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Op-Ed: Democrats, focus! Since when do comedians do the job of news?

The “debate” wasn’t a debate, to start with. It was simply Trump on his safe ground, reciting his usual predictable litany of lies.

US President Joe Biden, pictured with First Lady Jill Biden, after the debate on June 27, 2024, said he thought he had performed 'well'
US President Joe Biden, pictured with First Lady Jill Biden, after the debate on June 27, 2024, said he thought he had performed 'well' - Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN
US President Joe Biden, pictured with First Lady Jill Biden, after the debate on June 27, 2024, said he thought he had performed 'well' - Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN

There has been some genuine anger on the side of democracy as the Democrats hype the debate fumble into disaster. Some commentators have been openly cursing the soft-pedal navel-gazing approach from The New York Times, Washington Post, and other media.

The narrative completely overlooked and ignored Trump’s many clangers. It suddenly became all about Biden. Why? Or is it too much trouble to cover anything else?

The “debate” wasn’t a debate, to start with. It was simply Trump on his safe ground, reciting his usual predictable litany of lies and a freeze from Biden, who otherwise replied clearly and well.

US President Joe Biden and his Republican White House challenger Donald Trump sparred in their first in-person debate of the 2024 election cycle. — Photo © AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

The actual content of the debate didn’t get much of a mention. Trump’s endless tale of his own fictional brilliance didn’t register. It all boiled down to that one moment.

Biden is also a soft speaker, which didn’t help. Given an extra point of volume on his mike, he would have sounded a lot better. America is a noisy place, though, and loudmouths tend to prosper.

Superficiality is a hallmark of American politics. Never mind every other issue in the country, there were maybe 8 seconds of imperfection.

Experts said US President Joe Biden’s performance was lackluster and unimpressive in his debate with Donald Trump. — Photo © AFP

A few pointers:

Everyone who’s ever stood in front of a camera or a mike has frozen or glitched sometimes.

The toxic irrational presence of Trump in the same room is hardly an inducement to a rational discussion of anything.

Trump’s repeated false assertions, notably on “saving” America from COVID and ninth-month abortion, weren’t a subject for criticism from the people criticizing Biden.

Donald Trump may have benefitted from debate rules which helped reduce the prospects of a shouting match with his rival, US President Joe Biden. — Photo: © AFP

Biden’s glitch was in the middle of a long sentence covering multiple issues. He wasn’t reciting, so he had to try to reconstruct the statement.

The commentary on the Democrat side has been wincing. Jon Stewart was working on actual debate content. Much of the commentary was tongue-in-cheek, but balanced. (That link’s to a YouTube video well worth watching, by the way. It’s good commentary and a good overview of the debate.) Colber was pretty good, too.

This criticism of the coverage was very much to the point. The irony of this is that it takes comedians to get balanced coverage when the country is falling to bits before our eyes. Believe it or not, there was a time when so-called real media covered actual events.

The debate won’t change much in practice. The political distances between Democrats and MAGA are far too great. About 20% of Republicans didn’t even vote for Trump’s nomination. There’s no way they’ll vote for Trump.

Real America doesn’t like fictional America much. It’s facts vs fiction, not Trivial Pursuit. Focus on that.

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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

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Editor-at-Large based in Sydney, Australia.

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