What to Take Away From the Last Presidential Debate
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden participated in the last debate of the 2020 election cycle. Here is what we learned about the two.
Thursday night was filled with lots of strategies, game-planning, and a last-second attempt to change the direction of the coming weeks. One side ultimately showed superior planning and understanding of the opposition. With little hope of a worthY battle coming in, the event ended up being something to behold, with the Philadelphia Eagles mounting an 11 point comeback in the last 5 minutes to defeat the New York Giants.
There was also a Presidential debate.
Regarding the debate, all that was stated above remains true with Joe Biden and Donald Trump putting on a performance that no one expected. Moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker, Thursday night’s debate was filled with political fallacies, arguments, and historical inaccuracies. Here are the most important lessons from the event:
THANK GOD for the mute button
Everyone, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, or Chris Wallace, can unite on one thing: the mute button saved the Presidential debate.
After the debacle that was the first Presidential debate, implementing a mute function for the candidate that was not speaking was inevitable.
The rule implementation stated that the mute button would not be used after the first four minutes of each topic but this was more than enough to help maintain the civility of the debate. What followed was an actual debate, with actual responses (hesitated on this point), and a moderator who was able to control the flow of the conversation.
The winner of the night: Kristen Welker, the moderator of the debate. She began the debate with a plea to the two, stating “Please, speak one at a time.” and used her years of experience to her advantage. Some may say that she benefited from the Trump campaign’s strategy of being less aggressive or that Trump is recovering from COVID-19 but to them, I say, duly noted.
Even with the other factors coming into play, including the presence of a mute button, where Chris Wallace, the previous moderator of the Presidential debate, failed, Kristen Welker reigned supreme. She was able to mute Trump even more than the mute button was able to throughout the night, at one point cutting the President off and saying “We need to move on.” This contrasts from what Chris Wallace did a few weeks ago when he would say “absolutely continue Mr. President. I do hope you continue to disrupt this event and dishearten the country’s confidence with U.S. politics!”
Chris Wallace even said “I’m jealous” following the conclusion of the debate, although reporters are still verifying the legitimacy as his words were overshadowed by continued arguing from weeks prior.
Abraham Lincoln was not racist
If there was a stock market for previous U.S. Presidents, Abraham Lincoln’s would be skyrocketing right now. Never has it been a better time to be named Abraham Lincoln, except I guess for when Abraham Lincoln was president.
You may be wondering why Abraham Lincoln not being racist is a takeaway from this debate. When is it not a takeaway? He literally attacked racism with the North.
It is also a takeaway because Donald Trump name-dropping him during the debate, specifically by saying that he has done more for the Black community than anyone else besides Abraham Lincoln. Even if Donald Trump was talking about the present-day Black community, the statement would still prove false.
I mean, we are comparing a President who abolished slavery to a President who congratulated a Black person for ‘behaving’. That’s like saying I am the second-best Beyonce after Beyonce. That just is not true. Beyonce owns spots 1 – 999,999,999 of the names Beyonce.
Following Trump’s outlandish claim, Joe Biden showed his inner Dave Chappelle, joking that “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist President’s we’ve ever had”, implying that Donald Trump is Abraham Lincoln for those (Donald Trump) who did not initially did not get the joke. Donald Trump, lost and confused, was taken aback by the outlandish claim that he would ever be compared to someone like Abraham Lincoln. Who would ever?
Just to double down on the “I’m not a racist, I have a Black friend” card, President Trump had to show that he was not one. You know what they say, the only way to prove that you are not racist is to say that you are not racist. President Trump later in the night, in classic Abraham Lincoln fashion, stated that he is “the least racist person in this room”. Keep in mind, he was speaking directly to a half Black, half Native American moderator.
Sometimes civility is not the answer
Okay, this takeaway is 99.999% false but the .001% is when there is a Presidential debate and you have no other source of entertainment. Let’s be honest, as much as we all say that we hate the constant arguing and endless personal attacks between the two people running to become leaders of the United States, it sure is fascinating to see unfold.
The first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a mess on stage but what it produced off stage and on social media was absolute gold. From the memes to the references, the first Presidential debate allowed for the American youth to finally feel connected with politics. No longer was politics filled with the economy or vaccines but rather clowns and cancel culture, something the younger generation can watch endlessly.
With a nuanced approach by both candidates as well as the introduction of both a mute button and a moderator with a backbone, the debate was exactly as expected when you would originally hear the words “Presidential debate”.
There wasn’t even a fly.
