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President Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on stage together for the first time during the first 2020 Presidential Debate and as many would say, it was nothing short of chaotic.
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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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03:03I'm Aja Joy.
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03:05I'm Aja Joy.
03:06I'm Aja Joy.
03:07I'm Aja Joy.
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