Presidential Debate: Grade Trump vs. Biden (And How Did Chris Wallace Do?)

Dave Nemetz
·2 min read

The battle for the White House is in full swing, with Tuesday’s first presidential debate pitting incumbent Donald Trump against Democratic challenger Joe Biden — with Fox News veteran Chris Wallace serving as referee.

The 90-minute debate aired live on the four major broadcast networks on Tuesday night from Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, with Wallace quizzing the two candidates on a number of topics, including the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, filling the seat recently vacated by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Some observers cried foul when Wallace — who hosts Fox News Sunday and has been an anchor for the conservative cable news network since 2003 — was named the moderator of the first presidential debate, but Wallace pledged to be impartial and “to be as invisible as possible” during the debate. (He did conduct a hard-hitting interview with President Trump back in July where he corrected a number of Trump’s misstatements.) Wallace, however, mostly sat by helplessly as Trump and Biden bickered back and forth, with Trump continually interrupting Biden’s responses and even attacking Wallace when he tried to keep the president on topic. (Wallace finally chided both candidates for all the shouting, raising his own voice in the process.)

Tuesday’s debate will be followed by the first (and only) vice presidential debate between incumbent Mike Pence and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, on Wednesday, Oct. 7. After that comes two more presidential debates on Thursday, Oct. 15 and Thursday, Oct. 22.

So how did Wallace do as moderator? And who won the debate, Trump or Biden? Vote in our polls below, and then hit the comments to share your thoughts.

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