It started with a casual “How you doing, man?” from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, and within minutes the former vice president was sniping at the president to “keep yapping, man.”
And while Trump touted attendance at his campaign rallies claiming “people want to hear what I have to say,” the first presidential debate quickly devolved into stretches of barely intelligible bouts of the candidates talking over each other.
Here’s a quick rundown of some highlights:
Trump on Chicago crime: “If you look at Chicago — what’s going on in Chicago, where 53 people were shot and eight died. … It is crazy what’s going on, and [Biden] doesn’t want to say ‘law and order’ because he can’t because he’ll lose his radical left supporters.”
Biden on Trump’s handling of civil unrest: “What he keeps trying to do is rile everything up. He doesn’t want to calm things down... What’s he do? He just pours gasoline on the fire constantly.”
Trump on economic recovery in COVID-19 pandemic: “We had 10.4 million people in a four-month period that we’ve put back into the workforce. That’s a record the likes of which nobody’s ever seen before.”
Biden on Trump’s handling of the pandemic: “He panicked, or he just looked at the stock market — one of the two — because guess what: a lot of people died, and a lot more are gonna die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker.”
Trump on face masks: “I wear a mask when needed… I don’t wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.”
Biden on health care: “Do you have any idea what this clown’s doing? He is not offering any help for any people needing health care.”
Trump on improving access to insulin: “I’m getting it so cheap, it’s like water, if you want to know the truth.”
Biden on Trump’s relationship with Russia: “He’s Putin’s puppy. He still refuses to even say anything to Putin about the bounty on the heads of American soldiers.”
