Last night, Donald Trump and Joe Biden participated in the most bizarre excuse for a debate in American political history.
The polling website FiveThirtyEight's headline about the debate said, “Trump Interrupts to Point of Chaos in First
Debate.” No kidding. Let's be clear: a debate is an organized exchange of ideas
following rules. Trump ignored the rules, interrupting Biden while dodging obvious
questions for which he should have been prepared. Biden broke the rules a few
times himself, mostly when he tried to get in a word edgewise.
Earlier Post: You Need a Good Debate Format
I was on my high school and college debate
teams for six years, and was a debate coach at four universities. Three points
about last night’s debate:
(1) Trump interrupted Biden to prevent
Biden from making his points.
(2) Trump interrupted Biden to show that he
is forceful.
(3) Trump was appealing to voters who do
not care about policy.
In this post, I'll talk about (1), and plan
to write about the other two points in days to come.
Why Did Trump Interrupt so Often?
Here’s a hypothesis: Trump’s policies are basically failures: he has never presented the comprehensive health care overhaul he promised, even though the nation is overrun by a pandemic, while unemployment is sky-high and the economy is collapsing. He hasn't built the wall, and Mexico hasn't paid for it. Let us further suppose that Trump was unprepared, failed to do his homework, and lacked awareness of even the most basic policy issues. Further, Biden was prepared and does understand basic policy issues.
Now, if Biden got a chance to speak at length, for the full time that the debate rules allowed, without interruptions or distraction, he would have conclusively demonstrated that his policies were superior. Trump would be unable to respond in kind since he has no policy expertise or successes to offer.
So, during the debate, Trump interrupted,
quickly and loudly, to make bizarre, off-the-point comments to draw Biden away
from substantive issue discussions.
Trump's Healthcare Interruptions
Here’s a gloriously awful example from early in the debate. Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News, who was far more effective four years ago when he moderated one of the Trump-Clinton debates, asked Biden to talk about a public option under the Affordable Care Act. The public option is, of course, a conservative bugbear that leads to constant ranting on Fox News and talk radio. Wallace asked:
“I am asking the question. That it will, it will end private insurance and create a government takeover of health care.”
Trying to correct this common misunderstanding, Biden said:
“It does not. It's only for those people who are so poor they qualify for Medicaid, they can get that free. In most states, except governors who want to deny people are poor, Medicaid. Anyone who qualifies for Medicare -- excuse me, Medicaid -- would automatically be enrolled in the public option. The vast majority of the American people would still not be in that option. Number one –”
So far, that sounded like a precise, well-rehearsed answer in the making. Of course, Trump couldn’t allow that. Biden would make him look like a fool. So, he interrupted:
“So you agree with Bernie Sanders, who’s left on the manifesto we call it, that gives you socialized medicine.”
Now, first, it was not Trump’s turn to speak. Second, Bernie Sanders isn’t running for president. Third, Trump’s interruption stopped Biden before he could explain why his policy was not socialized medicine. Trump’s diversion worked just fine, for the next thing Biden said was:
“Look. The fact of the matter is, I beat Bernie Sanders--”
Maybe Biden was trying to explain that his policy and Sanders policy differed. He never got the chance, for Trump broke in again:
“You got very lucky.”
That, of course, had nothing to do with healthcare. Unfortunately, Biden took the bait:
“I got very lucky, I’m going to get very lucky tonight as well. And tonight I'm going to -- here's the deal, here’s the deal. The fact is that everything he’s saying so far it's simply a lie. I'm not here to call out his lies; everybody knows he’s a liar. I want to make sure -- I want to make the President--”
That wasn’t a bad answer. Biden expressed
confidence and criticized Trump for speaking falsely. But did you notice what
he didn’t talk about? He didn’t talk any more about healthcare or the public
option. I’ve written before the Trump is a master of misdirection, just like a
stage magician. Yes, Trump was rude, and irrational, and incoherent. But he put
a dead stop to Biden’s answer, tricking him into wasting his time.
Earlier Post: Trump, the "China Virus," and the Art of Misdirection
It got worse. Trump next said:
“You just lost the left. You just lost the left. You agreed with Bernie Sanders on a plan.”That didn’t make much sense, but Trump got Biden to stop talking about healthcare and diverted him to talking about political strategy. Biden then scored the zinger of the night:
“Folks, do we have any idea what this clown is doing?”
