By: Michael Reel
Reel Urban News Politics
I listened to most of the first presidential debate of 2020 between President Donald J. Trump and his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, while sitting in traffic on the 405 and 105 freeways during rush hour traffic in Los Angeles. It was nearly bumper to bumper, but road rage was evident on the Cleveland debate stage.
Like most of the nation I was stunned by what I heard coming from the candidates’ mouths.
Not only were most Americans shocked and even saddened by the performances Tuesday night, but folks around the world were also taken aback witnessing the lack of respect for our nation and its citizens by the nation’s 45th president, Donald J. Trump, leader of the free world. The manner in which Trump conducted himself standing across from his opponent, Trump seemed more like the leader of a gang of delinquent kindergarteners.
Traditional and digital media and cable news reactions were swift. CBS News: “First debate descends into chaos as Trump and Biden exchange attacks,” Headlines from the New York Times: “’Will You Shut Up Man?’ Biden Tells Trump.” “Trump Refuses to Condemn White Supremacists.” “Chris Wallace Struggles to Rein in an Unruly Trump at the First Debate.” There’s more. “Trump heckles Biden and Wallace, trying to turn the debate into a brawl.” From the Guardian: “Trump tries to steamroll Biden in chaotic clash.” The folks at CNN may have really captured the night with this brutal description of the bombastic debate: “That was a shitshow.”
CNN’s Dana Bash ‘shitshow’ analysis perhaps summed the debate up for all of the network and cable television commentators. Many professional talking heads were dumbfounded by what they witnessed. Even lost for words. As NBC News anchor Lester Holt opened the post-debate show he quickly tossed to Savannah Guthrie for her reaction. I thought Holt was going to cry. I could almost hear a tear in his voice. And he was not the only one.
One body language expert who watched the debate provided the following take: “Part of what made it painful is that it felt like it was bullying behavior, and we were not used to seeing that behavior in a debate,” said Patti Wood, Atlanta-based author. Wood even suggested that Trump’s body language could even be triggering for someone who has suffered abuse.
As a child growing up in Los Angeles, watching presidential debates with my mom was an important night in our household. It was an introduction to American politics. I remember watching Roots and being glued to the television. I remember watching the television nighttime drama Dallas and the saga of “Who Shot J.R.?” I remember watching President Ronald Reagan make Peggy Noonan’s words his very own the day of the NASA Challenger explosion in 1986.
“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives,” Reagan said. “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.”
The Noonan and Reagan passage can only be described as presidential, masterful and emotionally moving.
Tuesday night’s debate was totally devoid of mastery or of presidential presence. However, the debate was moving. People throughout the nation moved away from their flatscreens, computers, laptops, tablets and cell phones as the bullying raged and the continued destruction to American democracy as we know it rolled on.
