Image source: D. Williams, Pixabay
The last presidential debate took place on October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. This time the moderator was Kristen Welker from NBC News. There are only 12 days until the election, although in many states elections are already in progress - by mail or in person at the early voting stations. To date, 47 million US citizens have voted, which is about 25% of eligible and registered. Presumably, only those who strongly support Republican or Democrat policy have voted so far. So to what extent will the results of this debate influence the elections? Will President Trump or former Vice President Biden be able to convince about 10% of the so far undecided whose votes will really decide?
The first topic of debate was the fight against COVID-19, the "Chinese Virus" as President Trump correctly puts it. He emphasized that at the beginning of the pandemic, experts estimated the likely number of deaths in the US at 2.2 million, and so far about 210,000 have died, which indicates the effectiveness of fighting the virus, as well as significantly lower than expected mortality. Trump stressed that in a few weeks there will be 100 million doses of vaccine from companies such as Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, which will be used by the military as part of Operation Warp Speed to vaccinate all volunteers. He stressed that despite the protests of Democrats, including Joe Biden, he closed the borders very early to Chinese and then European tourists, which significantly reduced the number of infections in the US. It also launched mass production of ventilators, which the USA now supplies to the entire world. Joe Biden replied that 200,000 more Americans would die (would he have a glass ball or the ability to travel through time?). Biden also said that if he becomes President, immediately after taking office (January 20, 2021), he will introduce a federal order to wear masks throughout the United States and federal regulations on conditions for opening schools and businesses (such regulations would be contrary to the US Constitution, but he did not mention it anymore). When asked by Kristen Welker if he could be vaccinated himself, Biden did not answer, changed the subject and continued the attack on the President, and the moderator did not return to her question and did not request an answer. Trump stressed that during the H1N1 swine flu epidemic during the Obama and Biden tenure, as a result of the disastrous action of the previous administration, there were many more infected, and if the death rate of that virus was the same as Covid-19, we would have 700,000. deaths in the US. Trump stressed the need to open schools with statistics showing that 99.9% of infected adolescents recover quickly. He also mentioned that America cannot lock up in a basement for months like Joe Biden, who no one knows how he made a living at that time - probably referring to bribes to the Biden family from China, Russia and Ukraine. Trump believes that each state should make decisions about lifting restrictions because things are different everywhere. He also found that the greatest death rate of the virus was in Democratic states like New York, where 40,000 people died, in California, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and the city of New York is currently depopulated, because everyone who can escapes from it. Biden replied that he would not shut down the country, but would "shut down the virus" (I wonder how?).
The second topic of the debate was national security. Kristen Welker said Russia and Iran are trying to influence the current presidential election without providing the sources of the information. Joe Biden has stated that if he becomes president, he will punish all countries trying to meddle in the US election process, that Russia wants Trump to win and Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani (former great mayor of New York) is a Russian Pawn. Trump replied that the Biden family had received $3.5 million from Putin's corrupt friend and ex-wife of Moscow's mayor. He stated that he was firm with Russia, forced NATO member states to pay an additional $130 billion for armaments, and that he provided military equipment to Ukraine, which was fighting the Russian invasion. On the other hand, Obama and Biden gave part of Ukraine to Russia, and this raises a question to which Biden must answer - what did the Biden family receive tens of millions of dollars from Ukraine for? Biden replied that he personally never received any money from Ukraine or any other country (information found on his son Hunter's laptop indicates that Joe Biden was supposed to receive 10% on certain son's transactions and an FBI investigation is now underway, with this laptop). Biden counted that Trump had an account in China and paid taxes there, to which Trump replied that he once had a construction plan in China and then opened an account, but then closed the account when he decided to run for office, to which there is evidence. Biden attacked Trump for not disclosing tax returns, to which Trump replied that he would disclose the documents after the audit, and that his annual financial statements contain all financial information. He also said that there were times when he prepaid millions of dollars in taxes in one year, which was a credit for the next year. Trump said the Democrats spied on his election campaign and then investigated and impeached him, at the cost of $48 million for three years, screening his finances and finding absolutely nothing.
