Is this headline enough?

After putting in a 12-hour day upon coming back from vacation, I made the questionable decision to watch the presidential debate. I, like so many others, believe the debate was an absolute trainwreck.

First let’s start with our current President, Joe Biden.

Biden took to the stage sounding far more hoarse than usual. At times, he seemed to be completely lost with what was going on in the debate, oftentimes talking in circles. 

A long criticism of many Biden doubters is his well-documented speech impediment that he has been very open about. I, personally, have been very understanding of this, having overcome a stuttering problem of my own through public speaking and lots of practice. 

Thursday’s debate was not reflective of what Biden has gone through with his speech impediment issues. It was the showing of a man who clearly was not cognitively present for parts of the debate. That is highly concerning.

While it is documented that incumbents struggle with debates, Biden more than struggled. He outright flopped. He was the big loser of the debate.

But coming in as the second-biggest loser of the debate was former President Donald Trump.

Unlike Biden, Trump was confident, affirmative and seemed to have a concise pace of the debate from start to finish. Of course, this didn’t come without a significant amount of lies in the process.

According to CNN, Trump made “more than 30 false claims” during Thursday’s debate. This in comparison to Biden’s “nine false or misleading claims.” Several additional outlets have also reported that Trump spread far more false truths than his opponent.

Now, neither candidate should be spreading any sort of misinformation in a national debate. But more than 30? Good grief. This is “par for the course” for Trump, though. More on golf in a minute.

Perhaps the most concerning portion of the debate is that Trump is continuously calling the 2020 election “rigged” and is still not taking accountability for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. It shows me that Trump is not really looking to appeal to voters that are on the fence about him, but rather, appeal to those that already believe him and his many falsehoods.

It’s not a surprising strategy, but it’s a confusing one. Especially when his opponent is 81 years old and can’t put together coherent sentences on a regular basis.

Speaking of age, Trump is 77 years old himself. This means that, no matter who gets elected, they will finish their term in their 80s. Can we seriously not do better than this? 

This is not a knock on those that are in their 70s-80s, which may be some of you reading this. But, think with me here for a second. Do you think a near 80-year-old man is what we need to move forward in an ever-changing, pioneering country? 

We need an age limit on those who can run and serve as President. This is a hill I will stand on for as long as I have the ability to share my opinion on it.

Now let’s talk about some winners of the debate.

Winner No. 1 to me was Robert F. Kennedy. Now you may ask, Evan, why is that? Isn’t he 70, too? Well, yes. But he’s a winner for a different reason. 

For those who didn’t know, Kennedy held his own “debate” on X at the same time as the presidential debate. He generated millions of views across the platform, showing that he may have the backing to at least get on the presidential ballot. A third option on the ballot is hardly a bad thing, and may be appealing to some gen-Z’ers who use X as their primary news platform.

Winner No. 2 was CNN. The longtime media outlet has been a target of conservatives for being called “fake news.” I’ve always called BS to those who say that, but it is no secret that the CNN platform is more left-leaning with each passing day. 

This caused some concern going into Thursday’s debate on whether co-moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper would be sufficient for the proceedings. Both Bash and Tapper knocked it out of the park. They were concise, they were neutral and, best of all, they pushed both candidates to actually answer the question they were asked. Kudos to CNN for delivering.

And the third winner? The real American sport of golf.

Both Trump and Biden debated who was the better golfer at one point during Thursday’s proceedings. It was so bad, it was laughable. I encourage everyone to at least see that part of the debate. 

Also, Biden claimed that he had gotten his handicap down to six (6) while serving as Vice President. For those who don’t play golf, this would mean he would be expected to shoot a 78 (+6) on 18 holes of a standard golf course. I’m sorry, but Joseph R. Biden has not and will not ever shoot a 78 for an 18-hole round of golf.

If you missed the 90-minute debate on Thursday, you didn’t miss too much of substance. But if you want a synopsis, I think my father nailed it best. 

In a Facebook post, my father compared Trump to Pinocchio and Biden to Groot from the “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Take some time to Google those characters and you’ll see how spot on he was.

Evan Newton is the news editor of The Covington News. He can be reached at enewton@covnews.com.