Tale (...full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing: 22 thoughts on tonight's Presidential Debate.
Tonight there will be a debate between current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Many people have asked me to weigh in on it, so here goes.
How to not phrase a choice.
Becca asked our youngest boys something like this earlier: “Did you still want to go the wild creature presentation, or…would you like to stay home and watch the Presidential Debate?”
I’m sure I’ll be hearing a great deal about pythons, turtles, and venomous reptilians later.
Will he or won’t he?
Yes, Trump will reference the following items (with minimum number of times denoted by x)
1x - How Biden probably took some sort of pre-debate performance-enhancing drug.
2x - Number of former friends and/or appointees he will throw under the bus.
3x - How Democrats have probably rigged this debate and how they changed the rules.
4x - How black communities - and others - are supporting him in massive numbers.
5x - How he actually won the 2020 elections.
5x - How Biden’s physical condition/age make him unfit for office.
10x - How the mainstream media is fake and/or corrupt.
Big words, big guy.
He will invoke the following words a total of at least 40 times. I know, that’s a big statement. But…is it?
God
great
bad
Christian
His new favorite phrase?
I’ve been noticing an uptick in his use of a specific preamble. Not new, but he is using more than ever. It’s this:
“I don’t want to ______, but ______.”
And then he says the thing he really wants.
If Biden is so bad, then?…
How will Trump, and even more importantly, how will Trump’s loyalists, apologists, followers and sycophants (apologies, these are redundant) explain the mismatch between the message they’ve doggedly pushed for so long, that Biden is physically and mentally incompetent…
…when - or if - Biden presents himself in a manner, in direct communication and confrontation, that is not these things.
How will this be explained?
Groundwork.
Trump has already began laying the groundwork for this, just like he did in early 2020 with the possibility of his losing the election. The only way we can know the elections are fair and free, he determined, was a simple arithmetic. The simple arithmetic was binary: if he won, the elections were fair. If he lost, they were not. He was not overly coy, cryptic, or ambiguous about this beforehand.
He is doing the same thing, albeit only once in public, with this debate.
“Maybe I’m better off losing the debate,” Trump quipped in an interview with Real America’s Voice earlier in June. “I’ll make sure he stays. I’ll lose the debate on purpose, maybe I’ll do something like that.” (ABC News)
this was in reference to the fact that he can beat any candidate, but he can really beat Biden, so he wants to make sure he doesn’t get replaced.
Blame.
Whose head will roll afterwards? We know some things are absolutely certain. One of them is this: something will go wrong, and Donald Trump will take no blame. So somebody must. Who will it be?
Last time, the Proud Boys, this time, ?…
He gave the world’s greatest dog whistle shoutout to the Proud Boys last time around. What group will he signal this time?
Capitol, capital.
How many times will reference “The J6”? These are the folks who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, urged on by him to stop the certification of the election; an election that Joe Biden won.
Let’s be honest.
You don’t have to be a Democrat. You don’t have to like Democrats. You don’t have to agree with Biden or agree with everything, or even a lot on the Democratic national platform. But let’s be honest about one thing: this is not just another election, these are not just another couple of candidates, and this is a case between a man of faith who values education, intellect and strength through empathy and confidence, and between a man who…values himself. Himself above all.
Think on that. In their own words.
Let’s get to it.
Follow-up (throughout debate)
Biden is not looking good out of the gate. Posture! Posture! Look up, speak with confidence. He’s already fumbled words such as transposing billionaire and trillionaire, in addition to a loooong pause that’s going viral probably as I write this. Completely lost it. Walking right into a million memes that have already been kicked around about him.
Trump is coming across as full of energy. There is only three years between them, but he is coming on strong. Biden looks on the defense. He’s talking about tax cuts and only the wealthy benefiting and these ideas that may be important…but are not going to connect or endear him. Trump is coming across as articulate, strong, forceful, and - I can’t believe I’m writing this - as eloquent and on-message as I’ve seen.
Fifteen minutes in and it’s a disaster for Biden already. And the worse part for Democrats is that they’re already covering abortion - which should be a game winner for them.
Biden is not staying on any kind of message, including in response to the abortion question, and even made a cringe statement involving rape and the prevalence of “brothers and sisters” in some situations. Biden should be owning this portion. Finally, with “I support Roe v Wade,” he at least came out with a little anger and confidence. First time tonight.
“Rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month.” - Trump, twisting around Biden’s words. “Under Roe v Wade, you have late term abortions…”
6.22pm.
Trump references Biden’s trailing-off in reference to immigration. “I don’t think he even knew what he said,” or something like that; a not so subtle dig at his mental faculties. Trump also makes a curious statement about the Border Patrol actually endorsing him, but not saying so. Why doesn’t Biden go after that? Not sure.
6.24pm Trump
“…I call it Biden Migrant Crime." Tells an apocryphal story about an immigrant talking to him. “We’re literally an uncivilized country now.”
“We have to get these people out.”
”He doesn’t care about veterans.”
