Last night’s US Presidential De- bate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a real 90 minutes street fight. Many observers knew that President Trump will come swinging from the first bell. No one was really sure if former Vice-President Biden will get into the trench with Trump and slug as well. From the beginning, Trump attacked and attacked. He started by continuously interrupting Biden and Biden also had to toe that line by interrupting his opponent. But there was no doubt who was more presidential. It was an interesting, although described as chaotic by analysts who felt it was the worst debate they ever watched. It was expected that either man would use the opportunity to win over voters, especially those who had not made up their minds.
Therefore, the question of who won or lost would depend on what you expected. Trump and his team may feel they won because their plan to destabilize Biden with the attacks and interruptions was carried out. But did Biden succumb? I don’t think so. He may have been rattled when the moderator did not stop Trump from the onset when the President seemed to be prompting a fracas in violation of the agreed debate rules but he took the cue and started giving back as much as he was receiving
The session could be described as a bru- tal, classic pugilist ring, just like the Joe Frazier and Muhammed Ali heavyweight championship fights of the 1970s. Trump was pugnacious and he seemed angry from the beginning to the end, with a serious and straight face all through. He did not pull punches and went swinging and attacked as was predicted before the debate. But did he steamroll Biden? It de- pends on whose side you are on. Biden laughed or smiled many times, while also shaking his head as if unbelieving of what his opponent was saying.
The debate was held in front of a small audience, including family members of the candidates, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and the Moderator was Chris Wallace of Fox News. The topics debated as set out by the Commission on Presidential Debates were Biden and Trump’s Records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19 Pandemic, Economy, Racial Unrest, and Election Integrity. It was conducted under health and safety protocols and there were no hand- shakes before or after. There are several interesting and memorable quotes from the debate that will remain with us for a long time.
BIDEN TO TRUMP: • Will you shut up, man! This is so un-presidential. • Keep yapping, man. • You are who you are. • The President has no plan. • You are the worst President this country has ever had. • Everybody here knows he’s a liar… You picked the wrong guy on the wrong night at the wrong time… Folks, do you have any idea what this clown’s doing? • The fact is this man has no idea what he’s talking about. • You should get out of your bunker and get out of the sand trap and… the golf course and go in the Oval Office and (put) together Democrats and Repub- licans, and fund what needs to be done now to save lives. • He panicked or he looked at the stock market… A lot of people died, and a lot more (are) going to die unless he gets a lot smarter a lot quicker. • This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to gen- erate racist hatred, racist division. • Yes, there’s a systemic injustice in this country in education and work and in law enforcement, and the way in which it is enforced. • He just pours gasoline on the fire… Under this president, we’ve become weaker, sicker, more divided and more violent. • If we get the votes, he’s going to go. He can’t stay in power. • The first thing I will do, I will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. • He cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of that election… If I win, that will be accepted. If I lose, that will be accepted… If we get the votes, he’s going to go. He can’t stay in power. • If you’re able to vote in person, vote in person – whatever way is the best way for you. Because he cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of this election. • It’s hard to get any word in with this clown. • He’s the racist. • This is not about my family or his fam- ily, this is about your family – the American people. He doesn’t want to talk about what you need. • My son had a drug problem, but he’s overcome it and I’m proud of him. • I am the Democratic Party right now. • A lot of people died and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker. TRUMP TO BIDEN: • We’ve done a great job. • They give you good press, they give me bad press. • ObamaCare is no good. • If we had listened to you, more people would have died. • But I tell you, Joe, you could never have done the job we’ve done. You don’t have it in your blood. • There’s nothing smart about you, Joe. • You’ve treated the Black community about as bad as anybody in this country. • The top 10 cities and just about the top 40 cities are run by Democrats in many cases, radical left, and they’ve got you wrapped around their finger, Joe, to a point where you don’t want to say any- thing about law and order. • I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right… I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace. • I believe that we have to do everything we can to have immaculate air, immacu- late water, and do whatever else we can that’s good. • Don’t tell me about a free transition. This is going to be a fraud like you’ve nev- er seen. This is not going to end well. • I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully… If I see tens of thousands of ballots being ma- nipulated, I can’t go along with it. They cheat. • The people understand, Joe. 47 years, you’ve done nothing. They understand. • You graduated either the lowest or al- most the lowest in your class. Don’t ever use the word smart with me. Don’t ever use that word.” • Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, but I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left.
AND THEN MODERATOR CHRIS WALLACE TO TRUMP I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that. TRUMP TO BIDEN: And him too. WALLACE: Well, frankly you’ve been doing more interrupting. The 2020 Presidential Debates will be held over a four week period in the lead up to the Presidential election on Novem- ber 3, 2020. There will be three debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump and one debate between Vice-Presiden- tial candidates, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Mike Pence. The three debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump are September 29, October 15, and October 22. The debate between Ka- mala Harris and Mike Pence is October 7. Each debate format and rules are deter- mined by the Commission on Presiden- tial Debates.
The first and third debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump are traditional debates where a moderator will ask a question to a candidate and that candidate will have a chance to respond. After the candidate has concluded their answer the opposing candidate is typical- ly given a chance to respond. The second debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump will be in a Town Hall meeting format where select participants will ask questions pre-screened by the debate moderator in addition to questions posed by the moderator himself. The debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will also be a traditional debate. All four debates will be aired on every major broadcasting channel as well as all cable news channels. They will also be streamed online.