Okay, sure, fight fire with fire. Trump had it coming. But, going back to Wallace’s question, this was Biden’s chance to talk about healthcare policy. Instead, he let Trump continue to bait him. Yes, Biden got the better of the exchange. No question about it. All the same, his well-rehearsed discussion of the healthcare public option had screeched to a smoking halt.
Realizing that he’d been diverted, Biden turned back to the topic:
“Let me tell you what. He is not for any help for people needing health care because he in fact already cost 10 million people their health care that they had from their employers, because of his recession, number one. Number two, there are 20 million people getting health care through Obamacare now he wants to take it away. He won't ever look in your eye and say that's what he wants to do. Take it away.”
Okay, that was back on track. Good. Biden stated some numbers and contrasted his policy with Trump’s. Not for long, however. Trump interrupted again, blurting out this incoherent nonsense:
“No, I want to give them better health care at a much, much lower price because he has no, he doesn't know how to read fixed he has never already played it to an extent he has now.”
I’m not sure that’s even English. Of course, we all know that neither Trump nor any of the other Republicans have ever actually proposed an Obamacare alternative. Get better healthcare at a much lower price? Trump has been promising that for years, without ever giving the actual plan to make it happen. That’s not the point. The point is that, once again, Trump stopped Biden from giving his policy. By this point, moderator Chris Wallace, who was just as bamboozled as Biden, actually turned the discussion over to Trump. With that ill-considered transition, Wallace bypassed what was supposed to be Biden’s opportunity to speak:
“I know you’ll realize you’re both speaking at the same time. Let the President’ s -- go ahead sir.”
A moment later, Wallace did try to give the exasperated Biden a chance to explain his policy, but by that point he had lost his train of thought – as any other debater would have by this point. No, Trump never gave a healthcare policy. No, he never said anything remotely coherent or intelligent about Biden’s policy.
By interrupting, bullying, and ranting, Trump prevented Biden from giving the two-minute explanation of his healthcare plan that the rules entitled him to present.
Anyway, that’s just one example. This kind of thing went on throughout the debate.
So, back to my hypothesis. Biden was well-prepared with policy proposals. He had done his homework. Trump, in contrast, had no idea what he was talking about. Instead of talking about policy, which was beyond his ability, Trump spewed out conspiracy theories and nonsense that he must have picked up from conservative cable news and talk radio shows. What Trump did, with supreme success, was to short-circuit the debate to stop Biden from making himself look good. Deep inside, I think that Trump knew that Biden was better prepared and felt that his only chance was to direct attention away from Biden’s policy. The interruptions and crosstalk served that purpose brilliantly.
So, yes, Trump looked and sounded very bad during this debate. No, he did not act like a grown-up. Yes, he was incoherent. No, he didn’t say a single thing about how he would make healthcare better.
What he accomplished was to stop Biden
from explaining how he would make healthcare better. So, the debate was a
disaster for Trump, but it was, to some extent, also a disaster for Biden. Trump
was not trying to win the debate. He was trying to make Biden lose.
Suggestions from a Former Debate Coach
How to prevent this? Every high school and
college debate coach has judged dozens if not hundreds of academic debates with
unruly debaters. Any experienced debate coach could have handled this better
than Wallace. Here are some suggestions:
(1) When a speaker’s time is up, the
moderator should stand up, and, if necessary, walk up to the podium and stand
directly in front of the speaker until the ranting stops. Obnoxious, but
effective. The moderator is not trying to win a popularity contest.
(2) Any time a speaker interrupts, even
just one word, the opponent should get an extra minute added to the speaking
time. This should be done electronically, preferably with a flashing interruption
light.
(3) The speaking time should be put in a
huge, bright display directly behind the speakers so the television audience
can see whose turn it is and how much time is left.
(4) If all else fails, mute the microphone - right away.
Conclusion
Yes, unscrupulous people will break the rules. We need rules because people do not always behave themselves. And, although Biden could have confronted Trump more effectively, it’s not his job. It’s the moderator’s obligation to control the debate. What a shame that Wallace, with all his experience, didn't know how to do that.
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