”He has killed so many people at our border by allowing all these people in.”
Biden talks about his relationships and respect for veterans. His son. “You’re the sucker, you’re the loser.”
Trump: “There’s nobody that’s taken better care of our veterans and soldiers than I have.” Talks about 19 people who said it wasn’t true. Segues to Russia, disinformation, and how Biden made up the phrase “suckers and losers.” Biden stands his ground.
Biden finds his stride in talking about veterans and pushing back. Starts to get personal and heated.
Ukraine and Russia / Palestine and Israel.
“First of all, our veterans and solders can’t stand this guy. Let’s get that straight. They like me more than just about any of them.”
Also Trump: “the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country: Afghanistan.” Uses that to segue into how Putin felt comfortable invading Ukraine, and Israel would not be invaded by Hamas, if he was in charge. No money. “There was no money for terror in my administration. The whole world is blowing up under him.”
Trump’s response when asked if he supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state: he doesn’t respond at all, but sidesteps to talk about other countries picking up more of the tab.
January 6 / violation of oath office
Trump starting to lose his cool and resorting to the thuggish, name calling, fast-talking non sequitur filled style he’s most comfortable with. He talks about how great the country was before January 6 and how it became an embarrassment to the world when people realized he was being forced out office.
Trump tries to pivot to talking about protests and riots in Minneapolis, Seattle, etc. Talks about “Unselect Committee” and the two horrible Republicans on it, and how they destroyed all the information.
Biden: “I’m looking at a convicted felon. Right now.”
Going after political opponents
Trump: “My retribution will be success.” Talks about Biden’s son being a convicted felon. Joe could probably be a convicted felon when he leaves office. Brings up Ukraine and quid pro quo prosecutor, border…
Makes reference to all the political conspiracies and “weaponizing” of law in going after him. Talks about how his hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions show how the public recognizes how he’s being persecuted.
Biden references Charlottesville, his talking about “all sides being fine people,” connecting to Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism. Trump does not respond, but pivots to how Biden is unquestionably the worst president in history. Talks about his statements about Charlottesville have been completely debunked.
“I ran because I was worried a guy like this guy would be elected.” - Biden
Trump’s ability to deny and reject reality is still mind-blowing; to say that he didn’t say things he absolutely said, to say that things did not happen that absolutely happened…stunning.
My one-month old niece FaceTimes me, with minor assistance from her dad, so I chat with her for a couple while T and B casually banter about civil rights and black voters. “Casually banter.” Like that phrase?
6.58pm
Biden has been picking things up, but if he loses in November, I think the first 20 minutes of this debate can be looked at as seminal moments to shifting momentum. I hope that is not the case. “There was no inflation when I became President because the economy was flat on its back.”- Biden
I’m impressed with the moderators in the sense that they realize it’s not about them. My big issue though: they are not holding him to task to ANSWER the question. For instance: he answers NOTHING on climate, but talks about how law enforcement completely supports him, and how he has the best numbers ever in the black community, because “…(Biden’s) done a horrible job for black people…it’s a disaster.”
“During my four years, we had the best environmental numbers ever. Ever.” - Trump
“I’ve got the biggest heart on the stage, I guarantee you. I want to take care of people.” - Trump
Biden needs to stop making small bullet points that get lost and remember he’s not writing an academic paper in the form of a speech. Unfortunately, he does need to take a couple pages from Trump:
“Everything he says is a lie. Everything. Everything. Lies and disinformation.” -Trump, revealing himself but plastering his own traits onto his opponent. Nobody does this better than him, especially with a straight face. No one. To be the biggest proponent of falsehoods this country has known, in terms of leadership, and then to, unblinking and straight faced, call your opponent a baldfaced liar…that takes a special kind of character and disconnect with basic reality.
A) Get angry. Biden should. Trump tosses around lies and false information like a pied piper to kids and does so with such brazenness and speed that it’s difficult to slow down and call him out on everything. The focus needs to be on Trump’s character: he cannot be trusted. What he says cannot be trusted. He does not answer the questions a good amount of the time. Leading to…
B) Make him answer the questions. Go on the offensive. And make it about his character. No matter what a candidate’s platform is, you have to be able to have some degree of confidence in their integrity and honesty and ability to tell the truth. Make it about his character.
Trump starts to go into his special brand of off the rails where he doesn’t answer any questions; he makes it all about how he’s the best and Biden is the worst, and does not answer the question. In this case, the question was about child care credits.
In the end, I think it was too little, too late, for those deeply concerned about what a second term means for a man who exists in a world constantly framed by his own ego and vanity. I hope it was not a microcosm of what’s to come in the coming months and leading to the election.
This is the big difference between me and many - most? - of those supporting Trump. If Trump wins, he wins. I accept that, though it would again be with great sadness and concern. If Biden wins, will Trump supporters do the same; will they do what many did not last time? Or, like tonight, will the excuses, rationales, and refusals to answer the questions being asked take precedence over truth and reality?
