail in 2018 and asked if he would have the Supreme Court, with the newly appointed Barrett, verify the results. Many are worrying that Trump is trying to push for Barrett’s nomination to so that the Supreme Court rules in Trump’s favor if he disputes the results with legal action. Trump said he would have the Supreme Court look into it, encouraged people to vote in person instead of through mail, and claimed ballots were being sold in West Virginia. This example is another lie of Trump’s to delegitimize mail-in voting.

Biden once more defended mail-in voting, stating that five states already use it as their primary voting method. He said two of them, Utah and Colorado, are Republican, although Colorado is mostly Democratic with one Republican Senator. Later on, he would say that the military has used mail-in voting since the Civil War. Regarding the Supreme Court, he argued that it would be unnecessary for any court to get involved in the election. This is because voters should verify with election officials that their votes were counted.

Accepting the Results

Given the possibility that the winner might not be known on Election Day, Wallace asked the candidates if they would not declare victory until the election is independently certified. He also asked if they would tell their supporters not to engage in civil unrest or violence because of the results.

Trump urged his supporters to carefully watch the polls to make sure they are legitimate. Many found these comments to be immensely concerning. First, he is on national television telling people to unnecessarily visit overcrowded polling places, possibly making waiting times longer, especially because of the need for social distancing. Second, many interpreted an underlying dogwhistle in Trump’s comments, since many KKK members “supervised” polling places in the Jim Crowe South to dissuade African Americans from voting.

Regarding the results, Trump did not answer if he would accept them or if he would wait on declaring victory. Biden answered that he would accept and support either outcome, whether or not he wins. If he wins, Biden promised to be a President for Republicans as well, prompting Trump to interrupt.

Ending the Debate

As Wallace tried to end the debate, Trump tried talking over him, calling for an honest election. After Trump finished, Wallace declared that the debate was “an interesting hour and a half.” Wallace ended by thanking Case Western University, promoting the Vice Presidential Debate, and wishing viewers a good night. First Lady Melania and Dr. Jill Biden walked up on stage to congratulate their husbands. The Bidens thanked Wallace for the debate and the C-Span stream ended with the yells of a Trump supporter.

Closing Thoughts

The usual debate features candidates arguing loudly, lying, and interrupting each other. This was not a normal debate. Regardless of one’s political affiliations, it’s hard to see how Trump did not fundamentally ruin the debate through his incessant and repeated interruptions. Biden would be answering a question from Wallace or Wallace would be asking Trump a question, and Trump would continuously interrupt. Even when Trump would ask Biden a question, he would not let him answer. Many of the debate’s standout moments were insults from Biden to Trump for repeatedly interrupting him.

As for Trump’s comments, he made various disturbing statements and lied repeatedly. Biden told his fair share of falsehoods, but Trump took it to the next level. Most unsettling, however, was Trump’s doubt on masks, his doubts on the timeline of a vaccine, and his call for supporters to watch the polls. Worst of all was his inability to condemn white supremacy and his continued lies and attacks on the legitimacy of mail-in voting.

Many were incredibly downtrodden from the results of the debate. While some argued if Trump or Biden lost, many argued that the American people were the true losers. Some called it a mess while others used stronger language. Personally, 2020’s reputation of being immensely horrible was solidified by the debate.