[ad_1]
Top Republicans criticize Trump after savage TV debate
| Reading time: 4 minutes
“Behavioral President” versus challenger who “didn’t make a super figure”
The first television debate between Trump and Biden was fiery. Clemens Wergin, WELT’s chief foreign policy correspondent, speaks in an interview about the verbal exchange of blows.
There is anger in his own party that the president of the United States did not distance himself from white racism and his mobster behavior. Several senators keep their distance. Concern about choice is growing. But Trump sees himself as a winner.
rehe rowdy and aggressive behavior by Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn the ideology of “white supremacy” have sparked resentment within the Republican Party. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other senators criticized Trump’s remarks in the televised presidential election debate.
The only black Republican senator, Tim Scott, issued a written statement calling for the ideology of “white supremacy” to be denounced at all times. “I think he put it wrong, I think he should correct that,” Scott wrote, referring to Trump. If the president does not correct him, he probably was not wrong. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., had previously said his father made a mistake.
During the debate with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden, Trump had refused to condemn right-wing groups. “Who should I judge?” Trump asked the moderator on Tuesday. He also sent a two-sided message to the right-wing radical “Proud Boys.” The American head of state asked them in front of 30 million spectators: “Stop and be ready.”
Majority Leader McConnell said Wednesday that he agreed with what his parliamentary group colleague Scott had said. “I’d like to join Tim Scott’s comments on the issue of white supremacy,” McConnell said. It is unacceptable not to condemn white racists.
Republican Senator John Thune urged Trump to “clarify the matter.” Trump must “unequivocally condemn the ideology of white supremacy,” said Republican Senator Bill Cassidy.
Sen. Susan Collins, who is campaigning as a Republican in Maine, made a similar statement. He also criticized the course of the chaotic debate, in which Trump in particular had repeatedly interrupted his challenger Biden, and sometimes vice versa. It was “the least instructive of all the presidential debates” I have ever seen, Collins said in the “New York Times.” “It was terrible,” the Washington Post told Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
When asked if Trump made a mistake by failing to condemn the far-right “Proud Boys” and white racism, Senator Collins said: “Definitely.”
Confusing signs from Trump
Republicans must fear the polls falling after Trump’s rabid behavior. Biden had already entered the debate with an advantage over Trump. On average, in current national polls, the challenger is six percentage points ahead of the incumbent five weeks before the election. Biden is also in the lead in several key states. Republicans also have to fear losing individual senators. In the worst case scenario for them, they lose the majority in the Senate.
Trump’s strategy during the debate of letting Biden go crazy through constant provocation and interruptions had failed.
Trump himself sent mixed signals again after his appearance on Tuesday. For one thing, he rowed again. With a view to his call on the “Proud Boys” to “be ready,” he said Wednesday: “You have to stand down and let the police do their job.” Then Trump claimed he was unaware of the violent group that was mentioned by name the night before: “I don’t know who the ‘Proud Boys’ are.”
As expected, the president declared himself the winner of the television duel. “We easily won the debate last night by any criteria,” he said. Biden was “very weak,” Trump said: “He seemed weak, he was complaining.” He saw “about six” polls that saw him as the winner of the debate, Trump said, without naming sources. Polls by CNN and CBS saw Biden as the winner.
Biden described Trump’s appearance as an “embarrassment to the country.” The organizers announced changes in the concept of television duels. The other two debates between Trump and Biden in mid-October would need “additional structure” to allow for a more regulated discussion. The moderator of the debate, Chris Wallace, was disappointed with the way things went. With a more orderly process, it could have been “a much more useful night,” he told the New York Times.
