Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-20

Feature
Residents Share Opinions About Presidential Debate
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
With the pandemic of COVID-19, political rallies have not been held as often and open as in the past. Because of the pandemic, more viewers than ever were expected to watch the Presidential Debate between President Donald Trump, and presidential candidate, Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump has not limited his campaign events, traveling around the country appearing before huge crowds. Whereas, Biden has done a lot less and smaller campaign events, not- ing the health concerns for oth- ers.
Tuesday evening’s debate (Sept. 29, 2020) was not a sur- prise. As many believed, Presi- dent Trump would go low to ruffle the feathers of VP Biden, and he’d try to outtalk Biden and the moderator.
Area residents gave their thoughts on the debate.
Rev. Karen Jackson Sims: “Debate or Debacle? Tuesday evenings broadcast of what was supposed to be a de- bate brought more disgrace to the American Presidency. It was clear from the onset that Mr. Trump did not come to debate. One even has to won- der, is he capable of discussing the issues affecting this coun- try. Yet, we must STAY WOKE!
“He has for the last 3-1⁄2 years used a strategy of deflec- tion. Anything you don’t want to talk about, aggressively throw out a negative issue about some- one else. That was clear Tues- day as he bullied his way past the moderator, Chris Wallace and his opponent, Vice Presi- dent Biden. No facts, lots of untruths. The lack of denial of white supremacy, specifically “Proud Boys” and of being a racist was disgusting. Interest-
ingly, he believed that he could give an order for white su- premacy groups to “stand down” for the time being.
“It did not go without notice that Mr. Biden missed his op- portunity on air to say that “Black Lives Matter,” although his other comments were sup- portive of diversity and inclu- sion.
“While he had information to present about issues, some- times it appeared that he was slow on the come back, missing some opportunities to rebut. When Mr. Trump noted that his rallies have been free of any problems the door was opened to ask about Herman Cain. Knowing Mr. Trump’s strat- egy, Mr. Biden needs to hit harder and faster during com- ing debates.”
Dr. Shandale Terrell of Lakeland, had this to say: “This was a different Presidential De- bate due to the Coronavirus
(COVID-19).
“Donald Trump was try-
ing to bombard and over shadow Joe Biden with his talkative tactics, when Joe Biden was trying to make his case about the questions and statements that were made. Donald Trump several times talked over the moderator; this is very disrespectful.
“Joe Biden made a strate- gic statement about Donald Trump’s lack of response, re- garding the Coronavirus and the thousands of lives lost. “We can see that Donald Trump’s ob- jective is to divide citizens in- stead of unifying citizens, and trying to start a Civil War.
“I believe the Presidential Debate would have been more productive without Donald Trump interrupting the mod- erator with his over talkative tactics,” Dr. Terrell con- cluded.
“I watched the presidential debate and found myself cring- ing, but gathered myself when it dawned on me that my expecta- tions should have started at a much lower level. At a time when Black lives are being lost, there's civil unrest, protests, a global pandemic, unemploy- ment and so many serious mat- ters of great importance to learn about which presidential candi- date would be the best to serve our country now, the so-called debate simply validated the ur- gency we have to vote early. There was not much one could learn because of the disorder,” James Ransom stated.
“Quite frankly, I did not learn anything new, but I am sure about who I will be voting for and no future debate can change my mind.
“In the meantime, I encourage you to stand-up, speak-up and go vote as well,” Ransom con- cluded..
Edwin (Ed) Narain
stated: “My family and I watched the debate and we ex- pected VP Biden to come away as the clear choice.
“People are tired of the divi- sion and fear this President con- tinues to promote from the White House and are looking for real solutions, not more angry tweets and empty rheto- ric.
“Over 203,000 Americans are dead, unemployment is ap- proaching record highs and mass evictions are looming. The Biden-Harris ticket has a bet- ter vision for the country and African Americans especially. No matter what the President says, four more years of this ad- ministration will NOT be good for our nation.”
Hillsborougn County NAACP President Yvette Lewis said: “Last night's debate was an embarrassment. Presi- dent Trump broke every agreement he signed to partici- pate in the debate. He con- stantly kept interrupting Vice President Biden and the moderator. The moderator lost control many times. Presi- dent Trump avoided many of the questions, such as race, his taxes, and white supremacy groups.
“VP Biden tried to stay fo- cused on the questions. I like how VP Biden would turn to the camera and talk to the peo- ple. In the words of Maya An- gelo, “when people show you who they are, you better believe it.” Rise up everyone and VOTE.”
PAGE 10-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2020