Second Debate Replaced by Town Halls

By Leo Kugel

As the camera shifted from the debate stage to NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, she remarked, through an uncharacteristically emotional voice, “that was crazy.” Tuesday’s debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joseph Biden was by many accounts “crazy.”

Leading up to the grudge match between the two foes representing their respective parties, the animosity was already tangible. In the days before they faced off, Biden elected to isolate himself to prepare while Trump stirred up controversy by “strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night.”

Although their tactics were clearly different, both sides understood the importance this night would bring. Hosted by Fox News’s Chris Wallace, the debate featured six topics: COVID-19, the economy, the Supreme Court, Trump’s and Biden’s records, the integrity of the election, and race and violence in America’s cities. The last of which sparked significant pushback from Democrat leaders because of wording they said favored Republicans.

Soon after the debate began, it became clear that it would be far from a cordial affair. Within the first few minutes, both candidates began to interrupt one another, quickly getting to the point where the moderator, Wallace, couldn’t even control the chaos. Later on in the night, the candidates’ attacks turned personal. Biden told Trump directly to “shut up, man” and Trump launched into a digression on Biden’s late son Hunter’s struggle with addiction.

At the closing of the debate, the only consensus seemed to be that it brought very little value to the American people. Even conservative political pundit Ben Shapiro tweeted “This debate is basically just underscoring the personalities. It has shifted no one on any issue at all.” The only person who appeared to feel positive about the debate was Trump himself proclaiming victory by tweeting “I won the debate big,” citing an unnamed “compilation of polls.”

While the Commision on Presidential Debates has two more debates between Trump and Biden scheduled, as well as one between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, the likelihood of them taking place seems to be up in the air after Trump tested positive for COVID-19, not to mention the concern about each candidate getting an opportunity to speak for their allotted two minutes without interruption.