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AMerica is often described as a “split screen nation,” bitterly divided between two political tribes living in echo chambers. But Thursday night at 8pm it was a bit too much on the nose.
The NBC network organized an event at the town hall with Donald Trump. ABC hosted a simultaneous municipal event with its Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. CBS, meanwhile, hosted the reality show Big Brother with Julie Chen Moonves.
It was a fitting battle for a ratings-obsessed president of the United States who became a reality star on The Apprentice. Although for some, the two men speaking at the same time on two different channels was at least preferable than them speaking at the same time in the notoriously spiteful first presidential debate.
For political geeks, it required a nimble finger on the remote, like toggling between two must-see sports games. Anyone who bothered discovered, not entirely unexpected, that the US presidential candidates are not simply from different parties, but apparently from different planets as well.
Trump’s town hall on NBC had a more polished introduction with more bells and whistles. At the outdoor event in Florida, there was a giant white star in a red circle on the floor, reminiscent of Captain America. Biden, in Philadelphia, got off to a more low-key start in an auditorium dominated by blue and the words of the constitution.
The president sat awkwardly on a stool, sweating under the studio lights, rambling feverishly like “someone’s crazy uncle,” as host Savannah Guthrie put it. Biden, on the other hand, looked relaxed in a white chair like a grandfather with a pipe, slippers and a twinkle in his eyes.
Guthrie performed better than the moderators of the first presidential debate or the vice-presidential debate last week. She pressured Trump on whether he had taken a Covid-19 test on the day of the first debate. Stumbled upon a variety of responses: possibly, probably and I don’t know.
Guthrie also challenged Trump over his longstanding refusal to wear a mask and the high death rate in the United States. The president was defensive: “Look what is happening in Europe, massive peaks. They have done a very good job, but now if you look at the UK today, if you look at Spain, France and Italy, there are tremendous peaks. “
What was happening at Bidenworld on ABC? He was reminding host George Stephanopoulos that Trump had advocated for “crazy things” like injecting bleach into his body.
Going back to NBC, Trump was saying about the virus: “It should never have happened because of China. It happened for China. And you have to understand it and understand it. But it shouldn’t have happened. “
At 8.15pm, the president was asked about white supremacy. He got nervous.
“I denounced white supremacy for years but you always do. You always start with a question. You didn’t ask Joe Biden if he denounces Antifa or not. “
Guthrie went on. “Let me ask you about QAnon. It is this theory that the Democrats are a circle of satanic pedophiles, and that you are the savior of that. Now can you say once and for all that that is not entirely true and that … “
But Trump chimed in: “I don’t know anything about QAnon … I know they are very much against pedophilia. They fight very hard. But I don’t know anything about it. “
And then he returned to Antifa. But Guthrie wouldn’t let it pass. “Republican Senator Ben Sasse said, quote, QAnon is insane and royal leaders call conspiracy theories conspiracy theories.”
Let’s go back to ABC again. Biden said: “A president’s words matter. It doesn’t matter if they are good, bad or indifferent, they matter. When a president doesn’t wear a mask, or makes fun of people like me when I wore a mask for a long time, people say it shouldn’t be that important. “
Meanwhile, Guthrie demanded to know why Trump retweeted a conspiracy theory that suggested Osama bin Laden was not, after all, assassinated by Navy Seals in 2011. Trump said: “That was a retweet, I’ll post it. People can decide for themselves. “
Guthrie: “I don’t understand that. You are the president. You’re not like someone’s crazy uncle who can just retweet whatever. “
The presenter also questioned Trump on another sore point: his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the upcoming elections. As usual, he ignored their unfounded complaints about voting by mail: “When I see thousands of ballots thrown in a trash can, and it turns out they have my name on it, I’m not happy about it.”
At the same time, Biden was talking about America’s multiple crises that “happen all at once” and his plan to invest heavily in infrastructure. It was heartwarming and heartwarming old politics, but also, one had to grudgingly admit, less gripping than the horror show on NBC.
Cedric Humphrey, an African American student, challenged Biden for his earlier comment that “you’re not black” if you vote for Trump. The Democrat discussed education and criminal justice policy. The student was not entirely satisfied. Biden added: “There is so much more. If you stay afterwards, I’ll tell you more. “
Biden outlined a plan to bring all parties to the table to deal with racial injustice. “Most cops don’t like bad cops … You can forbid strangling, but beyond that, you have to teach them how to ease the circumstances. So instead of someone coming up to you and the first thing you do is shoot to kill, you shoot them in the leg. “
Shooting in the leg was an odd proposition, but unlikely to receive much scrutiny compared to a commander-in-chief who downplays viruses and is not adjacent to QA. Not all echo chambers are the same; not all split screens are symmetrical.
As the clock approached 9pm, Biden again sidestepped a question about the expansion of the supreme court, while a voter gushed to Trump: “You are so handsome when you smile.” The president seemed really satisfied. If you scored higher than Biden, you can now effectively declare yourself re-elected. But if CBS’s Big Brother won, of course he was rigged.
