Hamden residents and Quinnipiac University students offered authentic reactions to Tuesday’s volatile debate that featured President Donald J. Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Tuesday’s highly anticipated debate will go down in history. Those who tuned in found the debate difficult to get through. Throughout the debate there were a total of 93 interruptions, according to the Washington Post. Trump was responsible for 71 of them, while Biden recorded 22 of his own — including moments in which he called the president a “clown” and a “liar.” Moderator Chris Wallace found little success while trying to lead the discussion.
The disregard for the normal give-and-take cycle prompted the Commission on Presidential Debates to consider new rules. There was an obvious lack of respect on stage, and the Commission of Presidential Debates said, “last night’s debate made it clear that additional structure should be added to the format of remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues,” the commission stated in a debate review by USA Today.
Biden and Trump discussed topics such as climate change, social justice, COVID-19 and the economy. Both men tended to circle around the question rather than provide a clear and concise answer. There were a lot of instances where Wallace’s questions weren’t answered head on. Trump received a lot of blowback for his controversial response when asked to condemn white supremacists.
“I think the issues are on the left wing,” Trump said while pointing fingers at Antifa for being white supremacists and contributing more to the issue than the right wing.
He then told the Proud Boys — a far-right, neo-fascist, male-only organization — to “stand up and standby,” which was campaign material for Biden this morning.
Hamden residents and Quinnipiac students had varying reactions, but for the most part remained on the same page.
“Not specifically saying that he condemns white supremacy is ridiculous,” said sophomore occupational therapy major Alyssa Baker. “It proved to a lot of Americans like me that he is racist and a white supremacist based on that statement, or lack of statement, for that matter.”
Multiple Quinnipiac students had a lot more disdain with how Trump conducted himself, and each individual that was interviewed said Biden was better and displayed more respect.
“Trump doesn’t know how to stay quiet,” said Kimbery Janeczko, sophomore nursing major. “As a president and a respectful human being you should let your opponent speak so you can listen to their side and counter them, but without letting Joe speak he made it look worse for himself.”
Some people could not even bear trying to finish the debate because it was so insufferable.
“I couldn’t even finish it,” said Menette Gray, a Hamden resident. “It is ridiculous how our president is acting. How he talks, how he sounds, his views, it didn’t start right at all. I thought the instigator was the president, and I thought Biden held his ground for the most part, but fell in the trap a little bit when he told him ‘shut up’, that he is a ‘clown’, and the ‘worst president ever.’”
Some are so used to the debate being handled with professionalism and decency that they were shocked and confused by its chaotic nature.
“I thought it was unusual,” said Melinda Douglass, a Hamden resident. “Two very intelligent men who are running for president of the United States would stoop to such lows against each other. Our president was more of the instigator, and I think Biden came off as more of a person I would look at as a leader.”
Some, like Hamden local Jennifer Barns, saw this coming and weren’t surprised.
“I didn’t really think it was anything new that we hadn’t seen before,” Barns said. “Trump is not a politician and more of a businessman, so I think his missteps are obvious to see on nights like last night.”
There have been various suggestions regarding how to improve future debates, including ideas like shutting off microphones or providing multiple moderators. The next debate is set to be in Miami, Florida on Oct. 15.