Tonight was the last debate of the 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Donald Trump has participated in five Presidential Debates.
He has lost all of them.
He also failed miserably at a townhall with Savanah Guthrie.
Whether the two debates he lost this year will help yield both a popular and electoral college vote loss at the polls will be determined on November 3, 2020.
The two big winners for this evening's final debate were Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden and the moderator, NBC's Kristen Welker.
Trump was better in this Debate but that is not saying much.
Now Donald Trump did do the bare minimum in not acting like a maniac like he did in the first debate and he was not as chauvinistic and condescending as he was in the Town Hall with Savanah Guthrie. But that was a very low bar to climb over and, despite a couple of good sound bites on the former Vice Presidents five decades of experience, did not have a stellar performance.
Why?
1) Mr. Trump used this occasion to repeat and add to the over 20,000 lies he has uttered since taking the Oath of Office. This evening, he repeated lies on:
- his handling of COVID 19.
- allegations against the Biden Family.
- health care.
- immigration
- climate change.
2) Mr. Trump showed no empathy or compassion for the over 500 children that were separated from their parents at the border and still not reunited with them.
3) He conveyed that he has done more for African Americans than "perhaps" Abraham Lincoln. Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, if they were still alive, would probably have something to say about that.
4) With Trump, it was always "I did this" or "You should thank me for that." His arrogance was not inspiring.
5) He came across as a little condescending and chauvinistic to Welker for praising her moderation of the debate (which was ironic considering his saying before the debate she would not be fair.)
6) He did not say anything about a second-term agenda.
Biden was Presidential and spoke directly to the People.
Unlike Trump, Biden was Presidential during the debate. He showed humanity and empathy when talking directly to the people. He also showed an understanding of the issues.
He also, unlike Trump, presented many ideas for what he would do as President.
The 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee also had all the best lines of the evening.
Perhaps the best one was when Trump was peddling baseless fringe bull fecal matter about Joe Biden's family, the former Vice President looked into the cameras and said:
"It’s not about his family and my family. It’s about your family, and your family’s hurting badly. If you’re a middle-class family, you’re getting hurt badly right now. You’re sitting at the kitchen table this morning deciding, “Well, we can’t get new tires. They’re bald, because we have to wait another month or so.” Or, “Are we going to be able to pay the mortgage?” Or, “Who’s going to tell her she can’t go back to community college?” They’re the decisions you’re making, and the middle-class families like I grew up in Scranton and Claymont, they’re in trouble. We should be talking about your families, but that’s the last thing he wants to talk about."
On Trump saying that Americans need to learn to live with COVID 19
"Number one, he says that we’re learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it."
On Trump's assertion that the virus transmittal rate is low between young students and their teachers.
"And by the way, all you teachers out there, not that many of you are going to die, so don’t worry about it. So don’t worry about it. Come on."
On being a President for all Americans.
"And I don’t look at this in terms of the way he does, blue states and red states. They’re all the United States. And look at the states that are having such a spike in the coronavirus. They’re the red states, they’re the states in the Midwest, they’re the states in the upper Midwest. That’s where the spike is occurring significantly. But they’re all Americans. They’re all Americans."
"By the way, if I get elected, I’m not going to… I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I’m going to be an American president. I don’t see red states and blue states. What I see is American United States. And folks, every single state out there finds themself in trouble. They’re going to start laying off, whether they’re red or blue, cops, firefighters, first responders, teachers, because they have to balance their budget. And the founders were smart. They allowed the federal government to deficit spend to compensate for the United States of America."
On Health Care and Social Security.
"Look, the difference between the president and I… I think healthcare is not a privilege, it’s a right. Everyone should have the right to have affordable healthcare, and I am very proud of my plan."
