I’m glad I’m on the same page as everybody else in saying whatever that was, it was horrible. A debate is supposed to be a formal argument. This was not a debate.
I don’t think there was much Chris Wallace could have done to ease the chaos. Really, the only problem was Trump. Biden and Wallace didn’t interrupt, they only responded to Trump’s interruptions. I’ve seen plenty of other debates with Biden and he always comes off as fairly presidential. He’s always the one who stops mid-sentence, even mid-word as soon as the moderator tells him to. The thing is, it is clear what Trump was trying to do. I think he was trying to appeal to his own base above all things, and it worked out fine for him, as well as leave as little time as possible for Biden to speak. Biden may not be everything we’ve wished for, but relatively speaking he kind of is.
My point in saying these things is I think I missed out on tons of important information I could have got from a more presidential debate. Nevertheless, there was still a lot of substance that, even if just briefly mentioned, was tremendously important. I even missed some of the most outrageous things that were said because of how quickly, and almost rushed, the topics were covered.
One of the worst things the president said by far was “Stand down, stand by,” specifically to the white supremacist group Proud Boys, as if telling them to wait for orders from him. What aggravates me about Biden and even Wallace a little bit, even though I know it’s not his role in the debate, is that neither really followed up on that too much. Of course, it has been blowing up all over social media, and sooner or later Trump will come up with a silly excuse when confronted about it. Yesterday, Ed Markey tweeted, “Donald Trump won’t condemn white supremacists because he is one.” I don’t think that’s too far from the truth.
There were some other moments that were totally uncalled for, as well as some that we all saw coming. First, it was very inappropriate for Trump to bring up Biden’s son Hunter and his drug problem out of the blue. It seemed like Trump was just waiting for an opportunity to bring it up and eventually realized he was running out of time. The debates are not supposed to be for personal attacks. It was really hard to watch. Then Trump said at one point, “Don’t ever use the word ‘smart’ with me,” another moment that stood out to me.
Of course, there were things talked about that didn’t surprise me too much. For the Supreme Court vacancy, Trump said it ought to be filled while he’s still President, not even mentioning all the things that were said during Obama’s last term. Then he went on about how the mail in votes would be fraud. Again, nothing new. What was really scary was the fact that Trump would not guarantee he would accept the election results. I’ve never been so frightened of a person in power during my lifetime as much as I am of Trump right now.
To be honest, I thought Biden could have been a little stronger, mainly because he didn’t get a chance to talk most of the time. He understandably missed several opportunities to rebuttal and fact check. However, Biden on the other hand did say some things that were a bit more comforting, such as, “I’ll be a President for Democrats and Republicans.”
To reiterate, I had trouble focusing on either candidate’s plans for the nation because of the chaotic nature of the debate. I will say that I trust whatever Biden has in store for us more than Trump, with my evidence being the last four years. Trump is not a good leader, and I don’t think that’s something that is up for interpretation. I think some stability in the White House would be a good change. Biden may not be able to work miracles, but at least we know he’s capable of that.
I can’t see how this debate would be a deciding factor for undecided voters in any way, and I think for the most part each candidate is maintaining their base. Again, based on Trump's refusal to accept the election results if he loses, I think I have a pretty good reason to be worried. I hope we can watch these two in a couple more debates, preferably debates where one person talks at a time.