memeorandum: Commission on Presidential Debates ‘carefully considering’ format changes after first Trump, Biden debate (Brooke Singman/Fox News)

4:00 PM ET, September 30, 2020

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.

Discussion: National Journal, New York Times, The Hill, ABC News, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog, CANNONFIRE, The American Independent, Conservative News Today, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, Florida Politics, Fox News, Breitbart and Axios

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: CBS News, Commentary Magazine, Redstate, Washington Post, Political Wire and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Commission on Presidential Debates ‘carefully considering’ format changes after first Trump, Biden debate — The statement follows the highly contentious first debate between President Trump and Joe Biden — Trump, Biden debate law and order in Cleveland

Discussion: Washington Post, The Triad, Axios, Mother Jones, CNBC, abc7NY, The Hill, Raw Story, Mediaite, The American Independent and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Trump's last best tactic: Burn it all down — WASHINGTON — Trailing in the polls with five weeks to go, President Trump didn't use last night's debate to disqualify his opponent or outline his vision for the next four years. — Instead, he decided to burn down the debate …

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters, New York Times, Politico, Vanity Fair, One America News Network, Los Angeles Times, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week, CNN, Washington Post, New York Post, Breitbart and ABC7

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: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Reuters, Political Wire, Slate, New York Post, The Hill, The American Independent, No More Mister Nice Blog and Breitbart

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, Daily Kos, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, New Republic, BNO News and National Review

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: IJR and OpsLens

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: National Review, The Federalist, CNN, Task & Purpose, Breitbart, LifeSiteNews, IJR, Reason, Common Dreams, Althouse, Washington Post, TheBlaze, CNBC, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Legal Planet, Fox News and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

David Weigel / Washington Post:

The Trailer: What happened in Cleveland — In this special post-debate edition: How months of expectation-setting fell apart in a Cleveland auditorium. — To fully enjoy the newsletter today, please interrupt your friends and family by reading sections out loud. This is The Trailer.

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, Fox News, The Mahablog, The Hill, The Guardian, USA Today, New York Post and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:

Analysis: Trump leans on tone that turns off voters he needs — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump needed to make the first general election debate about his rival, Democrat Joe Biden. Instead, as he so often does, Trump made it about himself. — The president set the tone …

Discussion: Florida Politics, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, New Republic, The National Interest and The Nation

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

Discussion: Slate, Associated Press, New York Times, Just The News, The American Independent, Breitbart and Twitchy

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

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

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The President's Debate Performance Was Pure Fascism

Discussion: Jacobin, Reason and The Hill

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Poll finds Trump, Biden in statistical dead heat in South Carolina

Discussion: Politico, Political Wire, Washington Post and Axios

James Fallows / The Atlantic:
A Disgusting Night for Democracy

Discussion: Raw Story, National Memo and Townhall

Jason Whitlock / OutKick: Chris Wallace, American Media Fiddle During Debate As BLM, Antifa Burn Our Country

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

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

Dominic Patten / Deadline:
Presidential Debate Opener Drops Sharply From 2016's Record High In Early Numbers; ABC Tops Nets In First Trump-Biden Showdown

Discussion: Forbes, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and New York Post

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

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Bulwark+, Minnesota Reformer and KXAN-TV

Ebony Bowden / New York Post:
Ratings for chaotic Trump-Biden presidential debate nosedive from 2016

Discussion: OutKick and The Hill

Associated Press:
AP FACT CHECK: False claims flood Trump-Biden debate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week, CNN, Florida Politics, Bloomberg, Bangor Daily News, Associated Press and ABC7

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

Bonchie / Redstate:
Chris Wallace's Debate Performance Was Absolutely Disgraceful

Discussion: Townhall, The Daily Wire, Fox News, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, The Guardian and The Week

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

Discussion: Politico, Reason and Breitbart

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

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

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Chris Wallace tried — and failed — to control Trump. Something needs to change.

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

Politico:
Biden campaign faces questions about whether he should skip next debates

Discussion: ABC News, The Slot, New York Times, Reuters, Fox News, The Atlantic, The Bulwark, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, The Hill, American Greatness and New York Post

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 …

Axios:

Trump says he doesn't know who Proud Boys are after telling them to “stand by” — President Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he doesn't know who the “Proud Boys” are, after saying at the presidential debate last night that the far-right group should “stand back and stand by” …

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, Political Wire and Mediaite

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’

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, IJR, Raw Story, The Guardian, NPR, Axios and New York Post

CNN:
Trump's allies offer public praise but privately worry after debate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Raw Story, CNBC, Washington Times and The Week

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

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

Politico:
Republicans plead with Trump to hit white supremacists harder

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Hill

NBC News:
Proud Boys celebrate after Trump's debate call-out

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

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 E. Sanger / New York Times:

Tuesday's Debate Made Clear the Gravest Threat to the Election: The President Himself — President Trump's unwillingness to say he would abide by the result, and his disinformation campaign about election fraud went beyond anything President Vladimir V. Putin could have imagined.

Discussion: Political Wire

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
How Trump's ‘Voter Fraud’ Lie Is Disenfranchising Americans

Discussion: Law & Crime

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: The Hill and Axios

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The media keeps making these cringeworthy mistakes — In the aftermath of President Trump's unhinged, embarrassing and frightful performance Tuesday night, we are told “the debate” was a dumpster fire, “the debate” was a low point in American politics, “the debate” was incoherent.

Vandana Rambaran / Fox News:
Biden refuses to bash Trump Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in debate

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN, The Nation, Washington Times and The Gateway Pundit

Alex Ward / Vox:

Pope Francis refused to meet with Mike Pompeo so as not to boost Trump — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attends the launch of a US-Vatican symposium on Faith-Based Organizations, on October 2, 2019, at the Old Synod Hall in the Vatican. Andreas Solaro/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Discussion: HillReporter.com, OpsLens, Wall Street Journal and LifeSiteNews

Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:

‘I have never supported Donald Trump’: Portland-area sheriff hits back after president claims his endorsement in debate — As President Trump argued during Tuesday night's debate that vast numbers of law enforcement officials are supporting his campaign, he began listing the locations of his alleged police backers.

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

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

Sarah Mimms / BuzzFeed News:

A Member Of Congress Is Facing Death Threats After QAnon Went After Him — The House Republican campaign committee falsely accused Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of protecting sexual predators. “They knew exactly what they were doing,” he said. — Reporting From — Washington, DC — Copy

Discussion: Political Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Ocasio-Cortez and Warren Pull Out of New Yorker Festival — The two standard bearers of the left said they would skip the annual event in solidarity with The New Yorker Union, which plans a digital picket line. — Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Levitt / electionlawblog.org:

Wisconsin GOP tries to stop Racing Sausages from promoting civic participation — The Wisconsin GOP sent a letter yesterday claiming that it would be improper “electioneering” and/or vote buying for MLB and the Brewers' Racing Sausages to encourage early voting. — The legal citations in the letter seem ... off.