President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden squared off Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee, in the season’s final debate before the November 3 election. Operating under a rule in which a participant’s microphone was silenced while his opponent was being afforded two minutes for an answer, it was a more controlled affair than their September 29 meeting. Yet it shared with that event some moderator bias, and the night was perhaps more notable, to the discerning, for what “could not” be said than for what actually was.
Moderator Kristen Welker of NBC chose the topics, which were “Fighting Covid-19,” “American Families,” “Race in America,” “Climate Change,” “National Security,” and “Leadership.” Of course, this tragically standard procedure raises a question: Why is one partisan woman in a country of 331 million people choosing the topics in one of the year’s most important political events, one that will help determine our next president?
It would be fairer — and yield a better debate — if there were two moderators, one selected by each side and if each camp chose half the topics and questions.
As for the topics last night, the two candidates sparred over the China virus with the usual talking points. Biden claimed that Trump was responsible for the supposed 220,000 COVID deaths, while the president correctly pointed out that Biden was against shutting down travel from China before he was for it. In fact, Biden had essentially accused Trump of racism for instituting the travel ban.
On shutting down America, however — a historic blunder Democrats continue perpetuating — a stark contrast between the two men was apparent. One notable exchange in which Trump “scored” well is below.
Biden also again advocated a national mask mandate even though evidence shows that masks may be ineffective at preventing China-virus contraction.
Unsaid by either side: With strong evidence that the coronavirus mortality numbers are fudged, our actual death toll is likely far less than 220,000. That number, from the CDC, includes not just those who died from COVID-19 alone, but those who died with COVID-19 and pre-existing conditions (the great majority of the total).
Not surprisingly, Trump hit the former vice president on the Bidengate e-mail scandal, while Biden tried to counter by talking about the president’s taxes.
Unasked explicitly: Is that your son’s laptop, Mr. Biden? Are those his e-mails? No one has gotten the ex-vice president on the record with a precise confirmation or denial. And for the record, the answers to those questions are “yes” and “yes.”
The candidates also locked horns over ObamaCare. Biden claimed that striking the plan down would cost 20 million people their health coverage and said he supported a “public option”; Trump stated that “ObamaCare is no good” and promised that, whatever happens, people with “pre-existing conditions” will be covered under his governance.
Unmentioned: It’s unconstitutional for the federal government to have such healthcare involvement in the first place.
A critical juncture in the debate occurred when discussing “global warming.” In an exchange that likely hurt Biden, he admitted he would “transition away from the oil industry” (video below).
Biden also denied that he’d ever advocated a fracking ban and boldly challenged the president to prove otherwise. In reality, however, he did express support for such a ban during the second Democratic primary debate on July 31, 2019. The Trump team was quick to illustrate this and more, too, expeditiously producing the following video.
Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris — who’ll end up president if the ailing septuagenarian wins the election — has been even more explicit about her intent to ban fracking.
As for moderator Welker’s bias, it was “baked in” and became obvious when the discussion turned to race. While she claimed that black Americans have to fear being targeted by police simply because of their skin color, the statistics don’t bear this out.
Consider police shootings: Not only are many more whites than blacks shot every year by law enforcement, but cops are actually more likely to shoot white than black suspects relative to the races’ different homicide rates and the rates at which they feloniously shoot police.
Moreover, police shootings of black suspects have declined 75 percent during the last several decades.
Unfortunately, though, both candidates played the race card. Biden again leveled at the president the stale racism accusation, something wholly without foundation. Trump accused Biden of targeting blacks with mass imprisonment via the 1994 crime bill, which then-senator Biden helped write, even though it doesn’t explicitly single out any race.
Unsaid: The bill was largely unconstitutional. As for imprisoning more lawbreakers, this is one reason crime dropped markedly in the 1990s and beyond.
Welker’s bias again showed when she cited an alleged white-supremacist tweet Trump had sent — even though he has repeatedly condemned white supremacy — yet didn’t ask Biden why he has never repudiated Antifa or Black Lives Matter (the latter of which she apparently supports). In fact, that the domain Antifa.com still redirects to the Biden/Harris campaign webpage is mentioned by no one (except yours truly).
Welker’s bias (and ignorance) was further evident when she mentioned that 500 illegal-alien children are apart from their parents at the border, implying that the Trump administration is uncompassionate. But as the president countered, it’s well known that criminal aliens will sometimes cross the border with children not their own so they can pose as families and get preferential treatment. Separating these minors from such miscreants is necessary for the youths’ safety.
Moderator Welker was wrong as well when she touched on the Obama/Biden administration’s supposed “record” deportations. Little known, even among journalists, lamentably, is that the numbers were only higher because the administration had changed the definition of “deported”: For the first time ever, illegals turned away at the border were included in deportation figures.
As for who’ll be deported from politics come November, which candidate, if either, turned away (or attracted) more voters?
First, realize that a majority of people watching the debate — undecided voters in particular — don’t know vis-à-vis most claims who’s telling the truth. Rather, they’re mainly reached emotionally, by oratory and personality.
Trump won on this score. He seemed presidential enough yet more down-to-earth, spoke with greater fluency and appeared more confident and in command. Biden looked and seemed old, and his speech was a bit disjointed and marred with some stammering, though he generally recovered well and avoided the cognitive-decline moments that have in the recent past raised eyebrows.
Moreover, on the most easily understood substance — Biden’s “transition away from the oil industry” line — the ex-vice president clearly lost. His in-your-face challenge to prove his fracking opposition, which has blown up in his face, can’t help him, either.
Mostly, though, I believe the point of the night was Trump’s. Emphasizing Biden’s establishment status, his 47 years in government and eight years as vice president, Trump accused him of accomplishing little and said that it’s “all talk, no action with these politicians.”
He then delivered the line of the night. “I ran because of you,” said Trump. “I ran because of Barack Obama, because you did a poor job. If I thought you did a good job, I would’ve never run.”
“I’m lookin’ at you now — you’re a politician,” Trump said to Biden moments later. “I ran because of you” (video below).
The president’s conviction shined through because the above is true. He was saying that he never needed politics; politics needed him. And in delivering these lines, Trump reminded people why they elected him the first time: He’s not part of the establishment.
This also, his implication may be, is why they should elect him a second time.
