memeorandum: Undecided voters call Trump ‘unhinged’ and ‘un-American’ — but unswayed by debate (Laura Barrón-López/Politico)

12:55 PM ET, September 30, 2020

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John F. Harris / Politico:

An Epic Moment of National Shame: The Debate Was an Embarrassment for the Ages — At frequent intervals on Tuesday night, the natural human reaction—lower the sound, wince and look away—took over, and the first presidential debate of the 2020 general election became nearly unwatchable.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, New York Times, New York Magazine, Reuters, Townhall, Washington Post, Raw Story, Florida Politics, Bangor Daily News, Outside the Beltway, The Slot and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Seaborn Larson / Helena Independent Record:

Former Gov. Marc Racicot to vote for Biden — Former Montana governor and Republican National Committee Chair Marc Racicot on Tuesday said he would not vote for President Donald Trump, citing Trump's character as fault enough to vote for Democrat challenger Joe Biden on Nov. 3.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Hill, Raw Story, Fox Business, Bangor Daily News and The Slot

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:

Undecided voters call Trump ‘unhinged’ and ‘un-American’ — but unswayed by debate — After watching the first presidential debate Tuesday night, undecided voters from battleground states across the country still had plenty they wanted to know about coronavirus, racial injustice and what each candidate would do to unite the country.

Discussion: The Independent, New York Post, Political Wire, Washington Times, The Hill and Slate

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

“This Is So Unpresidential”: Notes from the Worst Debate in American History — Trump talked and talked on Tuesday night, but, politically speaking, it added up to nothing. — What does the worst debate in American history look like? It looks like the debate that took place …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Vox, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic, Fox News, National Review and BNO News

David Bossie / Fox News:

Trump clearly defeats Biden in first presidential debate — Biden failed to accomplish in 47 years what Trump has delivered for the American people in 47 months — Laura Ingraham: Trump and Biden share stage in ‘raucous’ debate — To any reasonable person watching …

Discussion: OpsLens

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Exclusive poll: Biden won the debate convincingly — Photo by Jim Watson, Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images — A decisive win, powered mostly by character. — A new poll by Data for Progress provided exclusively to Vox shows that viewers thought Democratic nominee Joe Biden decisively won Tuesday's …

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Redstate, NBC News, Political Wire and Louder With Crowder, more at Mediagazer »

Claire Sanford / Rev:

Donald Trump & Joe Biden 1st Presidential Debate Transcript 2020 — Full transcript of the first 2020 presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The debate was moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. — Transcribe Your Own Content

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times, Legal Planet, Althouse, CNBC, ABC News and NPR

Politico:

Biden campaign faces questions about whether he should skip next debates — The moment Joe Biden's first debate against Donald Trump ended, his campaign was already confronted with questions about whether it should be his last. — In the two men's first head-to-head matchup …

Discussion: The Bulwark, New York Times, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, TheBlaze, The Atlantic, Breitbart and American Greatness

Bonchie / Redstate:

Chris Wallace's Debate Performance Was Absolutely Disgraceful — When Chris Wallace said yesterday that he wanted to be “invisible” at last night's first Presidential Debate, I knew that was a promise he wasn't going to keep. His animosity toward Trump is no secret.

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Fox News, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Guardian, Conservative News Today and The Week

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

A Disgusting Night for Democracy — The 90-minute spectacle tonight calls into question the value of having any “debates” of this sort ever again. No one knows more about public life than he or she did before this disaster began; some people know less; and everyone feels and looks worse.

Discussion: Raw Story and National Memo

Jeet Heer / The Nation:

With Help From Chris Wallace, Trump Attacked American Democracy — Enabled by the weak moderation, the president used the debate to legitimize a hate group and threaten intimidation at the polling station. — The first presidential debate of 2020 was a wretched affair, more a verbal brawl than a discussion.

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Trump sets the tone for the worst presidential debate in living memory — No one alive has ever seen a presidential debate like Tuesday night's unseemly shout fest between President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden — 90 minutes of invective, interruptions and personal insults.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Vox, New Republic, Breitbart, Politico, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Reason, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Newsbusters, Washington Times, The Hill, The Daily Beast and New York Post

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Chris Wallace tried — and failed — to control Trump. Something needs to change. — Chris Wallace wanted to be “invisible” as the moderator of the first presidential debate. “If I've done my job right,” he said on his Fox News show Sunday, “at the end of the night, people will say, 'That was a great debate.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Vox and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Conrad Black / American Greatness:
Trump Wins Round One, Barely

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, New York Times, Spectator USA, BuzzFeed News, OpsLens, The Guardian, Politico and One America News Network

Patricia McCarthy / American Thinker:
The debate? Trump was great, Chris Wallace was a dreadful disgrace

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Real Clear Politics, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Guardian, Bulwark+, The Atlantic and Denver Post

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump's fear dominated his first debate with Biden

Discussion: Breitbart, Just The News, Bloomberg, Vox and Twitchy

ABC News:
Biden kicks off train tour through Ohio, Pennsylvania after raucous debate

Discussion: Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and Breitbart

Mika Brzezinski / Cosmopolitan:
Cancel the Debates — host on how last night's broadcast damaged our democracy. — “Stand back and stand by.”