"He’s a very confused guy. He thinks he’s running against somebody else. He’s running against Joe Biden. I beat all those other people because I disagreed with them. Joe Biden, he’s running against. And the idea that we’re in a situation that is going to destroy Medicare… This is the guy that the actuary of Medicare said, “If in fact…” That’s Social Security. “If in fact, he continues his plan to withhold the tax on Social Security, Social Security will be bankrupt by 2023 with no way to make up for it.” This is the guy who’s tried to cut Medicare. The idea that Donald Trump is lecturing me on Social Security and Medicare? Come on."
On the Members of the Middle and Lower Classes that do not own Stock.
"Look, the idea that the stock market is booming is his only measure of what’s happening. Where I come from in Scranton and Claymont, the people don’t live off of the stock market. Just in the last three years, during this crisis, the billionaires in this country made, according to Wall Street, 700 billion more dollars. 700 billion more dollars. Because that’s his only measure. What happens to the ordinary people out there? What happens to them?"
On the Republican failure to deal with Democrats to pass COVID 19 relief.
"By the way, as you know, the Republican leader in the United States Senate said he can’t pass it. He will be able to pass it. He does not have Republican votes. Why isn’t he talking to his Republican friends?"
"I have, and they have pushed it. Look, they (the Democratic House) passed this act all the way back in the beginning of the summer. It’s not new. It’s been out there. This HEROES Act has been sitting there. And look at what’s happening. When I was in charge of the recovery act with $800 billion, I was able to get $145 billion to local communities that have to balance their budgets and states that have to balance their budgets. And then they have to fire firefighters, teachers, first responders, law enforcement officers, so they could keep their cities and counties running. He will not support that. They have not done a thing for them. And Mitch McConnell said, “Let them go bankrupt. Let them go bankrupt.” Come on. What’s the matter with these guys?"
On Migrant Children being separated from their Parents.
"Let’s talk about what we’re talking about. What happened? Parents were ripped… Their kids were ripped from their arms and separated, and now they cannot find over 500 of the sets of those parents, and those kids are alone. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to go. It’s criminal. It’s criminal."
On Trump's racism after the KKK endorsed Candidate said he had done more for Black People than Abraham Lincoln.
"Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history, he pours fuel on every single racist fire, every single one. Started off his campaign coming down the escalator saying he’s getting rid of those Mexican rapists, he’s ban Muslims because they’re Muslims, he has moved around and made everything worse across the board. He says to… About the Proud Boys, last time we were on stage here he said, “I tell them to stand down and stand ready.” Come on, this guy has a dog whistle about as big as a foghorn."
On Climate Change.
"Climate change, global warming is an existential threat to humanity. We have a moral obligation to deal with it. And we’re told by all the leading scientists in the world we don’t have much time, we’re going to pass the point of no return within the next 8 to 10 years. Four more years of this man eliminating all the regulations that were put in by us to clean up the climate, to clean up… To limit the emissions, will put us in a position where we’re going to be in real trouble. Here’s where we have a great opportunity. I was able to get both all the environmental organizations as well as the labor, the people worried about jobs, to support my climate plan."
Biden was not perfect tonight. He committed a George H.W. Bush error toward the end of the debate by looking at his watch and his commitment to transition the energy sector away from oil (a good idea that is already occurring) was not artfully phrased at first (he did clean it up fairly quickly.)
That said, Biden did what he had to do and consistently presented a compelling case why he would be a better President than the current White House Occupant.
The other winner of the night was NBC's Kristen Welker.
Kristen Welker did the job, aided by the mute button and Donald Trump's more non-bombastic behavior, that Chris Wallace could not conduct at the first debate.
She clearly did meticulous research on the questions that were asked.
She handled both candidates well by allowing them to give follow-up responses and transitioning them to new topics to address.
She did what many, given Trump's previous fringe performances in the first debate and the town hall with Savanah Guthrie, did not think was possible.
With 12 days to go, all that remains is to turn out the people who have not yet voted.
Please be part of the process and vote.
Democracy and the Republic can not thrive if the citizens of the country do not exercise their constitutional right to choose their leaders.
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