Clash of the Clowns
With the 2020 presidential election just around the corner on Nov. 3, stakes are high for both incumbent Republican nominee President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden. However, with the incredible polarization felt between the left and right wings in the U.S. this year, most voters are unwilling to change their opinions on each candidate. Though this may be true, the complete lack of decorum and failure to focus on policy issues presented by both candidates during the first presidential debate on Sept. 29 left the event completely ineffective in presenting each candidate with integrity. Instead, this reflected poorly on their candidacies as it presented what many watchers characterized as less of a debate and more of a circus act.
“I do not think these presidential debates are that effective because [the candidates] only attack each other,” junior Emma Adams said. “I think that in this election, most people have already made up their minds [on who they will be voting for].”
The debate seemed to start off relatively well until debate moderator Chris Wallace asked each candidate to comment for two minutes on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s controversial Supreme Court nomination. Though Trump argued the validity of Barrett’s appointment under his powers as president, Biden rebutted with the detrimental effects of Barrett’s appointment for the Affordable Care Act, which provides public health care to millions of citizens. Their purposeless and childish arguments continued, and by the end of the night, Trump made significantly more interruptions after ringing in roughly 71, according to The Washington Post. Senior Kelsie Groenleer has been following the election closely and thought that the tenor of the debate was unacceptable.
“The candidates should not be allowed to talk over each other or the moderator,” Groenleer said. “The [first] 2020 Presidential Debate was completely unprofessional, [as] both Trump and Biden talked over each other. This just showed how little respect they have for each other, the moderator and the individuals who had to sit and watch it.”
In a way, it can also be argued that the debate was slightly effective in changing votes due to the way that the candidates presented themselves. Both Trump’s arrogance and Biden’s failure to articulate his ideas clearly could be unappealing to voters. Additionally, when Trump was asked in the first debate by Biden and Wallace to condemn white supremacy, he avoided their questions. Trump’s previous public support for the Proud Boys, a far right all-male group promoting neo-fascism and white supremacy, and his history of racist statements make it difficult to believe the brief denial he gave at his own town hall meeting on Oct. 15.
“The most memorable part of the [first] debate was when Trump refused to condemn white supremacy,” senior Jeanie Benedict said. “That is so terrible for anyone to do, especially a president. But I think in the grand scheme of things, most people already knew that he would never say that he disagrees with white supremacy, so the debate did not teach us anything new.”
In addition to the dozens of interruptions, there was also a complete lack of attention given towards addressing policy issues. It seemed that whenever Wallace brought up a new topic, the conversation would turn “unpresidential” as Biden described, by way of Trump’s inappropriate comments. One such example included Trump falsely claiming Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was dishonorably discharged from the military. However, according to the Cable News Network (CNN), Hunter Biden was administratively discharged from the military due to his battle with drug addiction. Biden, too, made questionable arguments against Trump, such as the Trump administration worsening the trade deficit when, according to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), the deficit actually improved throughout Trump’s presidency. Though the Commission attempted to try and limit the number of interruptions during the third debate by instituting a mute microphones policy, which Trump initially refused to implement, the policy was not enforced in totality as both candidates still interrupted one another throughout the debate.
In a year where there is a lack of trust for news outlets from the American people, the presidential debate should be a place where there is guaranteed truth and civility. The American people saw anything but that. Although the final debate on Oct. 22 was slightly more civilized, the event was not impactful enough to realistically change any votes in a country that is so polarized. These chaotic quarrels were not productive in any way and demonstrated how divided our country is.
“This election is so important to vote in because the president elected will be faced with current issues like the pandemic, racial injustice and global warming,” Adams said. “I hope that America can see the candidates for their policies and what would help everyone, not just a candidate that wants to help themselves.”
