Tuesday night’s first presidential debate was a hard news story to miss this week. Described by many as “the worst debate in American history,” the collision of President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on a nationally broadcasted stage brought forth a barrage of petty insults, false claims, and consistent interruptions that even moderator, Chris Wallace, could not control. In case you missed it, or found the hour and a half display virtually impossible to follow, here are 5 highlights.
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Insults and Interruptions. As mentioned, the debate was marred by misbehavior from both candidates. While Trump stole the show with his extreme failure to adhere to the allotted 2 minutes, each side hurled insults at the other constantly throughout the night. The zinger of the evening came from Biden, who pleaded for Trump’s silence, stating “Would you just shut up, man?”. As Trump continued to speak out of turn, Biden hurled insults back his way. Lines like, “It’s hard to get any word in with this clown,” and “You’re the worst president American has ever had,” were some of the highlights.
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The Supreme Court. It was easy to miss the discussion of the new judicial nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Only touched upon in the first few, tense minutes, Trump staked the GOP’s claim, when he said “We have the senate, we have the White House, and we have a phenomenal nominee.” But Biden pushed back on behalf of the Democrats, who are still hurting over the 2016 situation during the Obama presidency. Despite being taunted by Trump, Biden failed to take a firm stance on the liberal idea of court packing in response to a Barrett confirmation.
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COVID-19 (and a hypothetical Biden presidency). The discussion of the pandemic and many of its consequences was provoked by Biden and avoided by Trump. The two bickered about “how bad” things really are throughout the evening. Trump described the vaccine development process as “very political,” and then mocked Biden for his adherence to CDC mask-wearing guidelines. Anytime the topic arose, Trump played with hypotheticals, explaining that deaths would have skyrocketed to even higher levels if Biden had been president, or the potential Biden administration could not have produced ventilators. If nothing else, the lack of COVID-19 discussion was a shocking, but not surprising, element of the night, given Trump’s refusal to take accountability.
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Transfer of Power. Recently, President Trump has made broad sweeping claims about voter fraud and the questionable validity of election results. This discussion took center stage at the debate. Trump explained, “If [he] sees tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, [he] can’t go along with that.” This statement brings up pressing questions about a peaceful transition. Biden’s only response was to encourage the American people to come out in large numbers in support of the Democrats to prevent a contested result.
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White Supremacy. Perhaps the most controversial moment of the night came when President Trump publicly and openly refused to denounce white supremacy in America. After being asked numerous times by both Biden and the moderator to clarify his stance, he spoke directly to a far-right, neo-facist group called Proud Boys, ordering them to “stand back, and stand by.” This remark sent shockwaves through the rest of the country, and was regarded as the most consequential part of an otherwise off-the-rails debate.