Presidential debates should serve as an opportunity to learn from and connect with candidates. The first presidential debate for the 2020 general election between former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump P’00 on September 29 accomplished neither. Frankly, it was a mess — and that’s a generous description.
Much of the blame can be placed on President Trump. He refused to abide by the debate’s format, regularly interrupted Vice President Biden and moderator Chris Wallace, and resorted to distasteful insults and petty asides.
However, Vice President Biden was far from a formidable opponent. He made mostly weak and ineffective rebuttals of President Trump and missed pivotal opportunities to back the president into a corner. Vice President Biden would have come across as stronger and sharper if he had presented coherent responses to the president’s half-truths and blatant lies.
Let’s look at a few examples.
No more than 180 seconds into the debate, President Trump attacked Vice President Biden about his educational background: “Did you use the word smart? You said you went to Delaware State … You graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class. Don’t ever use the word ‘smart’ with me.” Biden passively countered, “Oh, give me a break.”
Instead of conceding the point with an unremarkable one-liner, Vice President Biden should have used this as an opportunity to relate to working-class Americans. Biden comes from a middle-class background, and. Unlike President Trump, who grew up wealthy, Vice President Biden’s success as a politician is the product of determination and drive.
President Trump and former Vice President Biden at the first presidential debate on September 29. Photo courtesy of The New York Times
A shocking line of the debate came after Wallace asked President Trump to denounce white supremacy. Pushing back, President Trump responded, “Give me a name,” to which Vice President Biden interjected, “Proud Boys.” Then, the president said, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
In other words, the president not only refused to denounce white supremacy, but went as far as to tell the Proud Boys, a known white supremacist organization, to “stand by” on national television.
To make sure viewers understood the weight of the president’s comments, Vice President Biden should have interjected and vociferously called President Trump out for endorsing white supremacists.
Although Vice President Biden struggled to put up a strong front in those two portions of the debate, he came back from it. The most emotional moment of the debate for him, and the most heartless from President Trump, was their exchange regarding Vice President Biden’s sons. Vice President Biden said, “And speaking of my son [Beau], the way you talk about the military, the way you talk about them being losers and being and just being suckers. My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there. He got the Brown Star. He got the Conspicuous Service Medal. He was not a loser. He was a patriot.”
Even as Vice President Biden honored his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, President Trump responded with jabs about Vice President Biden’s son Hunter, who has struggled with substance abuse. Vice President Biden responded to the attacks with clarity and emotion: “My son, like a lot of people at home, had a drug problem. He’s overtaking it. He’s fixed it. He’s worked on it. And I’m proud of him. I’m proud of my son.”
Vice President Biden could not have said that any better. He connected with the millions of Americans who have been affected by or have had a family member struggle with substance abuse, and he rose above Trump’s childish taunts. While Trump came off as a heartless bully, Biden won sympathy.
Although Biden did not have a perfect debate, he shines in comparison to Trump’s abysmal performance. However, being better than Trump isn’t enough to win the election. Hopefully, in the next and final debate, Biden will bring more passion and strength to the podium.
