The first presidential debate was, by almost every measure, a glorified match of verbal Wrestlemania. With debate moderator Chris Wallace losing control of the format and both candidates throwing insults at each other, it is no wonder that focus group members described the candidates performance as being “arrogant”, “forceful”, and “un-American”.
However, in the midst of throwing partisan punches and aggressively questioning his opponent, President Trump did make multiple claims about his own policies and former Vice President Biden. Re-watching the debate, I identified several claims made by President Trump that are worth addressing.
Coronavirus Death Toll and Response
TRUMP, addressing Biden on U.S. deaths from COVID-19: “If you were here, it wouldn’t be 200,000 people, it would be 2 million people. You didn’t want me to ban China, which was heavily infected…. If we would have listened to you, the country would have been left wide open.”
It is unclear whether or not Biden’s specific coronavirus plan would have led to 2 million deaths from the pandemic. However, what is clear is Biden’s position at the time of President Trump’s initial travel restrictions to China. On January 31, 2020, President Trump issued the “Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus”, which imposed significant travel restrictions on individuals traveling from China to the United States. A day after the travel restrictions were released, Joe Biden tweeted a message saying, “We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency.” It seems, from the tweet itself, that Biden was criticizing the president’s “xenophobic” response to the pandemic, namely the travel restrictions. After four months, however, the Biden campaign reversed course, with deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfeld explaining, “Joe Biden supports travel bans that are guided by medical experts, advocated by public health officials, and backed by a full strategy. Science supported this ban, therefore he did too.”
Prescription Drug Prices
TRUMP: “Drug prices will be coming down 80 or 90%.”
It is true that President Trump signed an executive order on September 13, 2020 titled the “Executive Order on Lowering Drug Prices by Putting America First”, which changed the meaning of the “most-favored nation” price. The executive order reads, “When the Federal Government purchases a drug covered by Medicare — the cost of which is shared by American seniors who take the drug and American taxpayers — it should insist on, at a minimum, the lowest price at which the manufacturer sells that drug to any other developed nation.” In theory, this would lower prescription drug prices for Americans on Medicare by allowing the federal government to request the lower prices available to foreign countries. However, as the policy has not yet been fully implemented, it is unclear what the exact effect would be on prescription drug prices overall.
Manufacturing Jobs
TRUMP: “Michigan had the best year they’ve ever had. Many car companies came in from Germany and Japan, went to Michigan.”
While it is true that, as of January 2020, President Trump added almost 487,000 manufacturing jobs to the US economy since he took office, it is not true that German and Japanese car companies came into Michigan in 2019.
Disavowing White Supremacists and the Proud Boys – FULL TRANSCRIPT and link to the full moment of the debate
CHRIS WALLACE: (41:33)
You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out Antifa and other left wing extremist groups. But are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups…
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP (41:47)
Sure.
CHRIS WALLACE (41:48)
…and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha…
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP (41:56)
Sure.
CHRIS WALLACE (41:57)
…and as we’ve seen in Portland.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: (41:57)
Sure, I’m willing to do that.
CHRIS WALLACE: (41:59)
Are you prepared specifically to do it.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: (42:00)
I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing not from the right wing.
CHRIS WALLACE: (42:04)
But what are you saying?
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: (42:06)
I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
CHRIS WALLACE: (42:08)
Well, do it, sir.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: (42:09)
Say it, do it say it.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: (42:10)
What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name, go ahead who do you want me to condemn.
CHRIS WALLACE: (42:14)
White supremacist and right-wing militia.
VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: (42:14)
Proud Boys.
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: (42:18)
Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem this is a left wing…
One of the most contentious parts of the debate was when President Trump allegedly said of the Proud Boys, a far-right group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, that they should “stand back and stand by”. Immediately after the debate, it was unclear what President Trump meant by that statement. Some commentators feared that he intended to embolden the group. However, the day after the debate, President Trump told reporters that the Proud Boys should “stand down, let law enforcement do their work”. It is also worth noting that the president has disavowed white supremacists multiple times before this presidential debate. Also, based on the transcript, it seems that President Trump was willing to disavow white supremacists three times during the debate. He even clearly said to Chris Wallace, “Sure, I’m willing to do that.”
As a reminder to our readership, the second debate will be on October 15, 2020 at Florida International University, moderated by Steve Scully, political editor at C-SPAN.
As a note to all readers of The Cornell Review, Election Day is on November 3rd, 2020. If you have not yet registered to vote, please follow the instructions in this link to do so. Voting is one of many ways to participate in our democratic republic.
