Katie Fields
Contributing Writer
For those who watched the debate, there is a general consensus that it was, at best, borderline chaotic. Although Trump made multiple firm arguments throughout the debate, such as Biden’s inability to draw large crowds to his rallies, many would agree that his constant interruptions were unnecessary, as Biden needs no help digging his own grave. Though many view his snarky one-liners as good material for political attack ads, others feel that a professional approach would have been better. While nobody expects Trump to be overly articulate, his lack of professionalism during debates and speeches may cause uncertainty among those who are not yet sure who they intend to vote for.
The focus of the debate, however, lies not with Trump’s attitude; those who like his brusque personality will still vote for him, and those that hate him will continue to do so. The majority of voters already accept that for better or worse, it is a part of a packaged deal when it comes to President Trump. Luckily, we have Pence to balance out Trump’s more vibrant personality with his own serious flair. Instead, the focus of the debate should have been exposing Biden for what he truly is: a radical hypocrite and incoherent puppet of the extreme left. Biden cannot seem to hold a single stance that, during his half a century in office, has not either been self-contradicted or would do irrevocable harm to the country. Case in point: the economy. Coronavirus has undoubtedly hindered the economy, however, barring a catastrophic black swan event such as the pandemic, the average middle-class income under the Trump Administration has risen $5,000 due to his tax cuts. Conversely, Biden has proposed not only reversing these tax cuts, but then raising taxes by $4 trillion over ten years, according to Forbes.
A far more pertinent and pivotal point of the debate, however, was Trump’s resolute answer to Chris Wallace’s first question regarding the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He appropriately justified that it is well within his constitutional authority and obligation to fill the seat, just as former President Barack Obama attempted to do in February of 2016, following the death of Justice Scalia. To highlight his point of executive commitment, President Trump used, for credibility, the words of Justice RBG, “The president is elected for four years, not three years, so the power he has in year three continues into year four,” thus providing support for his case that filling the seat is the exact reason for which any president is elected: to represent the people and make executive decisions on their behalf.
The first presidential debate of 2020 was fraught with constant interruptions and unprofessionalism from the President, gaffs, contradictions and outright lies from the former Vice President and blatant and disgraceful bias from the moderator. Though President Trump’s rhetoric was distasteful, he did highlight one key component of Biden’s governmental and civil career: “The fact is, I did more in 47 months as president than Joe Biden did in 47 years.” Joe Biden has proposed and accomplished extraordinarily little throughout his half century in public office, and what he has accomplished, he adamantly disavows now. Love Trump or hate him, one thing is inarguable: “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”