i watched it and it was pretty much as expected.
trump talked a lot about people from prisoners and mental asylums streaming over the border and murdering u.s. citizens. he talked about it when asked about immigration. he talked about when asked what he'd do to address addiction he talked about it pretty much every time.
his performance was full of the usual trump lies and vague claims. lots of "what" with virtually no "how".
he tried hard to reframe the roe vs. wade decision but he's been bragging about it so much in the lead up i feel the damage is already done there. he said that democrats kill babies
after birth.
he said a few things that just came off as his typical childish banter and a few that made no sense at all:
- "We have a border that’s the most dangerous place anywhere in the world – considered the most dangerous place anywhere in the world."
- "...we don’t have borders anymore. Every state is now a border."
- "...our veterans and our soldiers can’t stand this guy. They can’t stand him. They think he’s the worst commander in chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had. They can’t stand him. So let’s get that straight. And they like me more than just about any of them. And that’s based on every single bit of information."
- "People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled and I’ll get it settled fast before I take office." (on the ukraine conflict)
- "So, I want absolutely immaculate clean water and I want absolutely clean air, and we had it. We had H2O. We had the best numbers ever. And we did – we were using all forms of energy, all forms, everything. And yet, during my four years, I had the best environmental numbers ever."
- "To finish up, we now have the largest deficit in the history of our country under this guy, we have the largest deficit with China. He gets paid by China. He’s a Manchurian Candidate. He gets money from China. So I think he’s afraid to deal with him or something.
- But do you notice? He never took out my tariffs because we bring in so much money with the tariffs that I imposed on China. He never took them away. He can’t because it’s too much money. It’s tremendous. And we saved our steel industries. And there was more to come, but he hasn’t done that.
- But he hasn’t cut the tariffs because he can’t, because it’s too much money. But he’s got the largest deficit in the history of our country and he’s got the worst situation with China. China is going to own us if you keep allowing them to do what they’re doing to us as a country. They are killing us as a country, Joe, and you can’t let that happen. You’re destroying our country." (in response to the question "What will you do to help Americans right now in the throes of addiction, who are struggling to get the treatment they need?")
for me, that last reply pretty much summed up his approach - don't answer the question. talk vaguely and hyperbolically about "
joe biden bad" and say nothing specific about how you'll address the issue.
biden looked really old - not good.
but he did try to answer the questions with both whats and hows. for example he was asked "
President Biden, you’ve put forward a proposal to resolve this conflict. But so far, Hamas has not released the remaining hostages and Israel is continuing its military offensive in Gaza. So, what additional leverage will you use to get Hamas and Israel to end the war?" to which he answered "
The first stage is to treat the hostages for a ceasefire. Second phase is a ceasefire with additional conditions. The third phase is know the end of the war. The only one who wants the war to continue is Hamas, number one. They’re the only ones standing down (ph).
We’re still pushing hard from – to get them to accept. In the meantime, what’s happened in Israel? We’re finally – the only thing I’ve denied Israel was 2,000-pound bombs. They don’t work very well in populated areas. They kill a lot of innocent people. We are providing Israel with all the weapons they need and when they need them. And by the way, I’m the guy that organized the world against Iran when they had a full-blown kind of ballistic missile attack on Israel. No one was hurt. No one Israeli was accidentally killed. And it stopped. We saved Israel. We are the biggest producer of support for Israel than anyone in the world. And so, that’s – they are two different things.
Hamas cannot be allowed to be continued. We continue to send our experts and our intelligence people to how they can get Hamas like we did Bin Laden. You don’t have to do it. And by the way, they’ve been greatly weakened, Hamas, greatly weakened, and they should be. They should be eliminated. But, you got to be careful for what you use these certain weapons among population centers.". you may love or hate his answer but at least he answered.
another example. question "
Will you name tonight one specific step that you’re willing to take to keep Social Security solvent?" and answer "
Yes, make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share...I would not raise the cost of Social Security for anybody under $400,000. After that, I begin to make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share, by increasing from 1 percent beyond, to be able to guarantee the program for life.".
again, love it or hate it. compare it with trump's rambling non-answer: "
So I’ve dealt with politicians all my life. I’ve been on this side of the equation for the last eight years. I’ve never seen anybody lie like this guy. He lies – I’ve never seen it. He could look you in the face. So – and about so many other things, too.
And we mentioned the laptop, We mentioned “Russia, Russia, Russia,” “Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine.” And everything he does is a lie. It’s misinformation and disinformation. The “losers and suckers” story that he made up is a total lie on the military. It’s a disgrace.
But Social Security, he’s destroying it. Because millions of people are pouring into our country, and they’re putting them on to Social Security; they’re putting them on to Medicare, Medicaid. They’re putting them in our hospitals. They’re taking the place of our citizens.
They’re – what they’re doing to the V.A., to our veterans, is unbelievable. Our veterans are living in the street and these people are living in luxury hotels. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. And it – it’s really coming back. I’ve never seen such anger in our country before."
and he - biden - owned his failure, to some extent. asked "
What do you say to black voters who are disappointed with the progress so far?" he began "
I say, I don’t blame them for being disappointed." can you imagine trump ever making a concession like that?
it was a pretty sad night for u.s. politics i think.
alasdair
apnews.com
