Millions of Americans tuned in to the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden last night to see the spectacle descend into uncontrollable bickering, rowing and ankle-biting. Within 15 minutes, Democratic candidate Joe Biden was audibly telling the president to “shut up, man”. The Spectator sums it up: “one of the most despicable, embarrassing clown acts Americans have ever seen on national television”…

The debate covered Biden and Trumps’ records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in our cities, and the election; all in just 90 minutes.

• On their records, Trump touted his ability to have got things done versus Joe Biden’s record over the last half-a-century, with Trump claiming “In 47 months, I’ve done more than you’ve done in 47 years” 
  • Biden later reported “Under this president we’ve become weaker, sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent”
• On the Supreme Court, Biden didn’t give a definitive answer on whether he supports adding seats to the court
• On Covid, Trump claims many lives were saved by his actions and deaths would have been higher under Biden
  • Biden retorted with Trump’s months of downplaying Covid-19, “A lot of people died, and a lot more are going to unless he gets a lot smarter”
• On rioting and racism, Biden claimed the president wants to “pour gasoline on the fire”. 
  • Asked whether he was willing to condemn white supremacist groups, Trump said “Sure I’m willing to do that, but almost everything I see is from the left-wing.” 
• On the election, Trump said he hopes it’s fair, “But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated I can’t go along with that. It means you have a fraudulent election.” He also said he’d be prepared to go to the Supreme Court.

Post-debate polling gave the debate to Biden: some relatively narrowly like CBS’s 48% for Biden vs 41% for Trump; some more commandingly like CNN’s 60% Biden victory against Trump’s 28%. Though it’s worth remembering Clinton won her first debate by similar margins…