Broken Debates. Broken Politics.
- johnnyfelty7
- Sep 30, 2020
- 2 min read
On Tuesday September 29th at 6pm, I tuned into the first Presidential Debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. More or less, I knew what to expect.
I wish I had prepared myself better.
The first topic was introduced; the Supreme Court. Instantly, the debate got heated, with both candidates on edge. Both candidates agreed to a set of rules for the debate, but both broke them as the night progressed. President Trump began actively interrupted Biden in almost all of his responses. Biden quickly became sick of this nuisance, saying to Trump, "Will you shut up man?."
From that point on, I knew this debate was gonna be like no other. Even the debates in 2016 between Trump and Hillary Clinton were better than this. Trump's continuous interruptions made it unbearable to watch. It was practically a sensory overload, just too much happening at the same time. As I watched, I scrolled through Twitter to see live tweets from people I follow. Tweets flooded my timeline complaining about the interruptions, many wishing that the microphone of the candidate who was not speaking at the time would be muted.
Aside from the consistent interruptions and badgering, perhaps no other moment stuck with me more than an instance during the discussion on race. The moderator, Chris Wallace, asked Mr. Trump, "Are you willing, tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?” Trump said he was willing, but continued to tell Proud Boys, a white supremacist group, to "Stand back and stand by." This moment stuck with me because I found it deeply disturbing. It is my opinion that white supremacy is the biggest danger that America is facing right now. White supremacist groups and militias that use violence to push their agenda are extremely dangerous, as they all support the right to bear arms to the utmost degree. Trump is the golden child of these group's ideologies, and another victory for him in November will mean another four years of halted progress that could make this country better as a whole.
This debate was a blatant example of how American politics is broken. The Republican party under Trump has continued to radicalize, forcing asymmetrical polarization at an even more alarming rate. The left has polarized sharply too. As I watch the Republican party damage America, I gain a deeper trust in my liberal views. I would imagine that it is the same way for most democrats these days. Even though Joe Biden's beliefs are far from the "radical left," Trump dismisses him as such, calling him names such as a "Trojan Horse for the Socialist Agenda." The truth is, I am not proud of the democratic party's candidate. But yes, I am voting for him. There is too much at stake to not vote for Biden, as any vote not cast or a vote for another candidate works in President Trump's favor.
Register to vote now. There are many resources online to do so with. Here is one.
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