-Candidates battled fiercely over pandemic, economy & integrity of November’s election
-First debate marked by personal insults, name calling & Trump’s repeated interruptions
Foreign Desk Report
New York: Republican US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden battled fiercely over Trump’s leadership on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and the integrity of November’s election in a chaotic first debate on Tuesday marked by personal insults, name calling and Trump’s repeated interruptions.
Moderator Chris Wallace never established control of the debate. The two White House contenders talked over each other and lobbed insults in a breathtaking political brawl that made it hard for either to make a point.
“Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential,” said an exasperated Biden after Trump’s repeated interruptions during the first segment of the debate on the Supreme Court. Biden later called Trump a “clown,” a “racist,” and “Putin’s puppy” in reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin and told Trump: “You’re the worst president America has ever had.”
Trump for his part said: “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe.”
Late in the debate, Wallace himself urged the president to stop his interruptions.
Wallace said: “I think that the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you sir to do that.”
Trump replied: “Well, and him too.”
Wallace: “Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting.”
Trump: “But he does plenty.” Biden, 77, has held a consistent lead over Trump, 74, in national opinion polls, although surveys in the battleground states that will decide the election show a closer contest. It was hard to determine whether the debate would move the needle.
Biden questioned Trump’s leadership on the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, saying Trump had panicked and failed to protect Americans because he was more concerned about the economy.
“He panicked or he looked at the stock market,” Biden said of Trump, who has pushed for states to reopen their economies and played down the threat of the pandemic. “A lot of people died and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker,” Biden said. Trump objected to Biden using the word “smart.”
“You graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class. Don’t ever use the word smart with me. Don’t ever use that word,” Trump said.
