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The first presidential debate took place overnight, and whether you missed it or want a recap, we’ve rounded up the defining moments and tried to assess who won.
Here are the seven moments that stood out:
1. Interruptions: “Do you want to shut up, man?”
The first exchanges, and the intermediate and late ones, were highlighted by the number of interruptions, mainly from Donald Trump.
At one point, the moderator, Fox News host Chris Wallace, seemed to have had enough, telling the president that his campaign team had accepted the rule that both candidates should have two uninterrupted minutes during each section, and urging him to to fulfill it.
By the end of the first of six sections, Joe Biden already looked tired. “Why don’t you shut up, man?” he groaned.
2. The insults also started early
“Everything he’s saying here is just a lie, everyone knows he’s a liar,” Biden said during an exchange on health care. He also called Trump “the worst president this country has ever had.”
Not to be left behind, Trump also did a lot of digging, shooting at his adversary: ”There is nothing smart about you, Joe. 47 years old, you haven’t done anything.”
Spoiler alert: more insults to come later.
3. It may take months before the result is known
Trump said: “I hope they are fair elections. But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being tampered with, I cannot accept it. It means there is a fraudulent election.”
The president also said he would be prepared to go to the Supreme Court, which could lean sharply to the right if his pick, Amy Coney Barrett, is approved by the Senate.
Biden was more measured: “No one has ever established that there is vote-by-mail ballot fraud. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
“The fact is, I’ll accept it and so will he. You know why? Because once the winner is declared after all the votes have been counted, it will be the end.”
US correspondent Cordelia Lynch expressed her opinion: “The harsh truth is that we may not know the winner of this election for days or weeks after Election Night.”
“Trump’s suggestion that we may not know the outcome for months is more of a threat than speculation. It is going to be an ugly road to inauguration.”
4. Trump is asked to condemn white supremacist groups, but instead focuses on the left. This had a lot of traction on social media
“He doesn’t want to calm things down,” Biden said, adding that the president wanted to “put gasoline on the fire.”
When asked to condemn militia groups and white supremacists, Trump said: “I’m sure I’m willing to do that, but pretty much everything I see is left-wing.
“I am willing to do anything. I want to see peace.”
Pressed further, Trump said, “What do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name.”
Finally, he said, “Proud guys – Stand back, wait, but I’ll tell you something, someone has to do something with Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem … This is a left wing problem.” . “
Proud Boys, a neo-Nazi organization, appeared to use Trump’s “back off, wait” call in a new logo posted on Telegram shortly after the debate.
5. Inevitably, Trump’s taxes go up
When asked if it was true that he paid only $ 750 in income taxes in 2016, as reported by The New York Times, Trump said, “I paid millions of dollars in taxes, in income taxes.”
“Show us your tax returns,” interjected Mr. Biden.
Lynch felt a sense of deja vu: “Trump’s response on his tax returns is exactly the same as four years ago during the debate with Hillary Clinton,” he wrote.
Then: ‘As soon as the audit is done, it will be published.’
“Tonight: ‘You’ll see it as soon as it’s finished.'”
6. Good news: The United States is weeks away from receiving a coronavirus vaccine, according to the president.
“The president doesn’t have a plan, he hasn’t presented anything,” Biden said of his opponent, noting that 200,000 Americans had died during the pandemic.
Mr trump He said millions would have died if Biden were in charge, and claimed his early action to ban travel from China saved thousands of lives.
The president said the United States was “weeks away” from a vaccine and that his administration had done a “great job.”
7. Insults: part two
The president mentioned Biden’s son Hunter, claiming that the Moscow mayor’s wife gave him millions of dollars and raising questions about his ties to Ukraine.
Trump also mentioned Hunter’s drug problems.
“We can talk about his family all night,” Mr. Biden replied, having stated that “it is difficult to talk to this clown, sorry, this person.”
The couple later clashed over Biden’s now-deceased son Beau and his military service.
So who won?
An instant poll by CBS News found that 48% thought Biden won and 41% Trump.
Many had a different view of the real loser: the American people.
“I’m afraid this feels like the worst presidential debate ever. Substance starved, slander party on the playground,” Lynch wrote.
“It was arguably the most anticipated in 30 years. It is unlikely to be the most important. It is certainly a low point.”
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