Profoundly unpresidential precedents

Over the course of this last week, President Donald Trump has had one very chaotic series of events take place. The insanity began with the first presidential debate of 2020 that occurred at Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio last Wednesday and culminated with him contracting the COVID-19 virus at the end of the week. 

As many people have proclaimed, the debate was indisputably one of the ugliest to ever take place in United States history. With both Trump and Joe Biden interrupting each other every other sentence and not getting to talk about substantive policy, CNN’s Chris Cuomo illustrated the episode as a “shit show” and CNN’s Jake Tapper described it as, “...a hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a train wreck.” In addition to the juvenile antics of the participants, the moderator, Chris Wallace, was clearly in place to prevent any real discussion of issues that might offend the puppet masters that brought us this illusion of an actual democratic election process. 

With election day right around the corner, both candidates had their own way of going about their speaking parts. Biden was the first person to interrupt Trump, but after Biden started the ad hominem attacks, it seemed as if Trump took it as open season to go after Biden, no matter who’s turn it was to speak for the rest of the debate. He would begin saying, “no” or “wrong” and go on about his piece about the topic given by Wallace. Trump immediately tried to create a separation between the former Vice President and his left leaning base. Biden on the other hand, attempted to hammer Trump on the factors of his COVID-19 response and his inability to be presidential. Trump repeatedly called into question payments to the Biden family that resulted as a result of political pressure from the former Vice President, and Biden repeatedly refused to answer direct questioning from Trump, including about whether he would pack the Supreme Court with left-leaning judges.

With the attempt to win over votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, and Arizona, both Trump and Biden are trying to animate their own base and suppress their opponents in a battle to win over small segments of the electorate. As statistics indicate, people are disillusioned with the whole process, and many feel their vote is practically meaningless, as a result of the infiltration of money in politics, career politicians that lack relevance or the proper perspective to actually represent their constituents, gerry-mandering, the electoral college, and a monopolistic two-party system that prevents the separation of powers that are inherently necessary to a functioning democracy.

According to NBC News, after the debate was over, Biden had gained a commanding, national 14 point lead over Trump on the Wall Street Journal poll. Biden has a two to one vote by the public that he has the better temperament to be the president of the United States as reported by the Wall Street Journal poll. Now, Biden has Trump by 53% to 39% compared to his eight point lead in the previous poll before the debate took place. That being said, polls are virtually worthless in today’s political climate, and as any college student that passed a statistics course understands, these numbers are easily manipulated and distorted.  Our poisonous political and media climate have exacerbated these realities, and today fake news and phony statistics are par for the course. The one thing that appears to be undeniable is that the system is rapidly losing credibility, and it will take a massive purge and overhaul of the entire apparatus for many to regain their trust in this broken down, racist, misogynistic beast of a government.

After the results of this debate, commission officials have decided that moving forward, they will be muting the candidates microphones to get a hold of the outrageous outbursts and interruptions. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that in our censor-prone, cancel-culture world, our prospective leaders will be openly silenced, but the need to mute microphones and direct questioning away from legitimate issues is symptomatic of an oppressive system that pretends to allow voters to decide, when the reality on the ground indicates that regardless of which party is in power, the policies change very little and the oppression remains the same.

As if written in by a twisted Saturday Night Live writer, two days after the debate, Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Chris Wallace claimed that Trump was not tested before the debate due to the fact that he showed up a bit late. According to NPR News, organizers relied on the honor system. Although he may be the president of the United States, he should follow all rules and guidelines during a national pandemic. Biden and other officials all tested negative prior to the debate. 

Later that day, Trump held a ceremony in the White House’s Rose Garden to announce his nominee for the United States Supreme Court, that being Amy Coney Barrett. All of the guests packed into the outdoor space of the garden. There were many pictures taken there and inside the White House as well. The White House specifically has certain protocols regarding the COVID-19 virus for guests, officials, and different members of the press. Disturbingly, many of the guests were maskless. There have been eight confirmed people that have tested positive for COVID-19 after that ceremony including the president and the first lady. Later that night, Trump even flew over to Pennsylvania for an outdoor rally. 

The ironic part of Trump contracting the virus is the fact that he actually mocked Biden for wearing a face mask to Tuesday’s presidential debate. Trump also claimed that he only needs to wear a mask when he feels that he should or needs to. “I don’t wear face masks like him,” Trump said to Biden. “Every time you see him he’s got a mask.”