On September 29^th, over 73 million people tuned in to watch President Donald Trump (R) face off against Joe Biden (D). The debate spanned across topics such as: The supreme court, COVID-19, and the protests sweeping the nation.  However, the “debate” that came along with these topics left many bewildered. Some students at Dakota gave me the opportunity to ask them on their opinion on the first Presidential Debate. I asked students whose political beliefs varied to get a better sense of what some at Dakota may be thinking. I first interviewed Ethan Newman (Senoir) , President of JSA and on the Dakota Model UN EBoard.  

Q: So in your opinion how did the debate go? 

A: “Ehh…neither did great, it was fun to watch though” 

Q: So who would you say ‘won’? 

A: “Trump” 

Q: Why’s that? 

A: “[Trump] didn’t do good per se, but he handed Biden the shovel to bury [Trump] 6 or 7 times, Biden dropped it every single time, so he didn’t win, more Biden lost” 

Q: How would you say he ‘handed him the shovel’? 

A: “It’s been awhile, I don’t remember all the specifics, but I remember thinking he shouldn’t have talked as much on his tax returns…COVID response I feel [Trump] took the wrong direction and let’s not forget ‘Stand down and standby’” 

Q: What are some of the effects of Trump saying, “stand down and standby?” 

A: “Well it was definitely tasteless, it gives the Democrats an opportunity to say he’s calling on white supremacists to help him, November 3rd, somehow Biden let that slip through his fingers.” 

The next student I interviewed wanted to only be referred to as Michael. Here is what they had to say about the First Presidential Debate. 

Q: How did the debate go? 

A: “I think it was a complete embarrassment, me being completely neutral, both sides were pathetic, I did not understand Biden’s points.” 

Q: In your opinion who did you think won? 

A: “I think Trump won because Biden keep slipping up his sentences and Trump made it clear what he was talking about.” 

So, through the week I interviewed 2 more students, the first being Jerron Skiba (Junior). Jerron has been a part of The Dakota Model UN team since his freshman year, has been a swimmer for 5 years and has a 1:14:79 breaststroke for the Dakota Swim Team. 

Q: In your opinion how did the debate go? 

A: “It was horrifying to watch but you somehow couldn’t pull your eyes from it.” 

Q: In your opinion who won the debate? 

A: “I’m pretty sure it was Joe.” 

Q: Why? 

A: “Because he kept his cool, Trump was flipping out of control.” 

My final interviewee was Tyler Smith (Junior), who has been a part of Marching Band since he was a freshman. 

Q:  In your opinion how did the debate go? 

A: “absolutely the worst thing I ever saw.” 

Q: who won the debate? 

A: I think Joe Biden did win the debate, and I say that mainly because he actually was addressing the American people. 

Q: what was his most important point? 

A: “was probably revolving around COVID, the current situation we are in and how our current president has failed us as a society and [Trump’s mismanagement] killed 200,000 of our people.” 

I would once like to thank all those who allowed me to interview them and for taking the time to allow me to share their political opinions on such a chaotic debate. So what is the take-away? If you were a democrat you walked away thinking Biden won. If you were a Republican you walked away thinking Trump won, nothing really changed. But what really matters is the people who still don’t know who to vote for, and you have to ask yourself what did you take away from this debate? Biden had trouble getting any words in because Trump would not let him finish. Seeing that the next presidential debate is cancelled, this may be the only time people would see both candidates face off in a debate.