President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden squared off Tuesday night in what many Americans thought would be a productive and informative debate on the two candidates and their platforms.
What we got was a complete disaster and what many have called the worst presidential debate in our history.
Through the constant interruptions, name calling and false claims, neither candidate won. The clear losers of the debate were the American people.
All the pieces were there to allow for the people of the United States to directly hear from the candidates. No media interpreting and analyzing their words and actions, just the American people and the candidates.
Obviously, we did not get that, and we lost a great opportunity.
President Trump had unlimited chances to gain new support for his re-election bid, yet he focused too heavily on attacks of Biden rather than his plan for the future of America. He came out too hot and talked over Biden the entire debate. Chris Wallace, the FOX News moderator for the debate, seemed like he was scolding kindergartners at points during the debate.
There were plenty of moments to set the record straight on the many concerns people have with President Trump, and he just did not come through. Trump had a chance to come out and condemn white nationalists but could not muster up a clear and concise answer on the topic. Trump had many chances to be compassionate, but instead, he attacked Biden’s children. Trump needed to gain new supporters, yet his words only pleased his base.
Biden did not do a perfect job, but the bar was set low by the Trump campaign and he did better than expected. He held his ground against the bully tactics of Trump and continued to stress the importance of voting for the soul of America. He was not the winner of the debate, but he most likely did not lose anything from the debate.
Trump could have come out with a plea to unite our country, to work together on race issues, climate change, COVID-19 and many more issues. Instead, he came out and burned the remaining bridges between him and potential supporters.
If this debate is any indication of the future two debates, we should cancel them. We deserve better, and we will not get better in 2020.
Bradley DeMers is senior studying political science at FHSU. He is a former Student Government Association president and has worked for politicians in both main political parties.