Trump refused to condemn white supremacists. The debate didn't get any better from there.
On Tuesday night in Ohio, Donald Trump told white supremacists to “stand by.”
Then he told his followers to “go into the polls and watch carefully.”
There was a lot of noise in the first presidential debate of 2020. Trump lied. He was rude. Three old men yelled over each other. But if you're going to remember anything from this disaster, it's that the president of the United States refused to condemn white supremacy, and that he encouraged his followers to intimidate voters at the polls.
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White supremacists heard Trump loud and clear. You can parse his words, say he didn't literally tell people with arm bands and guns to intimidate voters — a tactic the Republican National Committee was sued for in 1981. But it would be a dire threat to democracy to not hold the president accountable for what he failed to do on live television.
He was asked to condemn white supremacists. He did not.
Debate host Chris Wallace asked both candidates to pledge that they would "not declare victory until the election has been independently certified." Joe Biden replied with a simple, "Yes." Trump did not.
This is not a hidden message. Watch the video clips. Democracy is at stake. You are responsible for what you do next.
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Topics Donald Trump Politics
Keith Wagstaff is an assistant editor at Mashable and a terrible Settlers of Catan player. He has written for TIME, The Wall Street Journal Magazine, NBC News, The Village Voice, VICE, GQ and New York Magazine, among many other reputable and not-so-reputable publications. After nearly a decade in New York City, he now lives in his native Los Angeles.
