The moment Donald Trump and Joe Biden appeared on the stage, Trump was in control. He looked robust, while Biden appeared frail and slow. Trump’s dominance extended beyond looks. He ably defended his record against attacks from both Biden and the moderator, Kristen Welker. He also politely, but insistently, pressed Biden on his decades of failure, the damage he caused to the black community, and his corrupt dealings with his son, Hunter. It was a rout.
Those expecting Trump to be a bit of a madman, as he was during the first debate, were disappointed. Trump, having achieved his goal during the first debate of forcing Biden to alienate some of his base, no longer needed the madman tactic. This time, Trump was charming, polite, and endlessly upbeat about America’s prospects. Biden, meanwhile, literally said that America was “about to go into a dark winter. A dark winter.”
As expected, Welker was a biased moderator. To her credit, she asked Biden about China and Ukraine, although she left the topic as quickly as possible. Otherwise, as with Chris Wallace and, during the town hall, Savannah Guthrie, every question that Welker posed to Trump came from a Democrat, not a neutral, position.
Even more irritating than the premise of her questions, though, was Welker’s determination to cut Trump’s rebuttals off immediately while letting Biden answer at length. Indeed, when Trump reminded Biden that Hunter walked out of China with $1.5 billion and started discussing the newly released emails, Welker frantically interrupted Trump to ensure that Biden wouldn’t have to try to answer the question.
Welker also argued constantly with Trump, something she never did with Biden. Candy Crowley apparently set a new standard for moderators getting into it with Republican candidates and we may as well get used to it.
Welker’s bias was par for the course. What distinguished the debate was Biden’s easily disproved lies and Trump’s excellent ripostes.
Biden denied absolutely that he had called Trump xenophobic for closing our border to China.
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