A Two-Man Debate Turns Into A Free-For-All, But Did Anyone Win?

The first presidential debate of the 2020 presidential election closed after 96 chaotic, bruising minutes that saw advantages wasted, interruptions abound, a failure by both sides to make a definitive case, and what at times seemed like a three-way fight largely focused on Democratic talking points.

President Donald Trump came out of the gate hard, attempting to knock Vice President Biden on his heels with the kind of comments that have defined his interview style since the 1980s. For the first 20-plus minutes, it worked.

“Right now I am the Democratic Party right now,” Biden asserted. “Not according to [Kamala] Harris,” his opponent replied.

“I beat Bernie Sanders,” the vice president shot back shortly after. “Not by much.”

“There is no manifesto,” the Democrat defended. “You just lost the left.”

The strategy looked like it would succeed, with the president ringing in an early hit on his term lasting four years — not three  — and against Biden’s claim that 100 million — or nearly one-third of Americans — have pre-existing health conditions (a definition once meaning they could not get health care but which the media now claims means anything), followed by a steady defense of his Supreme Court nominee.