Presidential Debate Highlights: September 29th, 2020
graphic by danny kahn
Two old white men avoiding the topic of white supremacy is not what we like to see at the debate for the most powerful position of the United States. Have you ever seen such a shitshow? (other than the whole year of 2020, of course.)
Well, if you were blessed enough to miss an hour and a half of madness here’s the highlight reel: Welcome to the most chaotic presidential debate recap in history.
General Overview
So there was no real discussion between the candidates. The debate consisted of President Trump hideously using buzzwords to attract his audience and avoiding the topic of real policy like the plague (shoulda worn a mask too, bud). In fact, I think Trump was debating the moderator instead of Biden. But honestly, not the best performance from Biden either. Although Biden mentioned that he actually cared for BASIC human rights, the constant cuts of him looking at the camera to create some kind of movie scene were a little much. Like, this isn’t a scene from “The Office.” President Trump attacked Biden with every petty blow he could, even insulting his own son. Biden described the debate perfectly: “Will you shut up, man?”
A good drinking game for the next debate: Take a sip every time Trump interrupts Biden. Get ready to blackout in the first ten minutes, folks! Here are some short highlights for each of the topics. Quick spoiler: not good.
The Supreme Court Nominee
Amy Coney Barrett, the current nominee, was praised by Trump. But don’t be fooled - this candidate will put women’s rights at risk, along with affordable healthcare, tearing apart the legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg (who wasn’t mentioned a SINGLE time during the debate. classy.) Rest in peace RBG. Rest in peace bodily autonomy.
COVID-19
Apparently, we are weeks away from a vaccine - let’s hope so. Of course, China was blamed many times by a certain someone. Biden, on the other hand, wants to focus on a slow reopening plan. Despite the enormous amount of deaths, Trump insisted that he did a “good job.” Pretty ironic since he himself got COVID-19 just days later... karma.
Taxes and Healthcare
Trump said that he has paid millions in income tax. Ok, sure. Biden is right, we need to see some tax returns to believe that BS. Regarding health care, Biden endorsed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Meanwhile, Trump has been trying to roll back this plan for basically his whole term but has almost no healthcare plan of his own.
Race and Violence
This was arguably the hardest subject to bear. Trump refused to denounce white supremacists. Let’s say that again for everyone in the back: He REFUSED to condemn the belief that white people are superior to all other races. Trump also explained how violence and radicalism came from the left-wing (???). Then, the President of the United States clearly said: “Proud Boys — stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left.” This is bad for two reasons: First, Trump mentioned and gave publicity to a white supremacy group. Second, the president of a country in 2020 is still not ready to face racism or the brutal mistreatment and violence against POC. Cool, cool.
Climate Change
In case you’ve forgotten, Trump still favors the economy over our health as a nation. We don’t think he’ll ever admit that coal and gas contribute to our dangerously changing climate. Trump said that greenhouse gases only impact climate change “to an extent.” Contrarily, Biden endorsed the reduction of industrial emissions along with a rejoining of the Paris agreement. Although his plan entails a couple trillion dollars (yes, TRillion), hey, at least HE has a plan!
Voting
Trump still claims that voting by mail was fraudulent in the 2016 election, yet there is little evidence to prove this fact. But just in case - pleaaaase, literally for the hope of humanity, send in your ballots ASAP!! In the end, Biden urged people to vote. vote. vote.
Please, SU Students, get out there and VOTE!!