SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
US President Donald Trump and Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden exchange arguments during the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 29, 2020. (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
'Would You Shut Up, Man': Disastrous, Chaotic, Nearly Unwatchable Presidential Debate After First 20 Minutes
"This is a sad state of affairs when thousands are dying from a pandemic, an economic crisis is destroying millions of lives and climate change is burning down the planet's ecosystem."
Sep 29, 2020
The first twenty minutes of Tuesday night's debate was denounced in real-time as a nearly "unwatchable" and tedious "charade" after Fox News moderator Chris Wallace proved incapable of refereeing exchanges between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"Would you just shut up, man," Biden declared towards the end of an initial round of questioning after Trump refused to stop interrupting him.
"This is utterly unwatchable," tweeted progressive journalist Krystal Ball after just 17 minutes.
"This debate is chaotic and unfocused because Chris Wallace and his team didn't have the guts to control the mics," commented John Nichols of The Nation. "The interruptions don't add anything to the discourse. They disrupt it."
For many progressive commentators, it was both a grotesque and depressing political and media display given the current realities in the world.
"I have nothing snarky to say," tweeted journalist and former Bernie Sanders campaign speechwriter David Sirota at 9:20 pm. "I have only this to say: this is a sad state of affairs when thousands are dying from a pandemic, an economic crisis is destroying millions of lives and climate change is burning down the planet's ecosystem."
Others, like Working Families Party national director Maurice Moe Mitchell, called on viewers to recognize what Trump's performance is designed to achieve:
"Wallace lost control immediately," lamented Zach Carter of the HuffPost, "there's nothing of substance to be gleaned from this fracas, and the president looks like a jerk."
"Tonight, America saw a sad, unhinged, orange-in-the-face embarrassment of a president who showed no temperament to lead this country," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in the wake of the debate.
The president, said Green, "would have done better to take Joe Biden's advice--and shut up, man--rather than show his inadequacy in tackling the coronavirus and economic plight of millions of Americans. It was an embarrassment. Joe Biden made clear that by replacing Donald Trump, we can achieve competence in the White House and address key progressive goals from health care to corporate accountability to tackling systemic racism."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The first twenty minutes of Tuesday night's debate was denounced in real-time as a nearly "unwatchable" and tedious "charade" after Fox News moderator Chris Wallace proved incapable of refereeing exchanges between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"Would you just shut up, man," Biden declared towards the end of an initial round of questioning after Trump refused to stop interrupting him.
"This is utterly unwatchable," tweeted progressive journalist Krystal Ball after just 17 minutes.
"This debate is chaotic and unfocused because Chris Wallace and his team didn't have the guts to control the mics," commented John Nichols of The Nation. "The interruptions don't add anything to the discourse. They disrupt it."
For many progressive commentators, it was both a grotesque and depressing political and media display given the current realities in the world.
"I have nothing snarky to say," tweeted journalist and former Bernie Sanders campaign speechwriter David Sirota at 9:20 pm. "I have only this to say: this is a sad state of affairs when thousands are dying from a pandemic, an economic crisis is destroying millions of lives and climate change is burning down the planet's ecosystem."
Others, like Working Families Party national director Maurice Moe Mitchell, called on viewers to recognize what Trump's performance is designed to achieve:
"Wallace lost control immediately," lamented Zach Carter of the HuffPost, "there's nothing of substance to be gleaned from this fracas, and the president looks like a jerk."
"Tonight, America saw a sad, unhinged, orange-in-the-face embarrassment of a president who showed no temperament to lead this country," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in the wake of the debate.
The president, said Green, "would have done better to take Joe Biden's advice--and shut up, man--rather than show his inadequacy in tackling the coronavirus and economic plight of millions of Americans. It was an embarrassment. Joe Biden made clear that by replacing Donald Trump, we can achieve competence in the White House and address key progressive goals from health care to corporate accountability to tackling systemic racism."
The first twenty minutes of Tuesday night's debate was denounced in real-time as a nearly "unwatchable" and tedious "charade" after Fox News moderator Chris Wallace proved incapable of refereeing exchanges between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
"Would you just shut up, man," Biden declared towards the end of an initial round of questioning after Trump refused to stop interrupting him.
"This is utterly unwatchable," tweeted progressive journalist Krystal Ball after just 17 minutes.
"This debate is chaotic and unfocused because Chris Wallace and his team didn't have the guts to control the mics," commented John Nichols of The Nation. "The interruptions don't add anything to the discourse. They disrupt it."
For many progressive commentators, it was both a grotesque and depressing political and media display given the current realities in the world.
"I have nothing snarky to say," tweeted journalist and former Bernie Sanders campaign speechwriter David Sirota at 9:20 pm. "I have only this to say: this is a sad state of affairs when thousands are dying from a pandemic, an economic crisis is destroying millions of lives and climate change is burning down the planet's ecosystem."
Others, like Working Families Party national director Maurice Moe Mitchell, called on viewers to recognize what Trump's performance is designed to achieve:
"Wallace lost control immediately," lamented Zach Carter of the HuffPost, "there's nothing of substance to be gleaned from this fracas, and the president looks like a jerk."
"Tonight, America saw a sad, unhinged, orange-in-the-face embarrassment of a president who showed no temperament to lead this country," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in the wake of the debate.
The president, said Green, "would have done better to take Joe Biden's advice--and shut up, man--rather than show his inadequacy in tackling the coronavirus and economic plight of millions of Americans. It was an embarrassment. Joe Biden made clear that by replacing Donald Trump, we can achieve competence in the White House and address key progressive goals from health care to corporate accountability to tackling systemic racism."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.