Kristen Welker asked Joe Biden if it was unethical for his son Hunter to be on the board of directors of the Ukrainian company Burisma, while Joe himself was vice president of the United States. Biden replied that it was not, to which Trump recalled that Hunter received a monthly salary of $83,000 and a bonus of $3 million, despite not having any experience with oil and gas. He summed up the topic by saying that the Biden family was like a vacuum cleaner sucking money from abroad. Biden changed the subject again, reciting the memorized statement that this debate was not about his family, but about families hit by the crisis.
Kristen Welker returned to international affairs, namely the arming of North Korea. Trump reiterated Obama's opinion that there would be a war with Korea during Trump's term, possibly nuclear, but he managed to reach an agreement with the country's leader and prevented the war. To this, Biden replied that Trump was friends with dictators, and once the US had a good relationship with Hitler before he started the invasion (which, of course, is not true).
The third topic was family and the economy. Kristen Welker stated that if the Supreme Court annulled the so-called Obamacare, 20 million Americans will lose their medical insurance. Trump replied that he had long ago modified Obamacare to remove the (unconstitutional) obligation to buy this insurance and that insurance costs were falling. He also announced that in his second term he would introduce new medical insurance regulations that would also cover pre-existing conditions. Today, approximately 180 million Americans have private insurance and are satisfied with the level of benefits, and Biden plans to nationalize the entire system, leaving citizens to lose their insurance. Biden replied that his new plan would not eliminate private insurance and would have a private option. When the moderator asked again, whether it nationalizes the insurance system, stated that medical care is a civil right (there is no such provision in the US Constitution). Here Trump stressed that Biden has been in the government for 47 years, including vice president for 8 years, so why didn't he do anything about it? Moreover, candidate for vice-president Kamala Harris, as well as the entire left of the Democratic party, are openly planning to nationalize the health insurance system.
Then Trump changed the subject and touched on fracking gas and oil, stating that Biden wanted to stop the method, which would increase energy prices and cost millions of people their jobs. He also said that if he was re-elected, the stock market would go up, while if Biden was re-elected, breaking the stock market would cause average American pension funds to decline and a deep economic crisis will ensue. When asked by the moderator why there is no other law on financial aid for people who have suffered from Covid, Trump replied that the Republicans already had 3 versions of such a law, unfortunately the leader of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi blocks all these proposals, demanding financial aid for illegal people and aid for indebted cities and states that were ineptly ruled by Democrats before the pandemic. Trump asked Biden a question - why didn't he, as the current leader of the Democratic Party, put pressure on Pelosi? Biden didn't answer.
Kristen Welker then asked Joe Biden if he supported the US minimum wage of $15.00 an hour. Biden answered yes, because you have to help small businesses (the rate of $15/hour causes the bankruptcy of small businesses, as evidenced by the effects of this in some cities that introduced such a rate).
The moderator changed the subject and asked President Trump about children being separated from their parents by immigration services at the Mexican border. Trump replied that these children reach the US borders not with parents but with smugglers and that, unlike the days of Obama and Biden, they are not kept in cages but have very good living conditions, and the US government is doing everything so the children could go back to their parents. He stated that during his first term in office he had built 400 miles of border wall, which significantly improved security, and that those wishing to legally enter the US must undergo proper immigration procedures. Biden has promised to sign a law granting residence in the US to illegal residents, who will be able to apply for citizenship after some time , in his first 100 days at the White House (here he revealed the real plan of the Democrats - how to get additional millions of citizens who will vote for them in the future). Trump countered that Biden had been in the White House for 8 years, why didn't he carry out an immigration reform then?
