The first presidential debate in the United States took place on September 29 and it has been labelled by experts as “the worst debate ever seen.” It is also being described by commentators as a trainwreck, dumpster fire and shitshow. So, what went wrong?
Everything! But here are some of the biggest takeaways from the debate:
China
“He talks about these great trade deals. He talks about the art of the deal,” Biden said, criticizing Trump’s trade deal with China. “China’s perfected the art of the steal. We now have a higher deficit with China now than we did before.” Trump struck right back, saying, “China ate your lunch, Joe,” and pointed to Biden’s son Hunter’s dealings in China, Russia and Ukraine. Trump repeatedly blamed China for the coronavirus outbreak, saying “It’s China’s fault.”
When is Trump going to pay his taxes? “In sha Allah”
Pressing President Donald Trump on when the American public would get to see his long-anticipated tax returns, Biden questioned: “When? Inshallah?” “Yes, Joe Biden said ‘Inshallah’ during the debate,” tweeted political commentator Wajahat Ali. “It literally means ‘God willing,’ but it’s often used to mean, ‘Yeah, never going to happen.’ Example: My wife: Will you finally pick up your socks? Me: Inshallah. No, saying inshallah doesn’t make you Muslim.”
Bully
“Will you shut up, man?” Biden asked Trump at one point in the debate that continued with bitter insults and name-calling. “Just shush for a bit, will you? … It’s hard to get any word in with this clown.” Trump had also played into his reputation as a bully, but it may have been effective at breaking up the worst of Biden’s attacks — simply by talking over them.
The virus
“It is what it is because you are who you are,” Biden told the president, referring to Trump’s months of downplaying COVID-19 while he said privately he understood how deadly it is. 200,000 dead? Biden’s death toll would have been “millions,” Trump said. A rocky economy? Biden would’ve been worse. Biden wouldn’t have manufactured enough masks or ventilators.
US economy
According to Trump, “Everything was good,” before the “China plague” hit the U.S., and he was presiding over a historic economic run. “They gave up on manufacturing,” Trump said of the Obama administration, under which Biden served as vice president. The president said he had “brought back 700,000 jobs” while the previous administration had “brought back nothing.”
