ROANOKE, Va. – The first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was unlike anything America has seen before.
10 News Political Analyst Dr. Ed Lynch said the debate was defined by negativity and missed opportunities.
Lynch said the negativity Tuesday night was different since the candidates were saying nasty things directly to each other.
Unless people were listening very carefully, Lynch said he doubts any viewers learned anything about their positions.
“Biden for his part failed to take charge of the debate, which he could have done by not trying to imitate the tactics of Donald Trump," Lynch said. “Trump more or less maneuvered Biden into using Trump-like tactics in the debate and that’s not Joe Biden."
Lynch said if there was a winner, it was probably Biden, but he and Trump both had big mistakes.
“Both candidates missed opportunities last night. Trump missed opportunities to confront Biden with some of his flip-flops over a 40 plus year career," said Lynch. “Biden missed the opportunity to take charge of the debate and look as though he was in charge. Of those two missed opportunities, Biden missed the bigger opportunity.”
The next presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 15. and Lynch predicts we’ll see different debate styles from both candidates then.