Gloves came off tonight in Cleveland in the first, maybe the last, presidential debate where 74-year-old President Donald Trump and 77-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden duked it out for 90 minutes, often talking over each other, exchanging their share of insults. One thing’s for sure, 72-year-old Fox News moderator Chris Wallace tried, but failed, to maintain any order. For the faint of heart, they probably turned off the TV or radio, preferring to turn on something less distasteful. When all is said and done, Biden looked a little better than advertised, when he was able to deliver parts of memorized campaign stump speeches. Going into the debate, Biden had to show a watchful audience that he wasn’t cognitively impaired to the extent promoted by Trump and the Republican Party. At the same time, Biden appeared shaky at times trying to hold his thoughts together.
Both candidates slammed each other on practically every issue but what’s going to be remembered most is Biden’s failure to make case on how he’s going to grow the battered U.S. economy. Biden, who called Trump several times a liar during the debate, said he didn’t but yet did support Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (R-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Green New Deal. Biden, while denying he supported the Green New Deal, talked about ending U.S. carbon emissions by 2035, a key premise that gave away his actual backing of the radical climate change plan. Biden talked about the millions of new jobs from his environmental plan, including signing the U.S. back onto the Paris Climate Accord. Trump countered that Biden’s plan would cost $100 trillion and break the U.S. economy. Voters listening found Biden’s statements alarming about how he’d manage the economy.
As much as Biden’s camp wants to celebrate him going toe-to-toe with Trump, he called Trump a “clown” and a “liar” on several occasions, breaking the decorum expected in any presidential debate. Biden accused Trump of trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act, without having a replacement, tossing millions out of health care. Trump countered that he’d create a better plan, less costly and better coverage, saying Obamacare was just to expensive and inefficient to fix. Biden said he would expand Obamacare but didn’t get a chance to elaborate much, as with all other topics. Given plenty of chance to attack Trump’s new pick for the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett, Biden’s only statement was the Roe v. Wade and the Affordable care act was on the ballot. Trump said, “No it wasn’t, saying Joe didn’t know Barrett’s positions on either topic. “You don’t know it’s on the ballot,” Trump said. Why is it on the ballot?”
Biden tried to blame Trump, per his campaign talking points, for the entire Covid-19 crisis, insisting Trump had all the facts in February to do something about it. When asked what he’d do differently by Wallace, Joe talked about having a plan of some kind. Trump countered strongly saying he banned China flights Jan. 31 while Joe and many others called Trump “xenophobic,” not mentioning in late January Trump was defending an impeachment, while simultaneously dealing with the very early states of Covid-19. Joe talked like the crisis was so well known to Trump, he had a crystal ball but didn’t share it with the public, all coming from former Washington Post journalist-turned-political-hack Bob Woodward. Biden may or may not know that the World Heath Organization [WHO] didn’t declare a global pandemic until March 11. Back in Jan, and Feb. there were very few Covid-19 cases and deaths in the U.S.
Trump, mindful of his national audience, raised Hunter Biden’s shenanigans taking millions of dollars because of Joe’s position as Vice President from Moscow, Beijing and Ukraine. Joe responded that Trump statements about his son Hunter were all debunked by the media. In fact, there are many unanswered questions about Hunter’s financial dealings overseas under his father’s watch. For some viewers, it exposed the otherwise buttoned up Joe to some underhanded dealings while Vice President. “The fact is, everything he is saying is simply a lie. I’m not here to call out his lies, everybody knows he’s a liar,” Joe said. Trump brought up Joe’s lie about attending historic black college Delaware State. “But you agree–,” Trump said. “You’re the liar, you graduated last in you class, not first in your class.” Insults were flying back-and-forth the entire debate.
Trump raised issues about how under the Obama-Biden administration his 2016 campaign was spied on with Joe’s knowledge. Trump accused Biden of participating in the framing of former Trump National Security Adviser Lt. Gov. Michael Flynn. Trump talked about how the Obama administration was caught red handed, trying to sabotage his 2016 campaign and leftovers trying overthrow a duly elected president. Treated to a real rumble, undecided voters may come away asking questions about how Joe’s son Hunter made so much money in foreign countries while Joe was Vice President. When it comes to Joe’s plans for the economy, I think he said enough to give concerned citizens pause about Joe’s promises to fix the economy. Trump said Biden would tank the stock market and plunge the economy into another Great Depression. Undecided voters could pause listening to Joe’s economic plans.
