memeorandum: “This Is So Unpresidential”: Notes from the Worst Debate in American History (Susan B. Glasser/New Yorker)

1:40 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, Washington Post, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Townhall, Bangor Daily News, Florida Politics, 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

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, Political Wire, NBC News and Louder With Crowder, more at Mediagazer »

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:

Undecided voters call Trump ‘unhinged’ and ‘un-American’ — but are 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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox, New York Post, Political Wire, Slate and The Hill

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, Daily Kos, 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

Conrad Black / American Greatness:

Trump Wins Round One, Barely — It was an unedifying spectacle. — There was no clear winner in Tuesday's presidential debate and the country was the loser. — President Trump could have won decisively if he had just followed Napoleon's famous advice not to “interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

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

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

Mika Brzezinski / Cosmopolitan:

Cancel the Debates — host on how last night's broadcast damaged our democracy. — “Stand back and stand by.” — That was the end right there. That and when the President of the United States tried to undermine the election. — Some are still trying to call what happened last night …

Discussion: Politico

Leo Shane III / Marine Corps Times:
Fact check: Trump claims Biden policies killed over 308,000 veterans, but that's not what investigators found

Discussion: Raw Story

David Weigel / Washington Post:
The Trailer: What happened in Cleveland

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, Talking Points Memo, New York Post and WTOP

N'dea Yancey-Bragg / USA Today:
Portland-area sheriff says he ‘will never’ support Donald Trump after president claims endorsement during debate

Discussion: NBC Boston

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

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

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

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

Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:
‘I have never supported Donald Trump’: Portland-area sheriff hits back after president claims his endorsement in debate

Discussion: The Dispatch, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and OpsLens

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

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

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

Discussion: Viking Pundit and CBS Boston

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

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

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

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

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

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

K. Rambo / Oregonian:
Trump claims in debate ‘Portland Sheriff’ gave him endorsement; Reese quickly responds: I ‘will never support him’

Discussion: Townhall, Mediaite, Raw Story, IJR, The Intercept and Political Wire

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

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

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

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

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, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, The Guardian and The Week

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Trump sets the tone for the worst presidential debate in living memory

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

Jeet Heer / The Nation:
With Help From Chris Wallace, Trump Attacked American Democracy

Claire Sanford / Rev:
Donald Trump & Joe Biden 1st Presidential Debate Transcript 2020

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

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 Atlantic, The Week, Bulwark+, Minnesota Reformer, Denver Post and KXAN-TV

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Atlantic, Reason, Occupy Democrats, The Daily Beast, The Post Millennial, The American Spectator, Common Dreams, Roll Call, CBS Boston, NBC Chicago and Mediaite

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, New York Times, Fox News, The Week, The Sun and CNN

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, Slate, Los Angeles Times, National Review, POLITICUSUSA, Power Line and CNBC, more at Mediagazer »

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

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

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: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Mother Jones, CNN, Politico, Common Dreams, Florida Politics, IJR, Vanity Fair, Axios, The 19th, The Hill, The American Spectator, KXAN-TV, 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, IJR, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, The Guardian, New York Post, Bloomberg and Talking Points Memo

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

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

The Daily Beast:
Far-Right Proud Boys Rally After Trump's Debate Defense: ‘Fuck Them Up’

Politico:

Comey calls DOJ's move to drop Flynn prosecution ‘deeply concerning’ — Former FBI Director James Comey said on Wednesday that the Justice Department's attempt to drop the prosecution of Michael Flynn is “deeply concerning,” suggesting President Donald Trump's former national security adviser …

Discussion: New York Post, ABC News, Associated Press, Conservative News Today and NPR

C-SPAN.org:
Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies on Russia Investigation

Discussion: Washington Times and CNN

Sheila Kaplan / New York Times:

White House Blocked C.D.C. Order to Keep Cruise Ships Docked — The C.D.C. director wanted a “no sail” order extended until February, a policy that would have upset the tourism industry in the crucial swing state of Florida. — The White House has blocked a new order from the Centers …

Discussion: Axios and Daily Kos

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:

The Trump Campaign Is Quietly Disappearing Brad Parscale From Their Website — Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was detained by police last week after his wife reported that he was planning to harm himself. — President Donald Trump's campaign still won't clarify the status …

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Wire, Slate, Daily Mail, Washington Post and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

Trump plans big Wisconsin rallies despite White House task force calls for ‘maximal’ social distancing in the state — President Trump has scheduled large campaign rallies this weekend in Wisconsin despite recommendations from the White House Coronavirus Task Force that call …

Discussion: The Hill and Breitbart