The 2020 debates were like no other. With the world entering COVID 19 lockdowns and racial unrest at its breaking point, there was much to be debated. September 29 marked the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Over 73 million people tuned into what is deemed by many to be the worst presidential debate in American history. 

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Only a few months into the COVID pandemic, much of the pre-debate discussion was about the unprecedented times, with social distancing, and the appearance of masks. The main safety protocol between the two candidates was not shaking hands at the beginning of the debate. The moderator emphasized the importance of the audience remaining silent, so the focus could be on what the candidates had to say, but it wasn’t the audience that they needed to be concerned about. What followed was a stress-inducing debate, full of interrupting, name calling, and an overall lack of helpful information for voters to get to know about the candidates. 

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The topics of discussion for the night were the COVID pandemic, Supreme Court, race and violence in cities, election integrity, and the economy. But there was little actual discussion of these topics. From the beginning, it was evident this would not be a normal debate. Trump’s strategy was interruption and steamrolling the debate, with over 128 interruptions. Moderator Chris Wallace struggled to keep order, sometimes being unable to ask a full question before being interrupted. Biden was clearly frazzled, at one point losing his cool, saying “will you shut up, man?” [1] Of the little debate that did happen, most concerning was Trump’s declaration of the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” a phrase which was adopted as a slogan by the white supremacist group. 

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News stations did not start their broadcasts discussing the talking points like usual, but about the disaster of the debate itself. Fox news focused on Trump steamrolling Biden as a victorious move[2], but others were more critical. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said “This sort of debate shouldn’t happen in a Democracy,” calling the night’s debate a “monstrous unintelligible discourse of logorrhea.” [3] CNN’s Jake Tapper said of the September 29 debate: “That was a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck. That was the worst debate I have ever seen. It wasn’t even a debate, it was a disgrace.” He went on to say the real loser was not a candidate, but the American people. [4] The debate left the public with a lot of questions: Without a proper debate, how would they know how the candidates proposed to lead the nation for the next four years? What is the point of a debate if nothing is debated? What entails a winner of a debate? What would future debates look like? 

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In the second and final debate of 2020, one debate canceled due to Trump’s COVID status, The Commission on Presidential Debates Co-Chairs, Frank Fahrenkopf and Kenneth Wollack, came out to address the changes being made to ensure both candidates adhered to the rules. “The commission felt we could not put in the new rule but what we thought we would do was put a way to enforce rules they both agreed to.” The microphones would be muted while the other candidate answered a question from the moderator, and microphones would remain on for the open debate. [5] With Trump running for reelection in 2024, the question arises of whether or not there will be a repeat of the chaotic 2020 debates. Or if the dumpster fire is a thing of the past.  

 

[1] https://time.com/5894289/debate-live-updates-biden-trump/ 

 

[2]  https://www.foxnews.com/video/6195866846001 

 

[3]  https://youtu.be/elzdU08s5so?si=7Y_y4MwJTn7Voven 

 

[4]  https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/09/30/jake-tapper-dana-bash-debate-reaction-vpx.cnn 

[5]  https://www.youtube.com/live/bPiofmZGb8o?si=02W98_swP-oUyD-2