Jon, Jon, Tommy, and Dan break down the lows and lower lows of the worst presidential debate in history between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Show notes

The worst debate in history 

• NYT: With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden
• WaPo: Trump sets the tone for the worst presidential debate in living memory
• Politico: An Epic Moment of National Shame: The Debate Was an Embarrassment for the Ages
• WaPo: Trump incessantly interrupts and insults Biden as they spar in acrimonious first debate
• Slate: What Twitter’s Smartest Liberals and Conservatives Are Saying About the FIrst Presidential Debate 
• FiveThirtyEight: What Went Down During the First Presidential Debate
• Bloomberg: Trump-Biden Debate Descends Into Bickering and Chaos 
• USA Today: ‘Will you shut up, man?’: Testy exchanges on health care, Supreme Court among debate top moments 
• Axios: The first Trump v. Biden presidential debate was a hot mess
•  NY Mag: That Debate Was Unwatchable 
• The Atlantic: A Disgusting Night for Democracy
• WaPo: 5 takeaways from the first presidential debate
• Politico: Key moments from Trump and Biden’s first primetime showdown
• NYT: Six Takeaways From the First Presidential Debate – It was 90 minutes of chaos in a year of upheaval. But did it matter?
• Vox: 3 winners and 4 losers from the first 2020 presidential debate 
• Politico: How a nearly empty room led to debate chaos 
• Politico: The most bitter clashes from Trump and Biden’s first debate showdown
• WaPo: I recapped ‘Game of Thrones.’ This debate was wilder. 
• NYT: Chris Wallace Struggled to Rein In an Unruly Trump at First Debate 
• WSJ: Chris Wallace Strains to Control Debate as Trump Flouts Rules – Fox anchor pleaded with president to allow Joe Biden the two-minute uninterrupted answers both sides had agreed to
• Politico: Chris Wallace faces criticism for letting candidates run wild in first debate
• WaPo: Chris Wallace tried — and failed — to control Trump. Something needs to change.
• Politico: Why Chris Wallace Won’t Be the Trump-Slaying Moderator Liberals Crave
• NYT: Of Course, the Debate Was Always Going to Be About Trump 
• WaPo: Interruptions, accusations, chaos: Trump trolled the debate stage
• WaPo: ‘Let him answer!’: Trump bulldozes his way through debate with mix of attacks, insults and falsehoods
• WaPo: Trump incessantly interrupts and insults Biden as they spar in acrimonious first debate
• The Atlantic: The Bully in Chief Reemerges 
• WaPo: Trump’s baffling debate strategy was to tweet out loud for 90 minutes
• The Atlantic – Trump’s Theory of the Debate Was All Wrong
• Politico: Trump email says he ‘finished debating’ Biden hours before debate begins
• NY Mag: Trump Controlled the Tone of the First Debate, but Biden Controlled the Message
• Mother Jones – At the Debate, Biden and Trump Showed America Who They Really Are. That’s a Win for Biden
• WaPo: Trump refused to condemn white supremacists and militia members in presidential debate marked by disputes over race 
• NYT: Proud Boys celebrate Trump’s mention of them at the debate.
• Vox: The emergency is happening right now 
• Politico: Trump’s jarring white supremacist moment launches an online furor 
• NPR: From Debate Stage, Trump Declines To Denounce White Supremacy
• Business Insider: Biden calls Trump a ‘racist’ as they clash over Black Lives Matter protests and race relations during the first presidential debate
• Vogue: Yes, President Trump Really Dropped a Racial Slur on Live Television Tonight 
• The Daily Beast: Biden Ridicules Trump’s COVID Response: ‘Inject Some Bleach in Your Arm’ 
• Vox: It’s true: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans have died in the Covid-19 pandemic
• The Hill: Trump, Biden clash over health care as debate begins 
• The Atlantic: Republicans Are Trapped on Preexisting Conditions
• The Hill: Trump campaign denies asking debate moderator not to mention COVID-19 deaths 
• NYT: Trump Announces Plan to Ship 150 Million Rapid Coronavirus Tests
• WaPo: Trump administration’s new rapid coronavirus tests plagued by confusion and a lack of planning
• Morning Consult: Obamacare Support Hits Record High as Supreme Court Faces Ideological Shift 
• Vox: What Biden can do to fix Trump’s Covid-19 mess 
• Axios: Joe Biden’s plan to make the ACA more affordable
• Politico: The moment Trump seized on Biden’s sons 
• USA Today – I don’t know Beau’: Trump attacks Joe Biden as former vice president reflects on late son Beau Biden
• Vox: 3 debate moments that showed how unsuited Trump is for the presidency 

Post Debate Reactions 

• CNN: Post-debate CNN poll: Six in 10 say Biden won the debate
• CBS News: CBS News instant poll shows 48% of viewers think Biden won debate
• Vox: The first post-debate polls say Biden won
• WaPo: ‘Dumpster fire.’ ‘Train wreck.’ ‘A disgrace’: Horrified pundits react to the presidential debate
• Politico: Biden tries to catch Trump with post-debate digital onslaught
• USA Today: Trump, Biden camps declare victory after rambunctious, insult-heavy debate
• Buzzfeed News: Even Trump Diehards Thought The Debate Was A Mess
• WaPo: ‘Let him answer!’: Trump bulldozes his way through debate with mix of attacks, insults and falsehoods
• NYT: Of Course, the Debate Was Always Going to Be About Trump
• NYT: Six Takeaways From the First Presidential Debate
• WaPo: The Daily 202: Trump faces historic gender gap heading into first debate
• Politico: Biden campaign faces questions about whether he should skip next debates
• Mediaite: Kamala Harris, Biden Campaign Push Back Hard Against Suggestions From Cable Hosts to Cancel Future Debates
• WaPo: Chris Wallace tried — and failed — to control Trump. Something needs to change.
• The Atlantic: Cancel the Debates
• Slate: Cancel the Rest of the Debates