Tuesday night marked the first 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. It was nothing short of a mess.
To recap: Trump consistently talked over both Biden and the moderator, evaded denouncing white supremacy and attacked Biden’s family. Rather than a debate of political ideals and plans for the presidency, it was akin to a middle school roast battle. The moderator, Chris Wallace, had to intervene multiple times to try and settle the two candidates, but to virtually no avail.
One of the lowest moments of the debate was Trump crossing a professional and ethical line by bringing up Biden’s dead son and attacking his remaining son, Hunter, for his past drug addiction. Biden responded with strength, vulnerability and grace. And when Trump was flying off the handle about mail-in voting fraud, Biden looked at the camera and spoke to the people, pleading with them to vote.
However, despite Biden’s patience, show of humanity and a couple of well-rehearsed speeches — not to mention how morbidly fascinating the entire night was — it would be a disservice to say that anyone truly won. Biden was not as persuasive or sharp as he could and should have been.
Still, our generation has been quick to praise Biden’s funniest moments in the debate: him laughing at Trump’s ranting, calling Trump a clown, telling Trump to “shut up, man” and asking for Trump’s tax returns.
They’re right — it is hilarious, especially following an exceedingly clever and petty campaigning strategy of selling “I paid more income taxes than Donald Trump” stickers, in addition to creating a Trump Tax Calculator and releasing his own tax returns for 2019.
But it’s important not to let such entertainment gloss over Biden’s past. I’ve noticed that much of this generation swiftly jumps to extremes — it shows in our toxic cancel culture. But this time, young people are jumping to the opposite end, by declaring that they love Biden. Such idealizing statements undermine the original “Settle for Biden” campaign slogan.
Those of us who are voting for Biden, no matter what, should remember that we are still settling by doing so.
One of the more substantiated points Trump brought up in the debate was Biden’s drafting of the 1994 crime bill, which, though not entirely successful, attempted to escalate incarceration, disproportionately affecting communities of color. It is indicative of Biden’s historically “tough-on-crime” background. Not exactly promising for someone who is now pledging to reform criminal justice.
Let’s take a closer look at Biden’s record. In 2002, Biden voted to authorize former President George W. Bush’s use of force against Iraq, championing a war that had serious consequences for both nations.
Biden has also been criticized for a series of inappropriate and uncomfortable behavior toward women. Instead of taking these allegations seriously, he has joked about them multiple times. The cherry on top of this brand of sexism is his inappropriate and disrespectful handling of Anita Hill’s sexual harassment hearing and his refusal to take full accountability since.
Additionally, Biden has shown a pattern of racism that he has yet to shake, despite his progressive platform. Most notably, he was against desegregation busing that looked to racially integrate schools in the 70’s. He also eulogized segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond in 2003 as well as former KKK Exalted Cyclops Sen. Robert Byrd in 2010.
In 1996, he pushed to pass a welfare reform law that disproportionately harmed Black and Latinx families. He has also previously advocated for the freezing of, or cuts to, Social Security. Yet, is now pledging to increase benefits as part of his presidential campaign — the same campaign declines to comment on whether or not he stands by his 1996 welfare vote.
Forgive me if I doubt the sincerity of his new platform.
Biden is behind the times. Even in this recent debate, he used the cliched “bad apples” analogy to describe corrupt officers in law enforcement, when, in fact, the entire system is corrupt down to its roots.
Biden clearly reinforced his stance Tuesday night by saying he is “totally opposed” to defunding the police. His plan is to reform police departments by giving them more support and reintroducing community policing, which could actually increase the number of police officers in communities of color and do more harm than good.
To see him next to Trump and think “he looks so much better” is to forget that the lesser of two evils is still no saint.
Biden’s track record shows that even if he’s elected, an outcome that is definitely a far cry from Trump winning, we still won’t have a complete victory. There would still remain a disregard for BIPOC lives and voices, as well as a dismissal of their oppression in the United States.
All of this being said, don’t let the poor choices we have before us disillusion you and dissuade you from voting. More than ever, voting in the 2020 presidential election is crucial: Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he is the only viable option. I simply write this as a reminder that we need to keep pushing and cannot become complacent.
If Biden is elected — knock on wood — so much of the legislation, policy and sustained change we’re looking for will have to be led by the people. It may not be coming from the next president.
