Cleveland, Oh. –  On Tuesday, Sept. 29, viewers such as myself had our eyes glued to the television, watching the first 2020 presidential debate unfold. To say this debate turned out to be completely out of the ordinary is an understatement.

The debate began with Fox News anchor Chris Wallace as the moderator and Republican nominee President Trump and Democrat nominee former Vice President Joe Biden coming on stage. There was no handshake to oblige with the CDC guidelines, and they stood six-feet apart from each other. 

For the first 10 minutes or so, both candidates were respectful of one another. But once Wallace started asking each nominee questions about certain topics, the gloves came right off for Trump. His tactics became very aggressive toward both Wallace and Biden. 

Throughout the debate, Biden seemed to struggle to keep a straight face, laughing from time to time as if he could not believe some of the things coming out of the president’s mouth, which left me, too, shaking my head in disbelief. 

As the night progressed, the two candidates argued back and forth trying to gain the trust of the American people as if they were two children fighting over a toy on the playground. 

After a while, you could see that Wallace lost control as President Trump talked over both Wallace and Biden. It got so bad that Trump would argue with Wallace making remarks like “I guess I’m debating you instead of him (referring to Joe Biden). Not surprising.” 

President Trump claimed he had to respond to every statement that Biden was saying, and that’s why he would constantly talk over the moderator and not let him finish asking a question or even  a sentence. 

Instead of taking turns to voice their positions on a certain topic, the president and former vice president used the time to make rude commentary towards one another. 

That alone made each segment not last long at all and made the moderator struggle with getting any form of his questions out.

You could see that Biden tried to keep some form of a composure, but after awhile he, too, had to become aggressive calling Trump a “clown” and “irresponsible.” 

Throughout the night Biden maintained eye contact with the camera as if trying to directly talk to the viewers at home. He even asked viewers at home questions and said that he understands what they are going through.

The hot mess of this debate makes me worry about the future of this country. After watching it I developed a headache, and stood facing the television, asking myself what just happened?  I couldn’t even figure out who won, but I don’t even know if there was a winner. The debate itself seemed all over the place. It was distasteful and almost a joke. If I’m being honest that’s the main reason why I watched it in the first place. 

I am genuinely worried about what future debates will look like given how this was so disappointing to witness.