Arguably, the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday night was old television – traditionally bad television, a smoking crater of absurdity that played like the truth in television life.
“It’s a fiery mess in the chimney of a dumpster within an exercise disaster,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said after it ended. “It’s the worst debate I’ve ever seen. Not even a debate. It’s a disgrace, and it’s more common because of President Trump. “
Liberal media bias? Not if I’d been looking.
Trump continually, I mean almost constantly, interrupted Biden and Fox News moderator Chris Wallace, to the point that it looked like Trump didn’t interrupt him.
“You wonder who won, who lost; we’re going to have a lot of research in the next few minutes,” Bret Baier said on Fox News. “But you wonder if America would possibly have lost from the back of downtown. “of the disorders and if they were given the greatest of some of those swings. “
No one who has noticed the debate has asked. Everyone who has noticed knows that they have not addressed the problems. It’s a slap fight in the schooly yard with a thug who made his way through the playground. lost and lost in a big way.
Dana Bash, on CNN, put it more succinctly.
“It’s a show,” he said. (She’s on the wire, ”Bash pointed out. She can tell. )
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In the midst of this, Wallace, a strong interviewer who did not allow Trump to remain in misleading lies and statements in a past interview.
On Tuesday night, Trump knocked him down.
“Why practice what your crusade has accepted as a general rule, okay, sir?” asked Wallace to Trump at the end of the debate, while the president interrupted him again.
“It never helps to keep your word, ” said Biden.
“It’s a rhetorical question, ” said Wallace.
It’s also ridiculous even to have to ask. Clearly, Trump’s strategy for talking, communicating, and communicating earned Wallace or Biden a choice, which led Biden to make his mark and, in that sense, worked.
“Could you keep your mouth shut, man? Biden, despite everything said in a moment, delivered what will surely be the highest quoted line of the night. “
It shouldn’t be like that. On the front lines, Wallace asked Trump if he would tell white supremacy and the militias to resign, anything trump has been criticized for, but he didn’t either on Tuesday.
Instead, he said, “Proud boys, step back and stay there. But I’ll tell you what, you have to do anything for Antifa and the left because it’s not a right-wing problem. It’s a left-wing problem. “
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For all that is looming in a general debate, it would be news of press prevention, just impressive things. Tuesday night, another record in the chaotic fire. Surprisingly, Wallace didn’t bother to ask a follow-up question.
That’s the debate. That’s where we are and no one, not even a renowned journalist like Wallace who has a proven track record of fairness, turns out to be able to do something.
Presidential debates don’t have to be fair television, it doesn’t have to be an engaging television, they’re informative television and they weren’t, it was an unnecessary workout in which we had learned virtually nothing about the applicants we didn’t already know. This raises the question of whether there will be a moment and a third debate.
It’s simple: unless the moderator has the ability to cut off the candidates’ microphones.
Because that’s the only way to avoid filming Trump’s interruptions.
Wallace insisted that it was not his job to clarify the facts of the debate; maybe not, but your task is to maintain a semblance of control. do apart from avoiding discussions altogether?
A replay of Tuesday night’s debacle would simply be bad television, it would be irresponsible television.
“You know, if you need to replace the seats, we can do it,” Wallace told Trump in the interruption.
Why not? He would have been the same.
At one point, one of my daughters came in and started looking. She’ll vote for the first time this year, what was she going to think?As far as she knows, it’s okay.
As far as I know, that’s what the general has become, and it would be the biggest shame of all this.
Bill Goodykoontz is a media critic for The Arizona Republic, where this column was originally published. Follow him on Twitter: @goodyk.
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