Discussion: Politico and The Post Millennial

Associated Press:
Analysis: Trump leans on tone that turns off voters he needs

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Raw Story, New Republic, The National Interest and The Nation

Kelly Hooper / Politico:
Trump email says he ‘finished debating’ Biden hours before debate begins

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Breitbart, The Hill, Reuters, IJR, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Daily Kos, Axios, TheStreet, Washington Times and New York Post

Shannon Melero / The Slot:
My President Told Your President to Shut Up

Discussion: FactCheck.org, No More Mister Nice Blog, Axios and Townhall

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The President Is a Sociopath. And 60 Million Americans Like It.

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, The Week, Axios and CNN

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Controlled the Tone of the First Debate, But Biden Controlled the Message

Discussion: Viking Pundit and CBS Boston

Richard Wolffe / The Guardian:
Trump heckled, bullied and lied through the debate. It won't help him beat Biden

Discussion: The Hill, National Review and The American Conservative

Fox News:
Biden cashes in on debate as his campaign touts fundraising record

Discussion: Vox, The Daily Caller, The Hill and OpsLens

Rolling Stone:
The 5 Exchanges That Defined the Most Disgraceful Debate in Presidential History

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, Reason, The Daily Beast, The American Spectator, Common Dreams, Roll Call, CBS Pittsburgh, NBC Chicago and Mediaite

Christopher Bedford / The Federalist:
A Two-Man Debate Turns Into A Free-For-All, But Did Anyone Win?

Discussion: IJR, The Guardian, Raw Story and Blue Virginia

NBC News:
Trump's last best tactic: Burn it all down

Discussion: Political Wire, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Post and ABC7

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Trump's debate performance was described this way by undecided voters: ‘Crackhead,’ ‘arrogant,’ ‘un-American,’ ‘forceful’

Discussion: New York Times, National Review, Los Angeles Times, Power Line, POLITICUSUSA and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Post-debate CNN poll: Six in 10 say Biden won the debate

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, CBS News, The American Independent, BuzzFeed News, National Memo and alicublog

Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
Debate goes off the rails as Trump interrupts, Biden bickers in shoutfest

Discussion: Townhall, Breitbart, Redstate, New York Post, Minnesota Reformer and TheBlaze

New York Times:

Proud Boys celebrate Trump's mention of them at the debate. — Members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group that has endorsed violence, celebrated on Tuesday night after President Trump mentioned them during the first presidential debate. — Asked whether he condemned white supremacists …

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Florida Politics, IJR, Vanity Fair, The Hill, Axios, The 19th, The American Spectator, Vox, Washington Times and The Root

NBC News:

Proud Boys celebrate after Trump's debate call-out … The Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, pledged allegiance to President Donald Trump on Tuesday night after he told the group to “stand back and stand by” during the evening's debate. — Many people on social media who identify …

Ben Sales / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

Are the Proud Boys anti-Semitic? Your primer on the far-right group Trump told to ‘stand back and stand by’ — (JTA) — Who are the Proud Boys, the far-right group that Donald Trump name-checked at the first presidential debate? And do they hate Jews? — The answer to the second question …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian, Raw Story, New York Post, Bloomberg and Talking Points Memo

The Daily Beast:

Far-Right Proud Boys Rally After Trump's Debate Defense: ‘Fuck Them Up’ — Given the chance to finally explicitly condemn right-wing extremism, Trump insisted, “This is a left-wing problem” and gave a shout-out to the Proud Boys. — President Donald Trump refused to condemn right-wing extremist groups …

Zak Cheney-Rice / New York Magazine:
We Can Probably Stop Asking Trump If He's a White Supremacist

Discussion: ABC News, Breitbart, The Hill, Daily Kos, Bangor Daily News, The Federalist, Jacobin, Mediaite, Al Jazeera and Twitchy

New York Times:
Biden and Trump's First Debate: Best and Worst Moments

Discussion: National Review, Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and The Hill

C-SPAN.org:

Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Russia Investigation — Former FBI Director James Comey testified on the Russia investigation before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Discussion: CNN and Washington Times

Politico:
Comey calls DOJ's move to drop Flynn prosecution ‘deeply concerning’

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post, The Daily Beast and NPR

Associated Press:
Ex-FBI Director Comey to appear for Russia probe hearing

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Times, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, New York Post and Mediaite

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:

Fact-Checking the First 2020 Presidential Debate — President Trump and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. squared off for the first of three scheduled debates. They faced over 90 minutes of questions in Cleveland from the moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News.

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

How Voting by Mail Could Cost Biden the Election — As the coronavirus pandemic fanned across the country in the spring, Democrats looking ahead to the presidential election urged people to stay home in November—and vote by mail. — Minnesota's secretary of state encouraged all eligible voters to cast their ballot by mail.