"Dirtiest in history": the first pre-election televised debate took place in the USA
As you know, the US presidential elections will be held on November 3. And on the eve of the first pre-election televised debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, which resulted in a fierce skirmish between the candidates. Politicians who did not shake hands at the beginning of the meeting due to the coronavirus pandemic lashed out at each other with accusations.
In particular, Biden called Trump "the worst president in US history", "clown", "liar", "Putin's puppy" and accused him of inciting racist sentiments. Trump, in turn, constantly interrupted Biden, questioned his mental abilities and called the work of Biden's son in Ukraine a manifestation of corruption, writes the DW website.
A particularly fierce exchange of blows followed in the conversation about the coronavirus pandemic. Biden accused Trump of underestimating the virus for months, leading to a large number of victims. Trump objected that if President Biden were President, the death toll would be in the millions and the country's economy would be destroyed.
At the same time, Trump again evaded a direct answer to the question of whether he will recognize the election results if he loses. He previously did so on September 23rd. "Well, let's see what happens. You know that I was very much dissatisfied with the vote, and this is a complete disaster," Trump said then, commenting on the practice of voting by mail, which he sees as a tool for falsification. Biden said he was going to accept any voting results.
Journalists predictably disliked Trump's behavior, reports The Bell It made the debate "dirty and unworthy," the CNN host noted. Trump constantly interrupted Biden's answers with his remarks, entered into polemics with the presenter (a journalist of the pro-Trump Fox News). "The debate has clearly shown the degree of contempt that these two people, vying for the most powerful office in the world, harbor for each other", - Bloomberg writes. The NYT called the debate "ugly hand-to-hand combat," in which the candidates "expressed caustic contempt for each other on a level not seen in American politics". Journalist Edward Luce told the Financial Times that after watching the debate, "we all need to take a shower".
The hottest topic of debate was Trump's weak point - the fight against COVID-19. Trump and Biden have accused each other of having no real plans to fight the coronavirus. Biden blamed Trump for destroying the health insurance system created by Barack Obama (under which Biden himself was vice president), thereby depriving millions of Americans of affordable medical care. Trump also had to respond to allegations of tax evasion, as previously reported by The New York Times. The president said he was paying "millions in taxes" and promised to submit a declaration soon.
Both candidates were forced to fend off accusations about Russia. Biden called Trump Putin's puppy and accused Trump of "not even saying anything" to Putin after news that Russia had appointed a bounty for the murder of American soldiers in Afghanistan. In response, Trump asked him if it was true that Biden's son had received $ 3.5 million from the wife of former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Yelena Baturina.
The further dynamics of the ruble will largely depend on who wins the November 3 elections, analysts are sure.
Network analyst Igor Eisenberg also was very unhappy with the way passed the first debate of candidates:
One could say that another American tradition, and in fact, another well-established traditional institution of the democratic process, has been turned into a laughing stock by the incumbent president.
But in fact it is not funny, but sad and shameful when this is how a country looks like, which four years ago was considered to be the leader of the free world.
Notable:
- Trump refused to commit to not declaring himself the winner of the election before the end of the vote count;
- stated that he would demand not to take into account ballots received by mail after November 3,
- announced that the Democrats have printed 80 million ballots and are sending two ballots to each of their supporters;
- stated that he expects from the Supreme Court "a decision on ballots";
- refused to commit to calling on his supporters for peace and quiet after the elections, instead urging the far-right group Proud boys to be on the alert;
- refused in response to the three times repeated offer of the moderator to condemn white nationalists and supporters of the "white power";
- in response to a moderator's question, than Trump, claiming to have built "the greatest economy in the world", can explain that in the last three years of the Obama-Biden administration, 1.5 million more jobs have been created than in the first three years of the Trump administration -Pence, Trump says Biden is to blame for the slowest economic recovery in history since the recession;
- in response to the moderator's repeated question twice, he refused to confirm that in 2016 and 2017 he paid income tax in the amount of $ 750.
Several times, when Trump apparently took a breath to then burst into the next monologue, Biden very successfully, looking at the camera, and not at a rival or a moderator, spoke directly to the Americans. The idea behind these addresses was the same simple idea that presidential candidate Ronald Reagan had in a debate with then-President Carter. Are you living better today than you were 4 years ago? Is your life safer? How do you see your own future and the future of your children? Biden urged citizens to vote - by mail, ahead of schedule at the polling station, on election day at the polling station, to vote and decide the fate of the country, which is now in their hands.
The almost unanimous opinion of all commentators after the debate is that it was the worst debate in the history of a presidential election. There was practically no debate. Trump just ripped them off. It is also unanimous that Trump, by his behavior and what he said, was unlikely to win the votes of any number of hesitant voters to his side.
Probably, his supporters are delighted with the brutal behavior of their idol. But his supporters, although there are many, tens of millions, are in the minority, and it is impossible to win elections only by their votes..."