Global Questions Series: Number 7 - The US Presidential Debate Takeaways

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Key Takeaways

3. Consequences Of The Debate

4. Concluding Remarks

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Bitesize Edition

• In the CNN US Presidential Election, we saw a man who is cognitively a shadow of his former self come up against a pathological liar. Keep in mind these are the candidates who were chosen to potentially lead for the next four years.

• The debate saw Biden stumble over his words and confuse himself with his own answers. Trump sought to pounce on this but came across as mean and a liar with his exaggerations of the truth and outright falsehoods. Still, the headlines were taken by Biden, with Trump coming out looking the best of two bad options. However, with US politics at a highly divisive level, it’s unlikely the debate will sway hard Democrats or Republicans. It’s in the swing states that the debate will have the greatest impact.

• How did we get here, and what will be the implication of either presidency for geopolitics, specifically Ukraine and Israel?

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Introduction

Two men, one of whom is clearly cognitively a shadow of his former self from four years ago, and the other a convicted felon, walk into a bar.

Do they walk into a bar, or the biggest stage the world has to offer in the U.S. Presidential Debate? Ah yes, fear not, it’s the latter.

Unfortunately, the biggest takeaway is Biden challenging Trump to a round of golf, but only if Trump can carry his own bag. We all feel like we’re carrying the bag of American politics around with us, and it’s a pretty heavy one. Biden then revealed he’d actually told a little lie about his golf handicap, which was actually from when he was vice president. This was at least 7 years ago and could have been as long as 15 years ago. We’ve come a long way since then Joe, and based on this car crash of a debate, the bag of American politics is only going to get heavier. Better find yourself a strong caddy, America.

I’m in a position where I can watch the United States political system take itself down a bumpy road from a distance, and I hope to assess both Biden and Trump in as unbiased an approach as possible, an issue many within a country struggle to do when it comes to domestic politics. American politics has become more split than ever before, and as a result, there is almost a religious faith that both sides possess. This belief leads to either side understanding the stakes of this election, but it splits the US more than ever before and stokes the flames of internal political conflict.

Before exploring the effects on wider geopolitics of this debate and the election, let’s dive into the takeaways from the election debate.

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Key Takeaways

Anybody defending Biden’s cognition because they’re a Democrat has the wool pulled over their eyes.

Anybody defending Trump is blindly defending a man who is a convicted felon, who has many examples of gaining an advantage in life, regardless of the moral implications, and a man painted as “for the people”, when he’s worth billions.

And this is the best the US has to offer? A weakened Democrat, or a lying Republican?