The First Presidential Debate: A Recap

Debate number one and the gloves were already off.

by CAROLINE DELISLE ★ SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

With the clock counting down to November 3rd, it is more important than ever to be keeping tabs on our presidential candidates and their plans for the future of America. In the past, debates have been a great way to compare the Republican and Democratic candidates face-to-face, and get a sense for their differing ideals and policies. Unfortunately, last night’s debate was not so enlightening. The primary conduct of the first debate was each candidate interrupting the other, and moderator Chris Wallace, in a desperate frenzy of finger-pointing and name calling.

While it may be a bit difficult to extract coherent ideas and claims from the forum, we thought we would construct a brief recap of last night’s match to give you a better understanding of the names that will be on your ballot this November. Six topics were chosen for discussion: the Supreme Court, the pandemic, the economy, race and violence, election integrity, and the candidates’ records, and while Chris Wallace tried his best to stay on track with each subject, both candidates seemed to be acting on their own agendas in complete disregard of the questions posed.

Supreme Court:

The first topic was President Trump’s recent nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Republicans are rushing to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat with a conservative judge, and Democrats are doing all they can to delay the process until after the election. Another conservative in the Court would secure a Republican majority, and Republicans feel pressed for time as a possible exchange of power approaches. 

President Trump and Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett Credit: StarTribune (Alex Brandon – Associated Press)

President Trump’s primary point on this topic was that Republicans won the election back in 2016, and “elections have consequences.” The president holds the right to nominate Supreme Court justices, and the Senate to approve the nominee. Because Republicans hold the executive branch and the senate majority as per the last election, Trump argues the leaders appointed are able to exercise their powers until the final day of their term. “We won the election, so we have the right to choose her,” Trump said. 

Biden focused on the long term impacts the potential justice could have on policy. He cited the Affordable Care Act and the Roe vs. Wade court decision in 1973 that protected women’s right to an abortion, as policies in jeopardy with the addition of Barrett to the Court. When asked whether he would pack the Courts if he won the presidency to gain a liberal majority, Biden neither confirmed nor denied such plans, and a yelling match between the two candidates prevented him from elaborating further.

COVID-19:

Wallace’s first question asked why the American people should trust either to alleviate the strife of the pandemic?

Biden was given the floor first and accused the Trump presidency of having failed to save lives by not taking action immediately. Biden said his strategy for dealing with the pandemic would be to “fund what needs to be done now to save lives.” This includes obtaining PPE, compensating small businesses suffering financially, and pushing out a larger relief package. Biden argued that states that have reopened are doing so improperly, and cases are therefore rising and the health of community members is at risk because of it. “The way to open businesses is to give them the wherewithal to open.” Biden also reminded the public that Trump’s original claim had been that the vaccine would be ready by Easter of this past year. 

Trump argued that his response to the virus had received a lot of bad press. He pointed to his having closed the country’s borders early as having been a beneficial measure that Biden would not have taken. He also said he has been able to provide hospitals with proper equipment such as masks, gowns, and ventilators, and claimed that the world is “weeks away from a vaccine,” a claim that has been heavily refuted by experts. As Biden pointed out in his rebuttal, vaccine development will take a while, and its mass production and distribution will take even longer. Trump also accused Biden of wanting to shut down the country, whereas his goal is to keep it up and running. He predicted that more citizens will be hurt by shutting down, and that the states who are shut down are suffering the most.

Economy:

Biden argued that the pandemic had disproportionately impacted the US, saying that millionaires and billionaires have done well while the middle and lower classes have been dealt severe financial blows. He accused Trump of having only focused on the market in his handling of the virus, and said he will be the first president in US history to leave the office with fewer jobs than when he started. Biden also said that, despite Trump’s intent on keeping the country open, one in six small businesses have closed and the country continues to suffer.

The president responded saying that the country’s reopening is what the people want, and that he was giving citizens what they want: the ability to resume their lives. Trump also commended himself for bringing back Big Ten football.

The moderator then asked Trump about the recent allegations surrounding his tax reports. He asked if it was true that he only paid $750 in income tax in the years 2016 and 2017. Trump denied this, saying he paid millions of dollars in taxes, and that his tax report will be publicized “as soon as it’s ready.”

Biden reminded the public that Trump claimed that he was able to take advantage of tax codes. The former vice president made the case that the ability to obtain such dramatic tax cuts at all should be eliminated. It should be noted that both Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris had released their tax returns just hours before the debate. Both have made their tax reports from the past two decades available to the public. For more information on this current issue, check out this article from NPR.

The candidates were then asked about their post-recession economies.

Biden’s plan revolves around “buying American.” He claims his plan would yield one trillion dollars in economic growth and would eliminate a significant number of taxes. He also referenced his term as VP and his success in recovering from the 2008 recession. Trump disagreed with this approach, saying that foreign companies will leave the US if we were to cut them off, and this would render the country in further economic despair. Biden disputed this, saying that the US has a higher trade deficit with China than ever before under Trump’s authority. 

This is also the point in the debate when Biden can be quoted saying, “It’s hard to get any word in with this clown,” due to his frustrations with Trump’s continual interruptions and attempts to talk over the former VP. In an attempt to reign in the mounting tension and misconduct between the candidates, Chris Wallace interjected, “The country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions.”

