{"id":29928,"date":"2020-09-30T11:34:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T15:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=29928"},"modified":"2020-09-30T11:34:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T15:34:21","slug":"who-really-won-the-debate-and-why-did-wallace-call-himself-a-moderator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=29928","title":{"rendered":"Who really won the debate and why did Wallace call himself a moderator?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Debate: Trump Wins On Issues As Wallace Torches Own Reputation<\/h1>\n<p><span class=\"outer_span author vcard\">By\u00a0<span class=\"fn\">Joe Schaeffer<\/span><\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"row main_entry_point\">\n<div class=\"custom-col-md-2 print\">\n<div class=\"author_details single-author-data\">\n<p><em>[<strong>Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong>\u00a0Giuseppe Vafanculo and I did a color commentary of the debate LIVE, which you can find on my twitter page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JimFetzer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">@JimFetzer<\/a>. This is an excellent analysis of what happened during the debate.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"single-author-name\"><strong><em>Strong second-half performance overcomes moderator bias.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"custom-col-md-10\">\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Once things transitioned from temperamental bickering to substantive discussion, President Trump had an easy walk in the first 2020 presidential debate in Cleveland on Sept. 29. And all the blatant efforts to aid Democratic challenger\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.libertynation.com\/did-cnns-kid-gloves-make-biden-a-believable-heavyweight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0made by his unofficial cornerman Chris Wallace failed to stem the incumbent\u2019s momentum.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/ei.marketwatch.com\/Multimedia\/2020\/09\/29\/Photos\/ZQ\/MW-IP685_wallac_20200929232222_ZQ.jpg?uuid=279a1ce8-02cc-11eb-9bfc-9c8e992d421e\" alt=\"First Trump-Biden debate: Fox News' Chris Wallace, the moderator, criticized for chaotic clash - MarketWatch\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Fox News host and allegedly impartial debate moderator repeatedly attempted to rescue Biden just as the candidate was noticeably struggling. One moment stands out as the most crucial exchange of the evening and it alone is enough for the president to claim victory in this first showdown between the two contenders. When Wallace tried to equate the rioting and street violence that has plagued American cities since the death of George Floyd in late May with an alleged \u201cwhite supremacist\u201d threat, Trump deftly turned the conversation to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.libertynation.com\/portland-antifa-rage-after-reinoehls-killing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Antifa.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Biden then proceeded to carry water for the destructive leftist revolutionary group, calling it \u201can idea not an organization.\u201d It was a devastating mistake and his media protector sensed it immediately. \u201cWe\u2019re done, sir,\u201d Wallace instantly pronounced, shutting down conversation on the topic as Trump eagerly prepared to pounce on Biden\u2019s major misstep. But the damage had been done. Biden had put the exclamation point on a disastrous law and order segment and Wallace had revealed the sheer audacity of his flagrant bias. In one fell blow, Trump had scored big against both of his opponents.<\/p>\n<h3>Rocky Start All Around<\/h3>\n<p>The night did not start out as promising for Trump. In what must have been a deliberate move aimed at confusing the 77-year-old Biden, the president repeatedly interrupted and chirped throughout the opening 40 minutes. It was a questionable strategy in that it served to help Biden dodge issues. Instead of letting the Democratic standard-bearer talk and forcing him to make meaningful arguments before the American people, something he has struggled to do thus far in the race, Trump kept cutting in and allowing Biden to stop and regroup.<\/p>\n<p>But if Trump intended to anger Biden, he succeeded. The former vice president snapped off a couple of nasty remarks at the sitting president. \u201cFolks, do you have any idea what this clown is doing?\u201d he asked at one point. \u201cWill you shut up, man?\u201d was another riposte. That said, it was a frustrating first half, high on belligerence but severely lacking in weightiness.<\/p>\n<p>That all changed when the subject turned to the Coronavirus. Democrats see this as a winning issue, but Trump shined by spotlighting the disastrous effects of harsh lockdowns in blue states that he said were harming the economy and causing severe distress to citizens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s almost like being in prison,\u201d Trump said of the unprecedented social curbs on the personal freedoms of Americans in the name of health that are being most enthusiastically pursued in states with Democratic governors such as Michigan and New York. \u201cYou look at what\u2019s going on with divorce. Look at what\u2019s going on with alcoholism and drugs. It\u2019s a very, very sad thing. And he\u2019ll close down the whole country \u2026 We don\u2019t need somebody to come in and say, \u2018let\u2019s shut it down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is a framing that tens of millions of Americans can relate to. Rather than addressing this powerful imagery, Biden weakly responded that \u201cmillionaires and billionaires like [Trump] in the COVID crisis have done very well,\u201d totally ignoring the personal pain regular people are experiencing in their everyday lives from the punitive lockdowns.