{"id":228337,"date":"2020-09-30T14:16:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T18:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=228337"},"modified":"2020-09-30T14:16:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T18:16:58","slug":"landscape-after-the-battle-the-first-presidential-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/world\/usa\/landscape-after-the-battle-the-first-presidential-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Landscape after the battle: the first presidential debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first presidential debate began with a soft tone. From a distance, President Donald Trump greeted his rival, Joe Biden, with a wave, and the Democrat replied amiably, \u201cHow you doing, man?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From there, the dialogue, if you can call it that, went downhill. It often became a veritable exchange of insults, shouting that eventually made it impossible to hear what was being said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most red-hot issue was that of violence in the streets. Trump refused to condemn white supremacists. \u201cThis is not a right wing problem this is a left wing,\u201d he said. Contrary to Trump\u2019s narrative, experts on domestic terrorism, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, <\/span>have testified<\/span><\/a> before Congress that white supremacist violence constitutes the most persistent and dangerous domestic terrorist threat facing the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the racial issue also came up, in which Trump was hyperbolic, as usual. \u201cNo one has done more than I have for the black community. I\u2019m releasing people that you put in jail and treated badly.\u201d The president was referring to a legal reform that Biden promoted in 1993 in the Senate Judiciary Committee and that the African-American community received very badly. Trump took advantage of the moment to question whether or not the former vice president supported the police force.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have almost all the police departments on my side\u201d because \u201cwe believe in law enforcement. Not you, Joe. You can\u2019t even say law and order. Because if you say those words, you\u2019re going to lose all of your radical left supporters,\u201d said the president while Biden tried to finish a sentence: \u201cof course I believe in law enforcement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It took the moderator, Fox News host Chris Wallace, to intervene so that Biden could explain himself. \u201cThere\u2019s systemic injustice in this country, in education and work and in law enforcement and the way in which it\u2019s enforced. But look, the vast majority of police officers are good, decent, honorable men and women. They risk their lives every day to take care of us, but there are some bad apples. Violence in response is never appropriate, never appropriate. Peaceful protest is, violence is never appropriate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When Wallace asked if the vice president supported the Black Lives Matter movement, Biden brought up that the violence in the streets has to do with the president\u2019s lack of dialogue capacity. \u201cI have been clear that violence must be prosecuted. He doesn\u2019t want to calm things down instead of going in and talking to people and saying, \u2018Let\u2019s get everybody together. Figure out how to deal with this.\u2019 What\u2019s he do? He just pours gasoline in the fire constantly and every single solitary time But he\u2019s never called the leaders of the riots [to talk]. He has not brought people together and is constantly fueling the fire. And by the way his own former spokesperson said, \u2018Riots and chaos and violence help he cause,\u2019\u201d Biden said, looking at the camera, which he did repeatedly during the debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump denied the former vice president\u2019s assertion, but he attributed the expression to his former adviser Kellyanne Conway, who used to appear on television shows assuming the defense of the president and who, certainly, <\/span>said the phrase<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another hot spot was the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become Trump\u2019s weak point politically. A majority of Americans have consistently disagreed with his insistence on a speedy reopening. Many voters don\u2019t think they can trust him.<\/span><\/p>\n