One candidate offered faith in democracy. The other tried to sow doubts.
The final moments of Tuesday night's presidential debate offered a clear distinction between President Donald Trump and his challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden. Only one of them — Biden — testified to a belief in America's system of elections, and faith in its people to make it work.
Given a chance, Biden used his time to urge Americans to vote, whether by mail-in ballots or by going to the polls. "Show up and vote," he said, delivering his message directly into the camera. "You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote vote vote."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump, by contrast, peddled baseless conspiracy theories.
"Take a look at what's going on in Virginia — mailmen selling the ballots," the president said. "They're being sold, they're being dumped in rivers. This is a horrible thing for our country. This is not going to end well."
That last sentence felt like the truest thing the president said all night. Otherwise, his statement seemed indecipherable, except perhaps to the most committed Fox News viewers.
There was a practical element to each man's comments. For Biden to win an Electoral College stacked in favor of Republicans, he needs his voters to show up — whether by mail or in person — in overwhelming numbers. Trump, trailing in the polls, may see sowing confusion about the legitimacy of the election results as one of his best chances to stay in office. So each man played to his electoral strengths.
But we should take each man at his word. Biden pledged to abide by the results of the vote. Trump refused to commit. The contrast between the two candidates on a fundamental issue — democracy itself — couldn't be more clear.
-
The ‘menopause gold rush’Under the Radar Women vulnerable to misinformation and marketing of ‘unregulated’ products
-
Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS’s pivotal decisionFeature A Supreme Court ruling against the Voting Rights Act could allow Republicans to redraw districts and solidify control of the House
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Will Republicans kill the filibuster to end the shutdown?Talking Points GOP officials contemplate the ‘nuclear option’
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
-
Graphic videos of Charlie Kirk’s death renew debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting warTalking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandateTalking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
Gavin Newsom's Trump-style trolling roils critics while thrilling fansTALKING POINTS The California governor has turned his X account into a cutting parody of Trump's digital cadence, angering Fox News conservatives
-
Costco is at the center of an abortion debateTalking Points The decision to no longer stock the abortion pill came following a pressure campaign by conservatives
