The First Presidential Debate of 2020
On Tuesday, September 29, the United States watched the first presidential debate of 2020 between the Democratic nominee Vice President Joe Biden and Republican nominee President Donald Trump. During the debate many topics related to current events were discussed, however, when asked if either representative condemned white supremacy, issues of racism become prevalent.
Moderator, Chris Wallace, questioned President Trump, “Are you willing tonight, to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities, that we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?” after noting Trump’s criticism toward Biden for not “specifically calling out Antifa and other left-wing extremist groups.” In response, the President responded around the question asking for a specific group of white supremacists to which Wallace used the Proud Boys as an example. Trump then answered the question telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” and proceeded to say that something should be done about Antifa and left-wing groups, believing that this is a problem created by the left.
Trump’s answer to Wallace’s question, or rather lack there of, prompted a large response from American citizens as they took to social media to share their thoughts. One of multiple celebrities, Alyssa Milano, tweeted, “You either denounce white supremacy or you’re a racist.” This was a widely shared thought among many, who took Trump’s statement for white supremacy groups to “stand by” as a way for the President to avoid answering with a direct yes or no about condemning these groups. Americans interpreted this as Trump showing his support for such organizations. Personally, the absence of a straightforward answer led me to also believe that by not condemning white supremacy, President Trump, in fact supports it.
The President of the United States is the most powerful person within the government who also represents the nation as a whole. By serving as a representative of the country his beliefs are reflective of the American citizens’s, meaning other nations are lead to think our President shares the same thoughts as us. However, during the debate this was not the case, because President Trump refused to denounce racism, this proved the United States’ government does have racist attitudes toward minorities. In addition, the debate clearly illustrated to American viewers as well as other nations that racism is still a strong problem within our country and that its roots begin with the most central part of the government system. Similarly to March, racism has not progressed as much as most would have hoped since the time in which the novel was based. Today there are still protests continuing the fight for equality, and there are still attacks on people of color or minorities as there were in the 1960s. There is still much work to be done to fully reach equality throughout the nation and it can be accomplished by creating a government run by those who believe in it.
