Chris Wallace
During the first presidential debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked President Donald Trump whether he would condemn white supremacists and ask them to stay down during ongoing demonstrations.
"Sure, I’m willing to, but I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace," Trump said.
"Who would you like me to condemn?" Trump asked when urged by Biden to condemn the groups and is prompted the far-right group "Proud Boys."
"Proud Boys — stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what. I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right wing problem," so the president.
According to the BBC, Proud Boys responded to the president's remarks in their Telegram group, writing: "Standing down and standing by sir."
The first presidential debate was 90 minutes of interjections and altercations and moderator Chris Wallace repeatedly had to ask President Donald Trump not to interrupt former Vice President Joe Biden.
President Trump spoke a total of around 38 minutes compared to Biden with 43 minutes. The Covid-19 pandemic took up around 20 minutes of the debate, race and violence 17 minutes, election integrity 11 minutes and climate change 10 minutes. Trump interrupted Biden 73 times.
Key Points:
- President Trump questioned the legitimacy of the November election again and alleged he had seen "tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated." Biden countered that Trump's own FBI director didn't find evidence of widespread voter fraud. "This is all about trying to dissuade people from voting, because he is trying to scare people into thinking that it's not going to be legitimate. Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of the election," so Biden.
- Biden called Trump "Putin's puppy" who "refuses to say anything to Putin about the bounty on the heads of American soldiers" and "the worst president that America has ever had."
- Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden, and Wallace had to unsuccessfully remind the President about the rules, saying: "Mr President. Your campaign agreed that both sides would get two-minute answers. Uninterrupted. Well, your side agreed to it. Why don't you observe what your campaign agreed to as a ground rule."
- Biden said that Trump has made the country "sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent," adding that during his time as vice president, he fixed the recession his administration inherited. "We left him a booming economy and he caused the recession," Biden said.
- Trump refused to denounce White supremacists, claiming that "almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right-wing. I'm willing to do anything. I want to see peace."
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will meet in the first presidential debate on September 29 at 9:30PM (Eastern Time) as the 2020 election enters into its final weeks.
The debate will take place in Cleveland, will last for an hour and a half, and will be moderated by Chris Wallace, anchor of "Fox News Sunday."
The presidential debates will start on September 29.
The first debate between Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden will be moderate by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace on September 29. C-SPAN's Steve Scully is set to moderate the second debate on October 15 and NBC's Kristen Welker will host the final debate on October 22.
The vice-presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will be moderated by USA Today Washington Bureau chief Susan Page on October 7.