<\/p>\n<p>This marked the first real drawing of blood in the debate, and the clear winner was Trump. Three more decisive victories were to follow.<\/p>\n<h3>Second-Half Blowout<\/h3>\n<p>A law and order discussion proved dominant for the president. After painting a bleak picture of the chaos in Democrat-led cities from rioting and looting in the name of \u201csocial justice,\u201d Trump touted the backing he is receiving from police officials across the nation. \u201cName one [law enforcement] group that supports you,\u201d Trump tauntingly challenged his opponent. \u201cGo ahead, think, we have time.\u201d As a tongue-tied Biden struggled to respond, Wallace dove in to push him off the ropes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, gentlemen, I\u2019m gonna take back the moderator\u2019s role, and I want to get to another subject,\u201d the faux newsman hurriedly interjected. It was an unprofessional act even by the expected standards of bias inherent in establishment media organs today. Sadly, it was the norm for the evening rather than the exception.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s significant error in defending Antifa came soon after, with Wallace once again scurrying to change the subject. Trump was in top form by this point, however, and kept connecting on his punches despite Wallace\u2019s unceasing efforts to find comfortable ground for Biden.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/img.apmcdn.org\/fad991b677500987de892c6caf5bc8a5fb3b5f54\/widescreen\/6ac217-20200929-trump-biden-debate-1.jpg\" alt=\"Live coverage: Trump and Biden's 1st presidential debate | MPR News\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When the Democrat tried to tout his late son Beau\u2019s military service as part of a larger attack against Trump over spurious and anonymously sourced accusations that the president had labeled U.S. soldiers as \u201closers,\u201d a razor-sharp Trump quickly turned the tables by bringing up scandal-plagued Biden son Hunter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know Beau. I know Hunter,\u201d Trump tartly stated. \u201cHunter got thrown out of the military, he was thrown out, dishonorably discharged, for cocaine use.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s not true \u2026 none of that is true,\u201d a flustered Biden replied. But it is mostly true. He was discharged in an \u201cother than honorable\u201d way for his cocaine use.<\/p>\n<p>As Trump was poised to further his advantage by bringing up Hunter Biden\u2019s controversial financial dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma, Wallace again stepped in to cut him off.\u00a0\u201cI think the American people would rather hear about more substantial subjects,\u201d Wallace decreed. \u201cWell, you know, as a moderator, sir, I\u2019m gonna make a judgment call here,\u201d he then told the president. \u201cYou know, I\u2019d like to talk about climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo would I,\u201d Biden unsurprisingly agreed. Amazingly, the official presidential debate moderator not only helped the Democratic candidate avoid an exceedingly tough topic, he moved him onto a key partisan talking point as well. The bias was simply breathtaking.<\/p>\n<p>Yet here again Biden imploded. Trump was unflappable, and eventually managed to maneuver Biden, who has been desperately trying to pivot away from the progressive stridency of his party\u2019s primary process, into disavowing the Green New Deal that is sacred policy among the left-leaning Democrats that his campaign will need to turn out in droves on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Green New Deal will pay for itself as we move forward,\u201d Biden began. He then confusedly backed away from this agenda. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t support the Green New Deal,\u201d he proclaimed. \u201cI support the Biden plan that I put forward \u2026 which is different than what he [Trump] calls the radical Green New Deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This, of course, is a direct contradiction of his statements during the Democratic primary race. In fact, Biden\u2019s official campaign website at this very moment specifically touts his support for the progressive plan. \u201cBiden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face,\u201d his campaign declares.<\/p>\n<p>Lest he had any remaining shreds of professional reputation still left, Wallace allowed himself one last moment to immolate them during this last portion of the debate. \u201cI can\u2019t remember which of all his rantings it was,\u201d Biden mockingly said of Trump\u2019s final question to him. \u201cI\u2019m having a little trouble myself,\u201d Wallace cackled.<\/p>\n<p>It was the capstone on a display of journalistic malpractice. But the bigger takeaway for the night was that when Trump backed away from the early needling and honed in on serious issues, he seriously dinged Biden time and again. That he did so even on the Coronavirus bell cow that Democrats are banking on to help win the election bodes very well for his campaign over the next month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Debate: Trump Wins On Issues As Wallace Torches Own Reputation By\u00a0Joe Schaeffer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}