Four Key Moments From the Horrible, No Good, Bad Last Presidential Debate

Former vice president Joe Biden and Donald Trump squared off yesterday night in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Thursday evening (October 23) former vice president Joe Biden and sitting president Donald Trump battled it out during the final presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee. 

This event was high octane but it was also a bit more manageable thanks to the moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News. Trump who during the first debate was outlandish and unbearable, clearly listened to his advisers and was calm for most of the 90-minute broadcast. But, that didn’t stop him from shelling out lies and fallacies. On the other hand, Biden was polished and honestly a bit smug in the way he unleashed his opinions based on the talking points which were presented. 

It’s not lost on us that this debate didn’t really appear to have too much of an impact. Yes, the two candidates actually debated, but it was a bit horrid how they fed off of one another's energy. Either way, below we’re sharing the four biggest moments worth knowing from the final debate.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Though the first question of the night went to Trump, there was no expectation that he would be honest on the topic of coronavirus. Surprisingly, he admitted that he tested positive and was healthy, he also added his son, Barron, 14, recovered from the virus too. Our guess is that he felt these tidbits were essential in proving he’d served the country well in handling the pandemic. “We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away,” he declared at one point. He also shared a vaccine would be ready before the year ended, a feat that would be miraculous given what medical experts claim (it’s not likely).

Biden used this segment to seriously address the nation and offered his condolences to those who’d lost family members due to the pandemic. He noted during this segment that Americans were “learning to die with” the virus. “The fact is that he's already cost the American people because of his terrible handling of the Covid virus and economic spillover,” he stated this to note that Trump hasn’t handled the pandemic well.

Immigration 

“Who built the cages?” Trump took this shot at Biden in an attempt to discredit him for his eight years in the White House. But, what he actually did here was set himself up to prove he’s xenophobic. During this segment, he dug into his belief that immigrants deserve to be treated badly, the points he made were cringy and outright racist. When he stated U.S. facilities for migrants are “clean,” this was untrue.

Welker questioned what his thoughts are on the 545 children who came to the U.S.-Mexico border with their parents between 2017 and 2018, and are now separated from them. One response was they were “brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels, and they're brought here and they used them to get into our country,” and therefore deserved what they got. This was also where Trump taunted Biden in an attempt to push that cages for migrants were directly from Barack Obama’s tenure.

During Obama’s administration, one facility that was reportedly inhumane was built in the Rio Grande Valley. The nuance of “cages” in regards to migrants wasn’t what Biden wanted to dig into yesterday. Instead, he changed the topic and did not directly answer Trump. He shared that the president's immigration and border policies in recent years are wrong. Biden also dug into the fact that American Dreamers deserve better. 

“The Talk” and Racism in America

No surprise here that both of the presidential candidates struggled during the uncomfortable race segment. At this point in the debate, Trump once again attacked Biden for his sponsorship of the 1994 crime bill. This is a moment in history that Biden won’t ever be able to escape no matter how hard his team works to make it unimportant. In yet another attempt at garnering undecided voters, he also declared, “I’m the least racist person in the room.” This was laughable.

But, he then went on to add, “Not since Abraham Lincoln has anybody done what I've done for the Black community.” This has been disproven as untrue and it sounded absolutely ridiculous.

Biden responded by sharing an anecdote about working in a mostly Black community during his younger years. He made it clear that his daughter who is a social worker also provides another glimpse into how he will address race if elected, both of these attempts to backslide were a bit off. He did however provide this strong clap back, “‘Abraham Lincoln’ here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history.” Biden added,  “He pours fuel on every single racist fire.”

Closing Remarks

Trump's closing remarks included his belief that "success is going to bring us together, we are on the road to success," per ABC affiliate WKOW. Additionally, he pointed out the nation's economic growth under his leadership prior to the coronavirus.

Biden's closing statements were a bit different. In them, he shared his hopes to unify the nation and addressed he would grow the economy, address systematic racism, and move the country towards cleaner energy. He noted here that he would serve under the guise that he's aware of blue and red state's differences.

Final Takeaways

Kristen Welker’s moderating was one of the best performances of the debates that have taken place in recent weeks. She served as a fair referee and appeared to sort out adequate time for both candidates to respond to her questions. Despite this, the muted mics rule that was announced earlier this week didn’t appear to take place. 

Even though Trump appeared to not truly be himself last night, he was still on-brand. His rants and attacks on Biden proved this is what he plans to do up until Election Day (November 3). There wasn’t really any humanness to his performance on the stage in Tennessee. He came across as accusatory and controlling. 

Biden despite not answering every question prompted by Welker still maintained a calm aura during the debate. He shelled out plenty of commendable and touching talking points last night. The results on Election Day will prove if his attempt to come across as authentic throughout his entire campaign worked well or not. Regardless, the debate was uninspiring.