The Debate Dumpster Fire

It Figures That a Dumpster Fire of a Year Like This Would Bring Us a ‘Debate’ Like This

Last night, I thought the first presidential debate of the 2020 cycle was bad. This morning, after a night’s sleep and further reflection, I think it was even worse than bad.

Assume, for a moment, that you think Joe Biden is well past his prime, that he’s not as quick on his feet or as sharp as he used to be, and that he wilts under pressure. Assume you believe that Biden’s “word salad” moments are indicators of senility or some other serious mental problem that will impede his ability to perform the duties of the presidency.

Assume you believe that Biden’s campaign calls all of these early “lids” because they just don’t trust the candidate to perform and want to minimize the amount of time that their man is in front of the cameras.

If you believe all that and you’re President Trump, why on earth would you go into a debate and constantly try to talk over him and minimize the amount of time Biden speaks? If you believe Biden’s biggest liability is his mouth, why would you try to ensure the debate was 90 minutes of crosstalk?

Trump effectively called a lid on Biden early in the evening.

Then, if you think your opponent is going to try to duck the debates, why would you hand him an excuse to withdraw from the next two debates on a silver platter? (For what it’s worth, the Biden campaign says they will participate in all the remaining debates.)

The debate was bad for Trump, not really all that good for Biden, bad for moderator Chris Wallace, bad for the viewers at home, and bad for our system of government. The only people who had a good night were the far-right extremist Proud Boys.

In a year that has been a dumpster fire in so many ways, this debate fit in perfectly.