00:00President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on stage together for the first
00:08time during the first 2020 presidential debate, and as many would say, it was nothing short of
00:14chaotic. Tuesday night's debate kicked off with COVID-19 safety measures in place, like a socially
00:19distant audience and no handshakes, but that may have been the only thing that went according to
00:24plan. The fractious stop-start 90-minute debate was filled with interruptions and incoherent
00:29back and forth, with Trump repeatedly cutting off Biden and having to be chided by moderator Fox
00:34News' Chris Wallace. The debate was widely criticized by journalists and political pundits on both
00:39left and right as a train wreck, disaster, and a disgrace. CNN's Jake Tapper called it a hot mess
00:46in a dumpster fire in a train wreck, and Dana Bash simply called it a s**t show.
00:50Wallace himself was even slammed on social media by right-wing pundits, including former and current
01:03colleagues at Fox News, for his performance moderating, and was accused of rampant bias
01:08against the president by not allowing Trump to talk at length, cutting him off mid-rant,
01:13and trying to steer the conversation back to the topic. A big low point during the night was when
01:18Trump failed to unequivocally denounce white supremacists and armed militia groups who have
01:22clashed violently with Black Lives Matter and police reform protesters this summer, instead telling
01:28them to stand back and stand by.
01:30Give me a name. Give me a name. White supremacists and white supremacists.
01:33White supremacists and white supremacists. Proud boys. Proud boys. Stand back and stand by.
01:38COVID-19 was naturally another hot topic of conversation during the debate. Biden slammed Trump's response
01:44to the pandemic, saying 200,000 people have died on his watch. Trump argued that if Biden had
01:50been in charge, more people would have died, and continued to maintain, contrary to some
01:54health experts, that drug companies could have a vaccine by Election Day.
01:58He has no plan for health care. He sends out wishful thinking.
02:06Overall, Tuesday's debate seemed like one big mess to many. Or as THR critic Daniel Feinberg
02:11called it, sh**ty television. He elaborated, maybe we were never going to get a Lincoln
02:16Douglas debate, but there had to be a middle ground that wasn't releasing a hyena on the
02:20stage and politely trying to tell the hyena that he and his handlers agreed that this would
02:24be a no ankle gnawing debate. Keep yapping, man. The people understand you. 47 years, you've done
02:31nothing. They understand. All right. All right. For more on the first 2020 presidential debate,
02:35head over to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, here at home in New York, I'm Aja Joy.
02:41I'm Aja Joy.
02:42I'm Aja Joy.
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