The first presidential debate of 2020 kicked off on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Heated words were exchanged as the two candidates fought for the opportunity to speak.
Joe Biden and President Donald Trump argued on topics from COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter with frequent interruptions from both parties. This hindered the audience’s ability to gain a clear understanding of each party’s stance on these important issues.
Claims came from both sides in reference to the Black Lives Matter movement as Biden called on Trump to denounce white supremacy. The President said, “Stand back and stand by” to a white supremacist group called “The Proud Boys.”
Trump also said that the problem and violence is coming from a group called ANTIFA. This quote has been shared around social media platforms for days following the debate and sparked The Proud Boys to take the President’s words as a call to action.
Biden criticized Trump’s action against the COVID-19 pandemic as well, and the President came back saying he handled the pandemic better than Biden would have been able to.
Biden rebutted with a statistic that one in one thousand African Americans will die from COVID-19. Many believe if Trump cared about the Black communities, he would have acted faster.
The debate took a personal turn when Trump took a swing at Biden’s family. Trump said that he “didn’t know Beau Biden,” Joe Biden’s son. He was an Iraq War veteran and bronze star recipient who died in 2015.
The President did say that he knew Biden’s other son, Hunter, who has been said to struggle with substance abuse. This resulted in Hunter Biden being removed from the military. This topic added to the fire of the debate as Biden defended his family.
The moderator, Chris Wallace, said, “Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting” in response to Trump’s comments on Biden talking during his turns to speak.
As the debate began to wind down, many media outlets have continued to spout their opinions on who won the debate.
Regardless of where people stand in their political views, the New York Times summarized it when they said, “Whoever won, America lost.”
