Top Items:
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.
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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:
Vox, Political Wire, The Hill, New York Times, Slate, HillReporter.com and CNBC
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 …
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OpsLens
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, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic, Fox News, National Review and BNO News
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 Federalist, Mediaite, The Guardian, Conservative News Today and The Week
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, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Vox and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
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
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, Rev, New Republic, Politico, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Reason, New York Times, Vanity Fair, Newsbusters, Washington Times, The Daily Beast, The Hill and New York Post
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, Breitbart, TheBlaze, The Atlantic and American Greatness
Patricia McCarthy / American Thinker:
The debate? Trump was great, Chris Wallace was a dreadful disgrace
The debate? Trump was great, Chris Wallace was a dreadful disgrace
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, Real Clear Politics, Bulwark+, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The Week and Denver Post
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Exclusive poll: Biden won the debate convincingly
Exclusive poll: Biden won the debate convincingly
Discussion:
Commentary Magazine, Redstate, Political Wire and Louder With Crowder
Kelly Hooper / Politico:
Trump email says he ‘finished debating’ Biden hours before debate begins
Trump email says he ‘finished debating’ Biden hours before debate begins
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Reuters, The Hill, Breitbart, IJR, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Daily Kos, Axios, TheStreet, Washington Times and New York Post
Associated Press:
Analysis: Trump leans on tone that turns off voters he needs
Analysis: Trump leans on tone that turns off voters he needs
Discussion:
CBS News, Raw Story, The Nation, Vanity Fair, New Republic and The National Interest
Shannon Melero / The Slot:
My President Told Your President to Shut Up
My President Told Your President to Shut Up
Discussion:
FactCheck.org, No More Mister Nice Blog and Townhall
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump's fear dominated his first debate with Biden
Trump's fear dominated his first debate with Biden
Discussion:
Just The News, Twitchy and The Week
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Controlled the Tone of the First Debate, But Biden Controlled the Message
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
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
Biden cashes in on debate as his campaign touts fundraising record
Discussion:
Vox, The Daily Caller, The Hill and OpsLens
Ben Collins / NBC News:
Coordinated push of conspiracy theories target Biden hours before debate
Coordinated push of conspiracy theories target Biden hours before debate
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Axios, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, CNN, The Week, New York Times, Vox, Bloomberg, Media Matters for America and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »
NBC News:
Trump's last best tactic: Burn it all down
Trump's last best tactic: Burn it all down
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Raw Story, New York Post and ABC7
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
5 takeaways from the first presidential debate
5 takeaways from the first presidential debate
Discussion:
CNN, The Week, NPR, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, Florida Politics, National Review, Fox News, OutKick, 89.3 WFPL News Louisville, Al Jazeera and WTOP
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Trump's debate performance was described this way by undecided voters: ‘Crackhead,’ ‘arrogant,’ ‘un-American,’ ‘forceful’
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 »
Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
Debate goes off the rails as Trump interrupts, Biden bickers in shoutfest
Debate goes off the rails as Trump interrupts, Biden bickers in shoutfest
Discussion:
Townhall, Breitbart, Redstate, Minnesota Reformer, New York Post 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, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Florida Politics, Vanity Fair, IJR, Axios, The American Spectator, The 19th, Vox, Washington Times and The Root
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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 …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, israpundit.org, The American Independent, USA Today, Law & Crime, The Boston Globe, People.com, ABC News, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, NPR, The Hill, The Colorado Sun, Washington Monthly, Politico, Washington Post, Variety, The Week, Daily Kos, Wired, myfox8.com and Bloomberg
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:
Raw Story, The Guardian, Bloomberg, NBC Chicago, Talking Points Memo and New York Post
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
We Can Probably Stop Asking Trump If He's a White Supremacist
Discussion:
ABC News, Breitbart, The Hill, The Federalist, Daily Kos, Jacobin, Bangor Daily News, Mediaite, Al Jazeera and Twitchy
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, Bangor Daily News, The Slot and Washington Post
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.
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Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: False claims flood Trump-Biden debate — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump unleashed a torrent of fabrications and fear-mongering in a belligerent debate with Joe Biden, at one point claiming that the U.S. death toll would have been 10 times higher under the Democrat …
Discussion:
The Week, CNN, Bloomberg, Florida Politics, Bangor Daily News, KSNG-TV and ABC7
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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:
Breitbart
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Trump Sent a Warning. Let's Take It Seriously. — Our democracy is in terrible danger — more than since the Civil War, more than after Pearl Harbor, more than during the Cuban missile crisis. — President Trump has made it unmistakably clear in recent weeks — and even more crystal clear …
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:
Associated Press, Washington Times and CNN