Sadly, there was more mud-slinging than I expected. I am referring to the U.S. presidential candidate debate. How do the candidates plan to build a tomorrow for the U.S.? I could not understand any of the major arguments among a pointless war of words.
In the U.S., the COVID-19 death toll has surpassed 200,000. The Democratic presidential challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, blasted President Donald Trump for lacking any plan, something which has increased the damage.
Regarding news that Trump evaded taxes, Biden pointed out that the president pays less in taxes than a school teacher does on the money a school teacher makes, and urged Trump to make his tax records public.
During the Democratic primaries, Biden turned in a lackluster performance during televised debates. For that reason alone, there was concern that a direct showdown with Trump would be a significant hurdle, but in general, Biden’s gestures and language have conveyed a sense of stability. We could see that he looked directly at the television camera as he spoke, conveying his message to the viewing public.
Trump, on the other hand, was generally forced to defend himself throughout the debate. Regarding his handling of COVID-19, Trump sang his own praises, stating that specialists and other “people that would not be necessarily on my side said that, ‘President Trump did a phenomenal job.'”
Trump argued that he “paid millions of dollars in taxes,” but returned to his recent position on releasing his tax returns, saying that the public would “see it as soon as it’s finished.”
When the debate moved to the protests against racial discrimination turning into riots, Trump went on the counteroffensive. He claimed that the Democratic Party was responsible for the rioting in cities that had Democratic mayors. Trump criticized Biden for being “wrapped around their finger.”
The debate was extremely chaotic. Throughout the event, Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden, and both candidates often spoke at the same time.
Trump is lagging behind Biden in approval ratings. His disorderly speech and heckling of Biden made him appear impatient.
The candidates’ repeated attacks on each other were intense. While Biden denounced Trump as “the worst president America has ever had,” Trump said Biden was incompetent and had done “done nothing” during 47 years in politics.
The U.S. has many problems to tackle, including overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, societal divisions, and its diminishing influence in the international community.
Nevertheless, the debate was argumentative and failed to address any of the issues in depth. There are two more debates before Election Day on Nov. 3. Hopefully they will be more constructive.*
Editor’s note: The Commission on Presidential Debates canceled the second presidential debate originally scheduled for Oct. 15.
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