Trump-Biden debate: Europe laments 'incomprehensible' and 'nasty spectacle'
Interest in the first debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden ran high in Europe. Press outlets and officials alike viewed it as a "chaotic and nasty spectacle" and "bad entertainment."
In recent times, no candidates in a US presidential election have clashed more aggressively in a debate. The TV duel, however, failed to produce a clear winner, according to the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung.
"On the contrary: Both Trump and Biden were able to go home satisfied. For as far as the theatrical performance is concerned, both did their job properly. Donald Trump played Donald Trump, Joe Biden played Joe Biden, and the fans must have enjoyed it," the paper said.
Peter Beyer, the German government's coordinator for trans-Atlantic cooperation, says Trump appears to have come out slightly on top after the debate. Trump was more "aggressive" and "combative" than Biden, Beyer told the public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday morning.
The Democratic presidential hopeful, Beyer said, seemed at times too restrained and uncomfortable with Trump's "constant interruptions and verbal attacks." The duel was not a debate, but "bad entertainment," said Beyer.
But Trump, in his view, "clearly dominated" the event, because "he behaved so unpresidential, perhaps even almost dishonorably."
Beyer also said that the debate could have the effect of scaring away many undecided voters from casting their ballots in the November 3 election.
Andreas Nick, member of the German Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee and Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, slammed the debate. Nick told DW that it was "an embarrassment in terms of the lack of decency, in terms of what it meant for the dignity of the presidency and of the democratic process" and "disturbing for voters in the United States, but also for friends and allies of the United States globally."
While German conservatives had "a lot of respect and trust for the democratic process in the United States," they were following the US election campaign "with a lot of anxiety," he added.
https://www.dw.com/en/trump-biden-debate-europe-laments-incomprehensible-and-nasty-spectacle/a-55103365
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