When people start to talk about politics, most usually start to zone out or pretend it does not concern them, but this year’s debates are ones to pay attention to. For those who watched the most recent debate on Sept. 29, if you know you know, but for those who did not, let me break it down for you. As a centrist, I can personally say, that was the worst debate in modern American history. Joe Biden couldn’t stand up for himself, President Donald J. Trump would not stop railroading over everyone, and Chris Wallace, the moderator, had no control over anything.

At the start, everything seemed to go normally, in fact it seemed as if Trump’s teleprompter voice was going to be used over his campaign rally one. However, ten minutes into the debate when the topic of healthcare came up and Biden was asked about his socialized healthcare plan, Trump’s professional demeanor began to fade away as he interrupted Biden who stated that people would be able to keep their private insurance under the plan he proposed. However, Trump immediately called him out on this, saying his party had said the opposite and that what he was saying was not true. From that point on in the debate, Trump seemed to be arguing with Wallace when his two-minute speaking time was up, and the impression that it was a Trump versus Wallace debate quickly became apparent.

According to a CNN graph, Trump only spoke for about two minutes more than Biden, despite Trump interrupting Biden many times. There was not much substance to anything spoken about during the debate. Nevertheless, Trump did make a lot of good points throughout the debate that unfortunately Biden did not have an answer to. For example, Trump prompted Biden to name one law enforcement organization that supported him and while Biden was scrambling to think of a name, Wallace swooped in and defended Biden instead of having Biden answer the question himself. There were several times where Wallace and Biden were both arguing with Trump, making it seem like a two on one debate. A good strategy on Trump’s part was putting Biden between a rock and a hard place by making Biden reluctantly admit that he does not support the Green New Deal, rioting and Bernie Sander’s manifesto. Biden also admitted that he does actually support law and order. Unfortunately, rather than Biden firing back at Trump with his own questions of the same caliber, Biden seemingly alienated some of his base. He had two choices, either denounce the radicals and lose them, or support the radicals and lose the centrists.

Now I genuinely dislike media bias because I feel it is unfair, and I will not blindly support Trump, but he won this debate, even if it may not be a popular opinion. He made himself seem confident and able to stand up for himself, albeit in a brash way and without decorum. Biden unfortunately presented himself as being vulnerable and ill-prepared, though I do believe he did not speak up as much due to a respect for the debate process. Either way, it was chaotic, bad optics for both sides and going forward, Biden needs to step up his game, not call Trump names when he is interrupting and show the American people the fiery, quick-witted Joe from Former President Barrack Obama’s days in office. I pray the next debates are better, or we can kiss the typical debate manner goodbye.