The Disrupter-in-Chief

Donald Trump’s Behavior during the Debate Was the Mark of a Desperate Man. But Should Biden Pull Out of Future Debates?

Who would have thought that a presidential debate held during prime time on every major news outlet in the nation would prove to be unsuitable for children?

And yet, that’s what Americans witnessed on Tuesday night during the first of three scheduled debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

It would be wrong to say that the debate descended into chaos without also stating unequivocally that the source of that chaos was the current occupant of the Oval Office. This was not a debate, it was a debacle.

Trump’s numerous disruptions and overt rudeness provided only one example for school-age viewers hoping to learn something about civics and the electoral process. That lesson was in how not to behave, what not to be.

In the days leading up to the debate, pundits claimed that the winner of the debate would be determined not by facts but by perceived dominance. That seemed to be the president’s objective throughout. To show himself off as alpha male. Instead, he came across more like alpha dog.

His conduct demonstrated that he cares nothing for the rule of civility. Which should come as no surprise to anyone who has watched his presidency during the past three and half years. Beneath his lack of civility is a wanton disregard for civic values, civic discourse, and decency.

It is true that Biden was drawn into several verbal skirmishes engineered by Trump, lending some credence to the claim that he too was out of line. But none of Biden’s lapses would have occurred had he been allowed to complete his remarks.

What about the Moderator’s Role?

Unfortunately, Chris Wallace was not up to the task of keeping the debate on track. Although he chided Mr. Trump for his many interruptions and even raised his voice, he had all the effectiveness of a substitute teacher in a room full of juvenile delinquents. Moderating this debate was not a job for a journalist. This was a job for the Samuel L. Jackson of Pulp Fiction.

Several observers have already noted that Trump’s strategy seemed intended to throw Biden off message, shake him up. If so, he did not succeed. Mr. Biden held his own under cruel and unusual circumstances.

What Mr. Trump managed to do instead was reveal his true colors to the American people. Joe Biden looked into the camera several times during the debate and directly addressed the American people. The only time Trump came even close to matching that kind of direct address was when he told the white supremacist Proud Boys to “step aside and stand by.”

This remark that fell far short of the moderator’s call that he disavow white supremacy and tell his supporters not to disrupt the election process.

We’ve long known that this election would be determined by the small margin of undecided voters whose numbers have been ranked at somewhere between seven and eleven percent since the beginning of the year.

But if anyone can remain undecided after watching the travesty set before the American people on September 29th during the first presidential debate, you are either not paying attention or deliberately trying to game the process.

Some are calling for an end to the next two presidential debates after the Pence/Harris debate on October 7th.

This argument seems to make sense since Trump appears hellbent on disrupting the process.

But I wonder if withdrawing from the remaining presidential debates will leave us with only the misleading content and outright disinformation we see in political advertising. If so, walking away from future debates could play into Mr. Trump’s hands.

If you have children who witnessed the debate, tell them this is not who we are. Remind them that we are better than this. I know this has gotten to be almost a cliche’ of late. But remind them anyway.

Then think about what Trevor Noah said after the New York Times reported that Mr. Trump has more than $400 million in loans for which he is personally responsible, which will become due during the next four years.

If you owed that much money and were basically bankrupt, wouldn’t you want to hold onto Secret Service protection as long as possible, too?

What we saw in Mr. Trump’s behavior during the debate was a desperate man behaving desperately. Not like a President of the United States. It’s high time the American people disabused him of that illusion once and for all.

Originally published at https://www.jazprose.com on September 30, 2020.