It looks like the Democrat’s plan to rig the debates in a way that would undermine Trump has backfired spectacularly.
Much news was made in the lead-up to this debate about the newly implemented “mute” button which would allow debate moderators to mute any candidate they wanted if they felt the candidate was interrupting too much.
Of course, this was aimed at Trump. The goal was to try to catch him on camera continuing to talk despite his mic being cut-off. The imagery of a silenced Trump would make him appear weak, like a silenced child forced to sit in time-out.
But as everyone witnessed, it didn’t work that way at all. Instead, the more controlled format actually benefited Trump more than anyone predicted.
The reasons this new format helped Trump are actually clear in retrospect but it’s strange nobody predicted this going in, including myself.
Let’s be honest, Trump is a bit of a wild man. Even his supporters sometimes respectfully refer to him as the “madman” due to his outspoken nature. However, such a nature doesn’t always play well on the debate stage. It can come off as overbearing, and your points and arguments can get lost behind the style.
But taming the debate format and forcing Trump to use his time wisely and keep his responses succinct actually helped make his arguments much more clear.
Think of it like a major league pitcher who has a 100+ MPH fastball but sometimes can get a little wild and miss the strike zone. If you can tone him down just a little and add in that control, suddenly he becomes an all-star pitcher.
Similarly, by reigning in Trump’s usually wild style, his contrast with Biden was made even more clear and his attacks even sharper than usual.
On the other hand though, Biden was left flapping in the wind with this new format. His rambling answers to nowhere were on display for all to see. No longer could he blame Trump’s interruptions for his nonsensical answers. With 2 minutes of totally uninterrupted airtime, Biden was exposed for the out-of-touch, declining politician that he is.
Biden constantly tried to fall back on tired political cliches. Avoiding topics and instead trying to bring up notions of “dinner table” discussions. In fact, in a brilliant comeback, Trump even called Biden out for this obvious cliche. It was one of the better lines in the entire debate.
So it goes without question, the Democrat’s plan backfired. They set a trap for Trump to make him appear weak and childish, and instead he shined and Biden bombed.
It was one of Trump’s best debate performances to date. And what makes it even sweeter, is that the Democrats inadvertently had a hand in setting it up for him.
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