Trump and Biden Face off in the First Presidential Debate
by Chris Ponce and Charlotte Bertrand
The first 2020 Presidential debate was held Tuesday evening at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, at 9 p.m ET, and was moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Chris Wallace began by stating the unique rules to this debate due to Covid-19 health guidelines. Both candidates agreed to not shake hands, give opening statements, and to abide by socially distant guidelines. The debate was broken up into 15 minute long segments, allowing 2 minutes for both candidates to respond to the question, and was reflective of the unprecedented and chaotic times that the American people are facing. With the November election only a little more than 30 days away, both candidates made the case of why they deserve your vote.
The first segment of the night was dedicated to the recent topic of Trump’s Supreme Court nomination following the Senate’s controversial decision to hold a vote to replace the vacant seat left by the late RBG before the November Election. Donald Trump defended his actions going on to claim it is his Presidential responsibility to exercise his authority to nominate a Justice, regardless of the fact early voting has already started in some states. Joe Biden gave two major critics of the Supreme Court Justice nominee. The first critic was targeted at the circumstances in which the nomination process is being done. Biden gave a rebuttal stating “a right to have say” in the nomination process. Biden also made it a major point to criticize the nominee’s prior beliefs of ending the Affordable Care Act, “She thinks the Affordable Care Act is not constitutional” Biden said in the debate.
While the debate escalated Trump used his usual tactic of interrupting with talking points, Biden responded with “will you shut up man.” President Trump continued to use unprofessional and inappropriate debate rhetoric leading to a heated moment between Trump and moderator Chris Wallace.
Wallace: If I may ask my question, sir. Over the last four years, you have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, but you have never, in these four years come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan, to replace Obamacare.
Trump: Yes, I have. (Trump interrupted)
Wallace: To replace Obamacare (Wallace continued)
Trump: Of course I have. I got rid of the individual mandate. (Trump interrupted)
Wallace: When I finish, I’ll give you an opportunity to
Trump: Excuse me, I got rid of the individual mandate
Wallace: That is not a comprehensive plan
Trump: It’s absolutely a big thing
Wallace: You’re debating him [Biden], not me. Let me ask my question.
Trump continued his rhetoric stating “Well first of all, I guess I’m debating you [Wallace], not him [Biden] but that’s okay I’m not surprised.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has been a major crisis within the United States and has played a major role in political discourse throughout the year. The topic found its way to the debate, and Joe Biden used this moment to criticize Trump’s response to the pandemic. “Do you believe for a moment what he’s telling you, in light of all the lies, he’s told you about the whole issue relating to COVID, He still hasn’t even acknowledged that he knew this was happening, knew how dangerous it was going to be back in February, and he didn’t even tell you. He’s on record as saying it. He panicked or he just looked at the stock market, one of the two, because guess what, a lot of people die and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker” Biden stated. Trump responded by insulting Biden’s intelligence “Don’t ever use the word smart with me,” he [Trump] exclaimed.
Later, Donald Trump revealed his pure indecency when the former Vice President evoked his son, the late veteran, Beau Biden. Instead of allowing Joe Biden to talk about his son’s time in the military, serving our country, Trump interrupted and brought up the former Vice President’s other son, Hunter Biden, and his past drug addiction. Joe Biden was able to pivot from this unscrupulous and unwarranted attack by pointing out that addiction is a disease, one many Americans suffer from. The jabs President Trump made at the Biden boys are a testament to his general lack of decorum, dignity, and righteousness, but also allowed former Vice President Joe Biden to relate with average Americans by sharing the struggles he and many of us and our families have faced.
As the conversation drifted towards race, Chris Wallace explicitly asked Donald Trump to denounce white supremacy. Instead, the President of the United States and supposed leader of the Free World, alluded to the neo-fascist (not to mention sexist and racist) organization “Proud Boys,” stating “Proud Boys — Stand back, stand by,” directly encouraging the group to continue their political violence. Trump continued by accusing Joe Biden of being against “law and order,” and once again stated that he had done more for the black community than any president in history, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln. The former Vice President responded by explaining that 1 in every 1000 African American has died from the President’s inaction surrounding COVID-19. Biden explained that he supported to some extent the defunding of local law enforcement in favor of community policing. Furthermore, Joe Biden brought up the problems in our policing system, stating that he stands in favor of police accountability and increased bias training, and plans to resolve the issues this country is facing by bringing together Civil Rights advocates and members of the law enforcement community. The former Vice President concluded his remarks by reminding the American people that he decided to launch his campaign following the Charlotteville march, and Trump calling actual neo-nazis “very fine people.” Regarding race, the winner was clear. Donald Trump refused to denounce hatred, while Joe Biden made a call to action and had initiatives in mind to begin the process of healing as a nation.
Another topic Chris Wallace brought up was climate change. President Trump repeated the Republican Party’s stance of not allowing environmental regulation to inhibit business and economic growth, while Joe Biden reaffirmed his commitment to addressing climate change. The former Vice President repeated his promise to rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in the Oval Office and vowed to make a transition towards clean energy.
The debate neared its end with a tense discussion surrounding the legitimacy of the election results and mail-in ballots. Trump made numerous false and fabricated claims surrounding mail-in ballots, as per the usual, and brought up a story in which a thousand Trump-voting ballots were allegedly thrown into a creek. Former Vice President Biden used his two minutes of speaking time to urge every eligible American to come up with a plan to vote and to cast a ballot in the Presidential election. He also stated that he would accept the results of the election regardless of the outcome, showing his commitment to our democratic process. The difference in tone between a conspiracy-theorizing and fear-mongering Trump and a calm and collected Biden could not have been more striking.
Both candidates exposed their values in the first Presidential debate, causing an immediate reaction from the media and the general public. It is essential to American democracy that people who are outraged use that motivation to get to the polls or fill in a mail-in ballot and vote.
