There’s been a lot of pooh-poohing and crocodile tears over how “nasty” and “unbecoming” Tuesday’s Presidential debate was. It was just too much for our holy and pure media class to handle. Their fragile constitutions could not stomach such rancorous banter.
This was how the NYTimes described it:
Trump TRAMPLED DECORUM with his LIES and MOCKERY and his CROSS TALK!
“You, sir, have trampled decorum!” 😢
I weep for the future of our nation. Every presidential debate prior to this has been a gentlemanly intellectual debate.
Fox News:
“Nasty.”
The 21st century Victorians needed a collective fainting couch because they had never seen such odiousness on display.
But does anyone remember the 2012 VP debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden? That was one of the nastiest, most decorum-trampling debates in recent memory, only it was mostly Joe Biden trampling the decorum.
Obviously 2020 Joe Biden is a shell of his 2012 self. He has nowhere near the energy he once had. But if he was in 2012 shape, I guarantee you he would’ve been a lot nastier and ruder than he was Tuesday night.
And, by the way, he was a royal dickhead on Tuesday night, it’s just the media refused to criticize him about. He called Trump a clown, a racist and at one point told him to shutup. “Well, that’s because Trump deserved it!” I’m sure they’d say, as if their personal opinions are as good as gospel.
Have a look at this video of the highlights of the 2012 VP debate, as well as the way Biden’s performance and general tone was characterized by ABC News:
ABC’s Jon Karl, with a smile on his face: “A clash of ideas, a clash of styles, and I would say the liveliest Vice Presidential debate we have ever seen.”
When Biden was interrupting and rude, ABC News calls it “lively.”
Karl, who was narrating the debate highlight montage, said, “Biden was often dominant, maybe a little too dominant. Republicans claimed he interrupted Ryan 82 times, often breaking out in laughter, even when Ryan was talking about Iranian nukes. Biden was even all smiles when he accused Ryan of basically not telling the truth.”
Here’s one nice moment:
RYAN: “Jack Kennedy lowered tax rates and increased growth, Ronald Reagan–“
BIDEN, interrupting: “OHHH, now you’re Jack Kennedy?!”
Man, watching those clips, it’s just striking how much Biden has changed in 8 years. He’s not even the same guy.
The largely one-sided nastiness of the 2012 VP debate was not portrayed by the media as deeply damaging to the nation, or as something to despair over. The whole attitude towards the debate was basically, “Haha, well that’s just ol’ Uncle Joe! Gotta love him!”
This was how the New York Times described the 2012 debate:
“They repeatedly talked over each other.”
But no national moral crisis in 2012, right?
“Mr. Biden showed no hesitation hectoring, heckling and interrupting his challenger.”
Because Obama was “too polite” in the first debate with Romney.
It’s all good in the hood when Democrats do it.
SNL parodied the debate and Jason Sudekis, playing Biden, was constantly heckling and laughing at Ryan the whole time:
It was funny because it was accurate.
The 2012 VP debate was nasty and unbecoming, mostly because of Biden. But the media only treats Trump’s debate performance as the death knell of the Republic.
I found this quote from 2012 that I’ll end with:
“Vice President Joe Biden was on the verge of appearing like a bully during segments of his debate against Paul Ryan Thursday night. Let’s hope his performance doesn’t set a new baseline for incivility in future debates.”
Prophetic indeed. Republicans realized that being civil and polite got them nowhere. The Democrats–and Joe Biden personally–brought this upon themselves.