Xinhua News Agency, Washington, September 30 th On the evening of September 29 th, US Eastern Time, US President Trump, who was seeking re-election, held the first TV debate with Democratic presidential candidate Biden, and had a fierce confrontation on the six major issues previously determined for one and a half hours.
Under the "eyes of the public", the two sides frequently rob words, label, personal attacks and other behaviors. American media and netizens thought that the scene was chaotic and the performance was disappointing. Others commented that no matter who won the first debate, the United States lost anyway.
On September 29, a video shot in Arlington, Virginia, USA showed that US President Trump (left) and US Democratic presidential candidate Biden participated in the first presidential debate in the 2020 US election. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie photo
"Everyone is talking and no one is listening."
The first debate was hosted by Chris Wallace, the host of Fox News. In about 90 minutes, Trump and Biden debated six topics, namely, the Federal Supreme Court, COVID-19 epidemic, economy, urban race and violence, their political records and election fairness.
According to the original rules, the host started each topic with a question, and Trump and Biden each took two minutes to answer, and then they debated each other. The moderator tried to lead a more in-depth discussion However, judging from the live broadcast, the two frequently interrupted each other, and there were many personal attacks. Wallace intervened many times to keep order.
On September 29, a video shot in Arlington, Virginia, USA showed that US President Trump (left) and US Democratic presidential candidate Biden participated in the first presidential debate in the 2020 US election. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie photo
Judging from the media comments and netizens’ comments, it is a common impression that the scene is chaotic and disappointing.
During the debate, both candidates kept interrupting each other and even attacked each other with insulting words. For example, Biden called Trump "not smart" and a "clown" who once shut Trump up. Trump called Biden "not smart" and even personally attacked Biden’s family. After the debate, some American media found that many of their statements were misleading, lacking evidence or even completely wrong after fact checking.
"This debate is like this country, where everyone is talking and no one is listening … … A mess. " Aksil Aosi, a news website, commented immediately after the debate.
Jack Tapper, the anchor of CNN, said that the debate was like a "car accident scene".
Some American netizens commented that this may be the first time that American TV viewers are looking forward to inserting advertisements in the program.
Ian Bremer, chairman of Eurasia Group, said that this was the "worst presidential debate" he had ever seen, and this debate was "a joke, a farce, an embarrassment and a shame".
Mark hertling, a retired US Lieutenant General, said that the outside world is watching the debate, but I’m afraid it’s as unbelievable as most American audiences.
"I win" and "America loses"
Judging from the past, the debate has limited influence on the election. Affected by the epidemic this year, the election campaign failed to be carried out in the traditional way, and the geometry of the impact of the debate on the election remains to be seen.
However, the two sides clearly understand the gameplay of the election campaign in the new media era, and the end of the live debate is not really the end. After the debate, the two campaign teams have their own strategies and manpower to continue to stir up hot topics, deliver golden sentences and create hot spots for supporters, media, internet and other different groups or platforms, in order to promote the development of public opinion in their own direction.
After the debate, both the Trump team and the Biden team claimed that they were the better performers in emails sent to their supporters.
The Trump team said in the email that this debate will "leave a name in the history of history", while the "fake news" media "will only lie".
The Biden team said in an email that voters, the media and even some Republicans thought Trump had lost the debate.
Although the debate scene is full of sparks, it is hard to say whether it can arouse the enthusiasm of voters.
Ford O’Connell, a Republican policy analyst, believes that both sides have tried to mobilize the enthusiasm of their respective ticket positions in the heated debate, but the effect is doubtful.
It’s hard to say who got the upper hand in the first debate, but many "see through" commentators think that the "loser" is obvious.
NBC White House reporter Peter Alexander tweeted: "America lost tonight."
Andrew Yang, a Democrat who participated in the presidential campaign before, said: "I think Biden has the upper hand, but I always feel that the United States has lost."
Some netizens lamented that this kind of debate only needs one time, and the remaining two rounds need not be done. (Reporter: Liu Yang, Deng Xianlai, Sun Ding, Xu Jianmei; Video: Tan Yixiao, Hu Yousong; Editor: Sun Hao, Wang Fengfeng; Edit: Wang Pei)