In 1984, The Weather Vane asked students, “Overall, who do you think won the debates?” referring to the debates between Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan. Last Wednesday was the first Presidential Debate between Incumbent Donald Trump and Joe Biden. We asked current students the same question.
Chris Kibbler (sophomore): All they did was argue the whole time…but I guess if I had to go with anybody, it would be Trump.
Ross Kirkdorffer (junior): I don’t think the debate had a winner because neither one really proved anything. Trump just stayed consistent with what he’s always been. He said whatever came to his mind first, whether it was true or not. Biden was disappointing because he did not stand up to Trump in a good way. He resorted to insulting the president rather than outsmarting him which would not have been too difficult. Most of the debate was Trump interrupting Biden and both of them resorted to slander to disprove each other. It wasn’t really a debate. It was just people yelling at each other for an hour and a half without particularly saying anything that would show us how they are going to be president for the next four years. They didn’t show they had any plans whatsoever.
Yessica Quezada (first-year): Neither. I feel like they both gave some strong points as well as some weak points. It was not a debate in my eyes. Each of them acted like a child in some way, shape or form. Biden really tried to be as restful as possible by giving Trump his two minutes and trying not to interrupt him as best as he could but Trump was like “Eh, I’ll interrupt you” and he kept interrupting Biden’s too minutes which I think is really unfair.
Jasmine Friesen (first-year): I feel like they both just roasted each other. I guess Biden because I like him better but I feel like they both did equally bad.
Luke Wheeler (sophomore): In my opinion, I would say Joe Biden, but not by a large amount. For a lot of it, I don’t think they really talked about policy. I don’t think they really addressed the issues well, either one. I think a lot of that was because Donald Trump was interrupting Joe Biden but I think Joe Biden also did a fair amount of interrupting himself. I think that overall Joe Biden won but I did not gain very much insight into policy or anything like that.
Tiffany Carey (sophomore): The debate was pretty bad, regardless, but I guess I’ll say Trump.
Alijah Johnson (junior): Nobody. I don’t think anybody won, because it was really difficult for Biden to get a word in and Trump didn’t really touch on anything, like his plans. Neither did Biden. I think they were just bickering too much for them to give the American people a good incentive to vote for either.
Nate Yoder (first-year): Neither. In my opinion, they were both horrible but I guess since Biden is leading in the polls overall, since neither of them gained or lost any support, I guess, overall, Biden since neither of them did anything and it just stayed stagnant…if Biden is winning right now then I guess Biden won the debate.
Donaldo Lleshi (senior): I think Trump won. He was more aggressive. He knew what kind of points to attack Biden at. Biden just wasn’t very assertive, except the few moments he called him a clown. Overall, I thought the debate was very toxic. We couldn’t really know what their platforms were for the election so I don’t think it was a very good debate but if I had to say who won, it was probably Trump just because he was a little more aggressive and he was a little more clear on his answers even though he avoided a lot of them. He was a bit more diplomatic on what to avoid and how to attack Biden with personal attacks also. If people really wanted to know who to vote for because of their platform, then the debate didn’t really help much. It was a bit more aggressiveness and intense and very rude, people not letting each other speak.
Skylar Coffey (sophomore): They both acted like glorified children and they insulted each other a lot but I had respect for Biden because he defended his son, but that’s about all I have respect for for both of them because they’re children.
Maggie Garber (first-year): I think no one won and America lost. I feel like the debate didn’t serve its purpose and therefore cannot choose a winner or a loser. No, I can choose a loser. They’re both losers. I feel like the purpose of the debate is to explore topics and where candidates fall on things and that just didn’t happen.