The fourth topic of debate was the racism in the US. The parents of black children prepare them for possible arrest by the police, who (allegedly) treat them differently from white children. Joe Biden stated that institutional racism reigns in America (for which he did not provide any evidence) and that African Americans must be given the opportunity to attend good schools, get a good job and start their own businesses. Trump replied that Biden spent 47 years in Washington, including 8 years at the White House, and did nothing for national minorities, and that black youth was once called by him public predators. Trump and Senator Tim Scott introduced a 10-year minority aid plan, opportunity zones and penitentiary reform. Biden declared, that no one should go to jail for drugs (drug trafficking?). Trump retorted that four years ago he decided to run for the President of the United States, seeing the disastrous results of the Obama and Biden governments, to which the former vice president replied that everyone knew his reputation and character. Here Trump could not stand it and declared that Biden was a corrupt politician, referring to the information contained in the Senate Report on the Biden corruption and an authentic Hunter laptop in the hands of the FBI. As usual, Biden replied that this was an action by the Russians in which Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani was involved.
At this point, Kristen Welker, saving Biden, abruptly changed the subject and turned to the subject of Black Lives Matter, which Trump called a hate organization. The president then spoke of the anti-police BLM slogans and riots that had spread to dozens of cities. He also stated that he is perhaps the least racist president since Abraham Lincoln. Joe Biden, whose stimulant drugs seem to have stopped working at that point, replied that Lincoln was racist (sic!). Trump once again insisted that Biden had been in the White House for 8 years and had done nothing to improve racial relations in the US.
The fifth topic for the debate was climate and environmental protection; or how to fight climate change and at the same time provide Americans with jobs?
President Trump said his plan was working and that the US is currently emitting the least CO2 in over 35 years. China, Russia and India are poisoning the environment the most, while its administration has moved away from the so-called Paris Agreement, so as not to lose tens of millions of US jobs to China, as this fatal agreement for the US does not include China until 2030. Biden did not know, proposing a return to the Paris Agreement. He also said that we have a moral obligation to fight global warming, because in 8 or 10 years it will be too late (we heard the same thing 10 years ago). Biden then stated that the unions backed his environmental plan (for which there is no evidence) that he would build 50,000 electric car charging stations. He believes the electricity will come from wind turbines and solar panels. President Trump responded that the introduction of the so-called Green New Deal proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her 3 associates in Congress will cut each family's income by $6,500 a year, that wind turbines are very expensive and energy-intensive, kill birds, and solar panels are not yet efficient enough. He stated that, for the first time, the US is energy independent and that he saved the oil extraction industry as oil prices raged in world markets. He emphasized once again that Joe Biden has repeatedly declared a plan to abandon fracking oil and gas, which will collapse the economy and increase fuel prices. Biden replied that he only wanted to give up "fracking" in federal areas (he probably does not know that it's theere that most fracking takes place).
The sixth and final topic was the plans of both candidates after they won the elections.
Trump presented his economic success to a pandemic, where 11.4 million new jobs were created, unemployment has dropped to an all-time low in US history, and unlike Biden, he will cut taxes to stimulate the economy.
Biden replied with a previously memorized text, speaking very vaguely about hope, opportunities, economic growth, the fight against racism, honor and integrity.
After the debate, a vast majority of respondents said that Trump won the debate in the Ronald Reagan style without getting carried away and citing dozens of achievements during his first term in office. Joe Biden was unable to present even one of his achievements in his 47 years in Washington, including 8 years as Vice-President in the White House. The elections are underway, although on November 3 we will probably not know the results; vote counting and anti-fraud trials in key states could continue for weeks to come. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats and their organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Antifa are preparing another series of riots, and police in many large cities are training street fights.
A few hours before the presidential debate, Grzegorz Fryc's Internet debate was held at the 60 Million Congress over Zoom. The debate was attended, among others, by The editor-in-chief of Kuryer Polski, Waldemar Biniecki, and a member of the editorial board and author of this article, Zygmunt Staszewski, as well as several activists and supporters of the Republican and Democratic Party. The debate focused mainly on US relations with Poland.
