University of Central Florida professor gives insight on first presidential debate
A political observer from the University of Central Florida says many people were turned off by the presidential candidates' bitter exchanges during their first debate.
From name-calling to bitter exchanges, UCF's political science professor Dr. Aubrey Jewett says this about the first presidential debate:
"It really was not like any traditional presidential debate that I have ever seen before."
Most of the time President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden talked over each other, so the winner depends on which side you talk to.
"They probably thought Trump did great. They thought we wanted somebody that's very aggressive, that's speaking out," Jewett said.
Biden supporters were satisfied by his performance too.
"There was a question, at least somewhat, bubbling underneath the surface on whether he lost a step, whether he would go toe-to-toe with Trump for 90 minutes, and he did that," Jewett said.
When it came to questions on race relations, violence in cities and protests:
"I don't think that these two candidates, but especially President Trump, did much to soothe the fears of people across the country or maybe to bring people together on this issue," Jewett said.
Jewett also looked at statements both candidates made about health care and COVID-19. Saying it was hard to separate fact from fiction.
Jewett says there could be some changes for the next debate which includes getting the moderator to be more active in enforcing rules.