On Sept. 29, the first Presidential debate was held between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
It was one of the most memorable presidential debates of the past decade, and not for good reasons.
What this debate further reinforced was the fact that America is in absolute turmoil right now, one that’s leadership will be dependent on for the upcoming years.
To say the very least, we should be frightened.
Since the coronavirus was officially classified as a pandemic in the United States, there has been a very apparent economic decline that has led to a recession. It has halted economic growth significantly, led to a huge surge of unemployment due to quarantine, and the stock market crashing amongst many other things.
“This is a huge, unprecedented, devastating hit,” former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told CNBC early April of this year.
“This is an extraordinary disruption, It’s almost like a meteor hit the entire planet and we have to now deal with the fact that we’ve been knocked off our axis,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton.
Through these troubling economic times, it was expected for Trump to take proper action in how he would handle COVID-19. This wasn’t the case, and it has shaped the outlook for many individuals and their view of the upcoming election as more of a referendum on Trump than it is about examining who would be deemed fit to be president. The debate perfectly encapsulated how bad the political situation is in the United States currently.
Both failed to deliver key points on the issues critical to the nation in coming years.
Trump sounded like an impetuous child who spent nearly the entirety of the debate arguing with the moderator just as much as he talked over Biden.
One of the most concerning statements in the debate was that in which Trump wouldn’t deliberately condemn white supremacists.
Wallace asked Trump: “But are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups?”
Trump would then proceed to have this exchange with Wallace.
Trump: Well, who would like me to condemn?
Wallace: “White supremacists (ph) and right (ph) –”
Trump: “Who?”
Wallace: “…militia.”
Trump: “Proud Boys, stand by and stand by. But I’ll tell you what — I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem.”
The lack of condemnation is something that is concerning due to the fact that it specifically relates to extremist groups.
Ultimately we find ourselves in a state of turmoil because neither of the candidates have convinced people.
Our global recession has made people anxious let alone frightened for what is to come, hence why such agendas have been pushed by both sides. Each to fit the label of whichever party they represent.
We laugh about it now, but one of them will be the leader of this country.
