Constantly interrupting both his opponent Joe Biden and moderator and FOX News host Chris Wallace, Donald Trump was a manic spectacle at the first (un)presidential debate of the 2020 election, revealing himself to be a childish, inept, racist autocrat with no respect for the traditions of the United States or civil society in general.
We'll pick out a few moments. Perhaps the most abhorrent: given the opportunity multiple times, Trump declined to denounce white supremacy.
Said the president: “I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not the right wing. I'm willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
“Then do it sir,” Chris Wallace insisted.
“Do it, say it,” added Biden.
Replied Trump: “Do you want to call em? What do you want to call em? Give me a name, give me a name. Who do you want me to condemn? Proud Boys? Stand back and stand by, but I'll tell you what. Somebody's got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing, this is a left wing problem.”
Holy shit. Trump refuses to condemn white supremacist groups. pic.twitter.com/FFSrvA1tcQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 30, 2020
Trump's constant interruption caused Biden at one point to shout “will you shut up, man?”
On COVID, Trump kept up the constant interruption as Biden did some truth-telling, at one point mocking the president's statement that “like a miracle” coronavirus would disappear and his quack treatments for the disease.
“You're the worst president that America has ever had,” Biden said at another point after Trump pushed back on releasing his taxes.
And then there's this:
Mediaite reports that Biden beat Trump 60 to 28 percent in CNN's post-debate poll: “After an hour and a half of wild clashes between the two candidates, CNN's polling participants overwhelmingly favored Biden with 60 percent saying the ex-veep won, compared to 28 percent saying Trump won. CNN political director David Chalian noted, in his reporting of the poll, that 39 percent of the participants were Democrats, 36 percent were independent, and 25 percent were Republican. The survey had a 6.3 percent margin of error. The poll also indicates Trump underperformed since 43 percent of the debate watchers expected him to win, while Biden scored a 4 percent increase from his pre-debate expectations mark of 56 percent.”
