On Monday evening a likely 82 million Americans got an extended, high-definition look at Donald Trump in all his orange, bombastic glory. The Republican contender for America’s highest office was at his absolute Trumpiest, and, as I sit here struggling to gather my thoughts, I cannot help but wonder what egregious sins we have collectively committed to land us in this circle of inferno that even Dante himself would consider “a bit much.”
The front-row invitation that Trump extended on Saturday to alleged former Bill Clinton mistress Gennifer Flowers — one raising serious questions about his borderline-sociopathic views on the doctrine of proportionality — would prove to be foreboding. The standard of civility set at that moment was raised at no point. Interrupting Hillary Clinton on 51 separate occasions, regularly raising his voice to the level of a bark and feeling the pathological need to address every single subpoint presented (no matter how miniscule or detrimental to his own cause), the GOP nominee completely and unequivocally demonstrated to America that he lacks the capacity to handle episodes of high stress. Trump is the Bear Stearns of presidential candidates.
Winning this debate was never going to be an easy task for Trump. This human tempest has never debated one-on-one and has never had an affinity for policy intricacies; however, this is also the same man who spent the past month boasting about how little he has been preparing for the debates, implying some sort of innate readiness. By the end of the contest, the difference in preparation was apparent. While Clinton, measured and composed, came to the game packing more receipts than your grandmother might in her purse, Trump struggled to maintain his composure. The events that unfolded were alarming, and this debate should be used as a litmus test to assess how prepared the candidates are for the mental rigors of office.
When faced with adversity or even slight pushback from Clinton or moderator Lester Holt, Trump floundered and responded as he always does: denial followed by bluster. Brutish mannerisms and lack of basic human interpersonal skills aside, his rhetoric took a turn for the worse as pressure began to mount. Despite artfully avoiding calls to put forth a single concrete proposal, Trump struggled to project strength even in his own areas of comfort: trade, immigration and law and order. I present to you the most confusing, downright strange and oftentimes disturbing moments in which Trump doubled down on all the wrong things, continued to perpetuate objective untruths, desperately searched for a partisan buzz-phrase to divert attention away from his own vacuity or unsuccessfully attempted to fact-check a fact-check. Buckle up, friends.
- When Holt attempted to push Trump out of his comfort zone and into the world of tangible policy by asking a question on nuclear first-strike policy, Trump responded just as any other capable candidate presumably would: by not talking about nuclear weapons. The conclusion to his response was about as coherent as the preceding 85 minutes: a triumphant declaration that he would definitely not strike first, but could also not rule out striking first.
- Ever lucid on sensitive topics of race, Trump spoke about instating nationwide stop-and-frisk policing in high-crime areas, a tactic often fraught with instances of racial profiling. When Holt challenged Trump, asserting that a federal court had rejected the policy as unconstitutional, Trump replied with an instinctive “you’re wrong.” Searching for counter-ammunition, Trump tried to paint Clinton as “mean” by reviving her “superpredators” remark from the 1990s — not a particularly compelling sentiment coming from America’s most prominent bully since Nelson Muntz.
- Rather than diverting discussion away from his past birther antics, Trump doubled down on his past remarks on Obama’s place of birth when pushed, almost as if to say, “Sure, I may have led a racially charged mob to discredit the nation’s first black president, but damn it if I wasn’t the best at it.”
- There was a bizarre, fleeting allusion to the Solyndra scandal in response to Clinton’s call to invest in solar and alternative energy. This was not accompanied by any explanation as to how the interjection was germane.
- My absolute favorite Trump policy plank was revived in full force: seize Iraq’s oil. Manifest Destiny is alive and well.
- Defending his decision to withhold all details of his plan to battle the Islamic State, while criticizing Hillary for actually presenting her agenda publicly to the American people, Trump invoked the name of legendarily opaque General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was removed from command by former President former President Harry Truman after a series of public disagreements with the administration over Chinese provocation.
- Trump conceded the following about his finances and business acumen: he actively hoped for a 2008 recession in order to profiteer (justification: “that’s called business”); there were years where he paid zero income tax (justification: “that makes me smart”); and that his businesses have filed for bankruptcy on six separate occasions (justification: a conscious decision was made to work within the confines of U.S. law). While these admissions could have provided avenues for Trump to decry a broken system which he can fix — having experienced specific systemic loopholes first hand — these opportunities went woefully uncapitalized upon.
- Trump tried to dispute the moderator’s refutation of the fact that he did, in fact, support the invasion of Iraq before it occurred. He was lying — people know this — and this is not a falsehood to double down on.
- Trump tried to refute Clinton’s claim that he tweeted that he believes climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese to make American manufacturing less competitive. This refutation was also a lie.
Clinton did exactly what she needed to. She set the bait, and Trump took it like an emaciated coyote. His childlike inability to stay on-message and avoid erratic, nonsensical lines of attack was yet another powerful reminder that there is one person remaining in this election prepared to be the single most influential person on Earth, and her name sure isn’t Jill Stein.
