Hayden Choate
@ChoateHayden
Tuesday Night was the first of three Presidential debates between the Republican nominee, President Donald Trump, and the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden.
The debate was 90 minutes with no breaks and covered six topics decided by moderator Chris Wallace.
The first topic was regarding the Supreme Court. Trump began by backing his nomination for a new Supreme Court justice. Biden responded by talking about how the election has already begun and the new justice would take away the affordable care act.
The debate then went into open discussion on the subject of healthcare in America. Biden brought up Roe v. Wade, while Trump defended his nomination for the Supreme Court.
Chris Wallace then asked Trump what his plans were for health care and Trump explained how he is cutting drug prices.
The second subject was related to the Coronavirus and where the country is headed moving forward into 2021.
Biden began with stats about the virus including highlighting how 40,000 people are contracting Covid-19 each day. Trump responded by saying millions of people would have died if Joe Biden were President and defended the way he handled the pandemic.
Chris Wallace then asked the President if his scientists are wrong about the vaccine timeline. He then asked Biden if the American people should trust the scientists.
The open discussion then proceeded to what each candidate would do in the future regarding the pandemic, where neither gave a solid plan for the Coronavirus with the election and major holidays approaching.
Wallace then asked Trump about his rallies that have had thousands of people at it without masks. Trump stated that there have been no negative effects at his rallies.
The third topic was the economy and how it is doing better than it expected after the pandemic hit.
Trump began by saying that there has been record business in the economy since it was reopened and talked about how every state should reopen.
Biden responded by talking about how all that has happened is the rich have gotten richer since the economy has opened and mentioned the health-care workers around the country.
The open discussion was then about schools reopening over the past month.
Chris Wallace then asked Trump directly about the New York Times article saying Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. Trump claimed he paid millions in taxes in those years.
The debate then went back and forth about cutting taxes. Trump said he has already cut taxes and the economy has gotten bigger.
The two candidates then argued about how the economy was good or bad when Trump came into office. This included arguing about big corporations leaving and coming to the United States and how it has affected our economy.
A tangent concluded the topic about Joe Biden’s son earning three and a half million dollars from Moscow. Throughout the debate Trump would directly ask Biden questions while Biden spoke directly into the camera to the “American people.”
The next subject was about the race issues in America with the election in a little over a month.
Biden talked about why he got into the Presidential race and then talked about Trump’s response to George Floyd’s murder when he held up a Bible in a picture. Trump responded about a crime bill that he overturned and how Biden has called African-Americans “super predators,” he continued by saying he has the support of law enforcement around the country.
The next question was regarding the grand jury’s decision not to charge the police officers that killed Breonna Taylor. Biden responded by saying the “bad apples” of law enforcement need to be held accountable.
Trump was then asked why he ended racial sensitivity training and he said it was racist. He claimed they were teaching people to hate our country and that our country was a horrible place.
The next subject was about protesting going on around the nation. Biden began by saying that the national guard should not intervene with hundreds of days of protesting. Trump said that he would send in the National Guard.
Chris Wallace tried to get Trump to condemn white supremacists, but instead he refused to condemn them and turned the attention to ANTIFA.
The next topic was why should voters elect you over your opponent? Trump talked about how he has helped the economy and rebuilt the military. Trump said Obama left him over a hundred judges to replace.
Biden responded by saying that he helped the recession when he and Obama were first elected and he had stood up to Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.
Chris Wallace then regrouped by bringing up the topic of climate change and the wildfires in the west. Trump responded by talking about having high air and water quality, and that he will plant a billion trees.
The final segment was about election integrity, and whether or not it will be a fair election in five weeks. Biden responded by saying people need to go to iwillvote.com and stressed the importance of mail-in ballots.
Trump responded by saying that mail-in votes are causing fraud across the country, saying mail-in ballots will screw up the election in November.
The first debate was 90 minutes filled with shouting, arguing, and interruption. The next debate is on October 7 at 9 p.m. between the Vice President nominees Kamala Harris and Mike Pence.
Photo: CNN