Editorial: Final debate an improvement, but still not perfect

Staff Editorial

The final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden took place Thursday night.

It was an improvement over the first debate, with less interruptions and fewer personal shots between the candidates.

Trump did seem to interrupt more later in the debate, but Biden did not lose his temper like he did in the first debate.

We at The Daily Eastern News thought the debate was actually a relatively decent exchange between the candidates for the most part and they seemingly discussed their policies more substantially.

Unsurprisingly, the issue that seemed to dominate the debate was the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump’s response to it as president.

This is where Biden made some of his strongest and most aggressive comments of the debate, at one point mentioning the 225,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, saying, “Anyone responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America.”

Trump responded with his usual refrain of, “It will go away. We’re rounding the turn. We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away.”

The two candidates also clashed on climate change, immigration policy and race relations.

Moderator Kristen Welker performed her duties well, although the looming presence of a mute button may have played a role. She also handled some of the later interruptions better than previous moderators.

Although this debate was better than the first, we are skeptical of the impact the debate will have on voters, considering that more than 47 million votes have already been cast according to the Associated Press.

The debate seemed to be more of a moral test for the candidates, seeing them pit their personalities against each other.