Joe Biden and Donald Trump debating in Atlanta (CNN video still)
Donald Trump spread falsehoods and grievances in an unprecedented early presidential debate, confronting a hoary-voiced and hesitant President Joe Biden.
The 46th President recovered later in the debate, but not before viewers were given ample reason to worry about an eighty-one-year-old incumbent. They were given more reason for concern about Biden’s predecessor, given his ferocity and self-absorption. Trump got “trumpier” as the night went on, which is to say unhinged.
In a country built by immigrants, Trump had this to say of those seeking the American dream and doing America’s grunt work: “He (Biden) allowed millions to come in here from prisons, jails and mental institutions into our country and to destroy our country”
How do you marshal facts against a demagogue? Biden reentered politics out of revulsion at a 2017 fascist rally in a Virginia college town, Charlottesville. He sought tonight to represent America’s better angels, but Trump dominated the stage.
The debate was personal and vicious, in a manner when the dispensing of hate was deliberate.
Trump charged that Biden, whose late son Beau served in Iraq, “doesn’t care about veterans.” “His (other) son is a criminal,” Trump added.
Biden is the product of a collegial and civil United States Senate, in which he served for thirty-six years. Trump is a New York developer schooled in buying politicians, ripping off contractors and buying off participants in his one night stands.
It showed tonight.
Trump plays by his own rules. He described the debate as a waste of time. Asked how he’d curb climate damage, he boasted about getting backing from police unions. Queried about his own age, the seventy-seven year old Trump boasted of his proficiency on the golf course. Glaring at Biden, Trump added: “He couldn’t hit a ball fifty yards”
Biden’s performance has already prompted extensive handwringing among Democrats, and fantastical suggestions of how the party might be able to select a different nominee. Canadian realtors can perhaps expect an uptick in business. The chattering classes were at work on cable television the moment Trump and Biden left the stage.
One question lingers here: If Biden couldn’t catch up with Trump, what about the listening audience?
Trump ended the debate with another dose of self praise, saying the Biden-Harris administration has given America “three and a half years of living in hell.”
A living hell with sixteen million new jobs? With stock markets at record highs? With childhood poverty reduced? With the United States recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic more rapidly and extensively than anyplace else?
Donald Trump’s lies were the focal point of tonight’s debate. But we don’t know the future, and this may wind up as a blip in one of the weirdest elections we’ve ever seen, rather than a pivotal moment. Many voters may feel that we can’t count on Joe to do the job after watching the incumbent’s performance — but will those voters then turn to a wretched excuse of a man who tramples the Constitution?
We won’t know the answer for months. Where those so-called “double haters” land will matter, as will base turnout and many other factors. Data suggest a close race.
We do know this: we’ll only continue to have a republic if we can keep it.
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I find it unsettling that TCA didn't mention--in either of their articles on the debate--that President Biden was tackling this debate with a severe cold. Anyone who's struggled through a summer cold knows just how miserable these respiratory infections can make a body feel--especially an eight-decade old body. I think this fact should be front-and-center in any discussion about President Biden's debate effort.