Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden battled President Donald Trump in the first 2020 Presidential Debate on Tuesday September 29, and prevailed due to his calm, professional demeanor throughout the debate.

The debate consisted of various sections that prompted discussions about health care, COVID-19 responses moving forward, the idea of appointing a new Supreme Court Justice, the economy, climate change, and systemic racism in America. 

While the debate was supposed to be a calm, informational presentation and discussion about those topics and how our candidates plan to handle them, the debate turned into a 90 minute argument brought on by President Trump’s constant attacks against  Vice President Biden and Fox News Moderator Chris Wallace. 

The first question asked was whether or not the appointment of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barret was a good idea so close to the election. Trump claimed that he has every right because he won the election and “elections have consequences.” 

He argues that it does not matter that the election is approaching, he just wants to get his last say in before he might be removed from the Oval Office. Anything that began as a coherent discussion about American politics was twisted into a Trump monologue of denial and self-proclamations of how he has succeeded in his first term as president.

Biden, however, crafted his response to support the American people, and what they might think about the nomination. He explained how Barrett’s nomination might hurt citizens, especially when it comes to her conservative perspective on Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m not opposed to the justice, she seems like a very fine person, but she’s written before she went on the bench, which is her right, that she thinks that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional… It is just not appropriate to do this before this election. If he wins this election and the Senate is Republican, then he goes forward. If not, then he should wait until February,” Biden said during his first opening statement.

During Biden’s uninterrupted 2 minute opening statement, Trump deemed it fit to speak when he heard something he did not like and interrupted Biden. 

These unwarranted interruptions were President Trump’s main tactic throughout the debate, interrupting Biden and Wallace over ten times.

There was no hiding the annoyance and aggravation that the Vice President harbored toward Trump, even commenting, “Will you shut up man?”

While Biden did get a few jabs in towards the president, he still maintained a professional demeanor and was able to discuss his platform and to inform the people.

During many points throughout the debate, Biden addressed the people directly and was successful in making them feel heard and comfortable in the potential leader of our country. 

This was truly effective during the segment which examined the coronavirus response. Trump’s only line of defense is how he has rebuilt the economy due to reopening the country even after it plummeted when America shut down, claiming that if it were Biden in charge of the shutdown the state of America would be worse off than it already is under his leadership. 

“This guy will close down the whole country and destroy our country. Our country is coming back incredibly well and setting records as it does it, we don’t need someone coming in and say ‘let’s shut it down.”

Despite the constant onslaught from the President, Biden remained stoic and had an intellectual and empathetic comeback. 

“You folks living in Scranton and Claymont and all the small towns and working class towns in America, how are you doing? You can’t fix the economy until you fix the COVID crisis and he has no intention of making it any better for you all at home in terms of your health and your safety.”

Trump had no regards for the rules of the debate, as well as no regards for human decency as he not only attacked Biden, but his son Hunter Biden, highlighting the fact that he was a drug user.

“Hunter got thrown out of the military. He was dishonorably discharged for cocaine use. He didn’t have a job until you became Vice President.”

In response to this vicious attack against his own family, Biden remained composed and defended his son and his journey to sobriety, avoiding the potential trap that the president had set for him to fall into. 

The last straw to this debate was when asked about the systemic racism that has become more public since the shut down. When asked if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups, Trump said that the Proud Boys, a promininet white supremacist group should “stand back and stand by,” and that the main problem is left wing groups such as Antifa.

Biden drove home the win by encouraging citizens to vote and letting them know that their votes really matter. 

“If I win that will be accepted, if I lose that will be accepted. If in fact he says he’s not sure what he’s going to accept… it doesn’t matter. If we get the votes, it’s gonna be all over. He’s gonna go, he can’t stay in power. It won’t happen. So vote, Just make sure you understand that it is going to be in your control to determine what this country is gonna look like the next 4 years. Is it going to change or is it going to be 4 more years of these lies?”

While the first of three debates was tiresome and painful to watch, Biden was able to connect with the people on the topics that mattered. He may have called him a clown, but he did not fall victim to Trump’s bullying and interruption tactics. 

Unfortunately, the next debate was cancelled because of President Trump’s refusal to participate in a virtual debate due to him contracting the coronavirus.