Race and violence:

Wallace led this discussion with asking about Trump’s claim to have done more for Black Americans than any other president.

Biden expressed that, on the contrary, Trump works to generate racism, hatred, and division in America. He also touched on the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on Black Americans, and said that ultimately, Trump has been disastrous for the African American community. Trump responded by reminding the public of Biden’s own history of racially prejudiced policies. He accused Biden of having called Black citizens “superpredators.” It is important to note that this was a misquote. Trump was referencing Biden’s 1993 speech on the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in which his use of the term “predators” was interpreted to promote racist biases. You can read more about that policy here. 

Then-Senator Joe Biden delivering speech on Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Credit: CNN

Trump then went on to condemn Biden for not taking a stronger stance for law and order, saying Biden is afraid of losing leftist supporters by promoting it. Trump also touched upon the support he has both given to and received from law enforcement. A question was then posed about whether the candidates think that there is a separate but unequal treatment of races in America, and if so, how they would combat this. Biden’s course of action would be to gather with representatives of the disputing communities (he specifically mentions law enforcement personnel and POC) and have discussions with the goal of working through the disparities between the groups. He says that no one is happy to see the contempt in America right now, and offered the optimistic opinion that this communal despair could drive conversation towards a solution. He was adamant in his call for conversation and peaceful protests in the place of violence.

The candidates were then asked their opinions on “re-imagining the police.”

Biden made it very clear that he was not for defunding the police. He said he wanted to help the institution address its shortcomings- one of these being the divide between the police and residents within a community. He said a crucial shift that needs to take place is towards familiarity between law enforcement and their residents to promote the better treatment of both groups, by both groups.

Next comes a section of the debate receiving great amounts of publicity and public outrage. Wallace asks Trump directly, “Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacist and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence,” to which Trump responded indirectly, “almost everything I see is from the left wing,” then proceeded to divert attention to ANTIFA as being the true cause for concern. He also addressed the Proud Boys, a neo-facist organization, to “stand back and stand by.” The organization was quick to capitalize on this quote, converting it into a logo endorsing the group, which they posted on their Telegram site. You can watch his full response here.

Climate change:

Wallace’s first environment-related question was directed at Trump. He asked whether Trump believed the current forest fires are caused by climate change. He also asked if he believed the science supporting climate change and what he would do to combat it.

Trump spoke about his prioritization of both a healthy environment, and the protection of businesses. He said the primary cause of the forest fires in the western US is poor forest management. He pointed to the debris on the forest floor as being unkempt and flammable. Trump was then asked why he rolled back Obama’s energy plan and relaxed fuel emission standards. His explanation was that cars are now safer and cheaper because of it. More people are able to buy cars and the economy has benefited from the change in regulations. He said cars that fit the regulation saved only a small amount of emissions anyway.

Biden combatted this by saying that many environmentally conscious policies involving renewable energy enacted under the Obama administration were as cheap, if not cheaper than the obtaining and use of fossil fuels. Biden also voiced his intent to instal 500,000 roadside charging stations to promote the use of electric cars, as well as his goal of reaching Net 0 by 2035 which he claimed would generate jobs in the process. Biden then made the argument that the expenses of dealing with preventable environmental disasters negates and surpasses any expenses on renewable energy and environmentally-conscientious policies.

Trump interjected that other powers like China and Russia treat the environment poorly, and that it is not the United States’ job to take the financial blow of creating greener policies if other nations do not also shoulder some of this responsibility.

Election integrity:

The president and former vice president were asked about the fairness of the upcoming election and steps being taken to ensure its integrity.

Biden assured the public that there is no sound reason to believe that mail-in ballots are manipulatable, and also called for a safe method of in-person voting. He also reminded the public that there are methods for validating the ballots to ensure credibility. Trump, on the other hand, expressed suspicion and pessimism about the voting process. He said “ballots are going to be all over” and foresees the election being a fraud. Trump argued that ensuring the credibility of 80 million ballots is a difficult task. In his final topic of discussion, Wallace addressed the public’s fear of civil unrest and violence after the results of the election were gathered. He asked each candidate whether he would urge his supporters to stay calm and peaceful both during the waiting process as the votes are counted, and after the results are released.

Trump’s response was to “urge supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully,” for any suspicious activity or anything that could be deemed as election tampering. His message to the country was that if he suspected manipulation, he would not accept the results. Biden began his response to Wallace’s question with a clear “yes.” He reiterated that no one has established that there will be major fraud or manipulation in the election, and that once the results are confirmed, he will accept them, red or blue. 

Overall the debate was a mess—both sides showing complete disregard for traditional and respectful decorum. Clear policy outlines were thrown out the window for insults and slander, and very few can say they actually learned something substantial of either candidate. Opinion polls taken after the debate show a lot of monotony and desolation among the American people, as they watch two unsavory candidates battle to be the next United States president.

You can view the debate for free in its entirety here. The VP debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence is on October 7th, and the next presidential debate will be on October 15th. To register to vote, go to iwillvote.com.

Cover photo credit: CNN