Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden lose their temper during the first televised debate held in Cleveland (Ohio) on Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
Combative but calm, Joe Biden took the reins on Thursday of this first muscular debate - a succession of invectives and insults as much as arguments and assertions - in the face of a tense Donald Trump who tried to monopolize the speech of 'throughout the show. A real mess that Chris Wallace tried, not without difficulty, to order
After a short introduction from Chris Wallace, Fox News reporter and debate host, who recalled the rules of good dress, the two candidates entered the arena.
Before the analysis of the arguments, it is indeed the verbal and physical behavior of the two men which were to be scrutinized this Tuesday evening, in the context of extreme acrimony which agitates the two camps. Basically, six major themes were to be addressed during this first major debate, which lasted 90 minutes: the Covid-19 epidemic, the Supreme Court, the economy, racial issues and urban violence, the reports of two candidates or even “the integrity of the ballot”.
Donald Trump saw this as an opportunity to reverse the trend and catch up with the gap that has distanced him from his Democratic opponent in the polls since the start of the campaign. More than 100 million viewers were expected in front of their posts.
■ The Supreme Court
The first question relates to the appointment of the new Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, a few days ago. “she will be exceptional and as strong as her predecessors,” promised Donald Trump, the first to speak.
"We think it is not appropriate" to appoint such a person at such a short election deadline, replied Joe Biden, "we should wait to see the result of this election", pleaded the Democratic candidate. "We won the election" of 2016 "and we have the right to do so," resumed the outgoing president.
The exchange quickly grows and drifts on health, Obamacare and Covid-19. The Republican billionaire tries to accuse Joe Biden, from the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, of wanting a "socialist" health system defended by the radical left. The Democratic candidate denounced him the desire of the tenant of the White House to install a conservative judge on the Supreme Court just before the ballot on November 3. “What is at stake here is that the president has made it clear that he wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act,” the medicare law better known as Obamacare.
The former vice-president then defends the flagship law of Barack Obama, ensuring that 20 million people benefit from it and that the system must be preserved. “It's a disaster,” retorts Donald Trump, who denounces the cost of the measure.
After two minutes of exchanges, the discussion blurs and becomes cacophonous. "First of all, it is not with you (addressing Wallace, who does not manage to ask his question) that I am debating but with him (Biden), but I am not surprised" , tackle Donald Trump, who does not let his opponent or the host speak freely, despite the regular reminders of Chris Wallace. Exasperated, Joe Biden finds it hard to resist, also coming close to the slippage when he asks Donald Trump to "shut up" and calls him a "liar". "It's hard to place one with that clown! Uh, sorry with that person, ”recalls the 77-year-old candidate.
■ The Covid-19
Chris Wallace addresses the second theme by recalling the number of cases in the United States: 7 million infections.
Joe Biden manages to unfold his response over two minutes and accuses the tenant of the White House of being responsible for the failure of the fight against the coronavirus. “The president has no program, he had known since February that it was a fatal disease. In response, Donald Trump accuses China and defends its record. “Pr. Fauci (principal American expert in infectious diseases, editor's note) said that I had saved hundreds of thousands of lives. (...) Most governors said that I had done a phenomenal job, "said Trump, lamenting being criticized by a press he considers biased. "No matter what I do, I get bad press, it's fake news, that's all." “You could never have done what we did, Joe, you don't have the shoulders for this. "
"I know what to do" while "the president has no plan," retorts his rival, who points to all the "lies" of Donald Trump on the Covid-19. "You are not intelligent Joe and you have accomplished nothing in 47 years" of political career, replied Donald Trump who never ceases to question the physical and mental health of his rival. The Republicans have no program, insists Joe Biden, who accuses the president of spending too much time on golf. “You probably play it more than I do, Joe. "
The discussion continues on the wearing of masks, respect for barrier gestures and the electoral strategy of both camps: large gatherings on the Republican side, small meetings on the Democratic side. “It's because nobody wants to go and listen to him,” Trump says. The debate is only a succession of invective.
■ The economy
Donald Trump "managed to be the president who created the fewest jobs" during his mandate, asserts Joe Biden.
And the Democrat puts a layer on the mismanagement of the health crisis: "He wants to reopen the economy while we see a resurgence of the epidemic". “One in six SMEs has disappeared, they have done nothing to help them,” he says. "The citizens want to return to normal, they want their schools to be open", replies the president.
Chris Wallace asks Donald Trump to say how much taxes Donald Trump paid in 2016 and 2017, rebounding on the controversy launched this weekend by the revelations of the New York Times: "millions of dollars", assures Donald Trump: " I paid 38 million one year, 27 million another year. Go to the Electoral Council, there is a 700 page report on everything I have done. "
■ Urban violence
Asked about violence on the sidelines of demonstrations against racial discrimination and police brutality, especially in Portland, Oregon - a city run by Democrats - Joe Biden replied: “I was very clear. Violence must be punished. "
"Under the Obama-Biden administration," "it was more violent than what we see now," defends Trump. "Someone has to do something about
of the antifas and of the left ”, adds the president-candidate who has made the maintenance of order a central theme of his campaign.
"Trump is trying to promote violence, he is adding fuel to the fire," accuses Joe Biden. “All the problems I see are coming from the left, not the right,” according to Donald Trump.
“Are you for law and order? "Asks the American president in a particularly tense exchange, where he accuses his rival of being hostage to his supporters" within the radical left ". "Law and order with justice," replies his Democratic opponent, who sometimes stumbles on words but avoiding the blunders that some in his camp feared.
■ Balance sheets
"No administration has accomplished what I have accomplished in three and a half years", despite "the hoax of impeachment", argues Donald Trump, who boasts "record figures on employment".
“We revived the economy when I was vice-president”, “we solved the recession”; "We had 15% less violence," says the Democrat for his part.
A lively exchange returns again on Hunter, the son of Joe Biden, whom Donald Trump accuses of having received "millions of dollars".
■ The election
The debate continues on the voting methods for the November election and in particular on the burning issue of postal voting.
"We must let people go and see on the Internet how we can vote", "millions of people will vote by post because of Covid-19", "he tries to exclude people from the vote", insists Joe Biden. On several occasions, he spoke in front of the camera, directly to the viewers, and calmly: "Go vote", he hammered.
"I think we're going to win because people are very happy with the job I've done," but the presidential results might not be known "for months," says Trump, who has kept his forehead wrinkled and a tight jaw. "There will be frauds like we have never seen before", predicts the American president, who has been asserting for weeks, without evidence, that the postal vote could distort the result.
Joe Biden undertakes to recognize the result of the vote. Donald Trump dodges. The evening, chaotic from the first to the last minute, comes to an end.
Source: rfi