As Donald Trump – encouraged by a mute button – did his best impression of an adult, he produced so much mis- and disinformation in the final presidential debate that it was hard not to share the dread so many Americans feel about the forthcoming elections. Outside of the echo chamber in which he and his base reside, the reality for entire sections of the country could not be more divergent from the fevered imaginings of its president. Covid-19 is spreading rapidly across rural America. Hospitalizations have tripled in North Dakota, Montana, and Wisconsin and doubled in South Dakota, Utah, Indiana, and Ohio. Nationally more than 60,000 new cases are being recorded each day. (If North Dakota were a country it would have the highest infection rate in the world.) As this third wave of infection gathers momentum, some estimates predict another 200,000 deaths from the disease before the next president is sworn in. Yet Trump continued to insist, erroneously, and for nearly the fortieth time this year, that cures are just around the corner.
Misleadingly, Trump began a defence of his record by saying that up to two million Covid-19 fatalities had been projected. In fact, that was a worst-case estimate of what would have ensued if the government had done nothing. He praised his travel “ban” on China, when, in fact, after credulously accepting Beijing’s denials he merely imposed restrictions. Glossing over other well documented mistakes he seemed almost proud of his mismanagement. Pressed on his evasions and false statements, he uttered the absurd and revealing words: “I take full responsibility. It’s not my fault that it came here. It’s China’s fault.”
There were other surreal moments. With a straight face, Trump suggested that perhaps only Abraham Lincoln had done more for African Americans than he; that Democrats had been eager to work with him on the eve of the pandemic, apparently forgetting his impeachment; he tried, repeatedly, to spread misinformation about corruption in the Biden family, invoking the infamous laptop and emails that dozens of intelligence officials have dismissed as a hoax. Merci-fully, neither Biden nor the moderator, Kristen Welker, took the bait and the exchange maintained a modicum of civility. But as his provocations misfired, Trump’s contrasts with Biden became more noticeable. The vice president avoided ad hominem attacks and spoke directly to all Americans, including those who wouldn’t be voting for him. He sounded decent and serious. Apparently incapable of empathy, Trump looked dismissive, self-involved and arrogant.
Whatever its outcome, this election has revealed a moral collapse within the Republican party. In less than four years it has surrendered to Trump’s whims, barely offering a platform for the election, rushing through a Supreme court nomination, dragging its heels on pandemic relief, and doubling down on divisive issues to an unprecedented degree. A party that prides itself on protecting the unborn has shrugged its shoulders when faced with child separations at the border. Religious conservatives have kept silent about the president’s tawdry past and his mocking, cynical, uncharitable manner. The party of law and order sat on its hands and refused to review key evidence during an impeachment hearing. Military hawks have put up with his disparagement of generals and other military personnel, not to mention his silence at Russia placing bounties on American soldiers. Nativists have said nothing about his many foreign entanglements, not least his Chinese bank accounts and tax payments. In short, Trump has simultaneously hollowed out and radicalized a major political party.
On the eve of a momentous election, Trump’s final debate made that clearer than ever. The election is no longer about contested political visions, it will be a poll on the character of the two candidates. Trump has made much of the fact that he is not a typical politician, but in the final debate Biden wisely tackled the issue head-on. After Trump spoke of the “poor job” the Obama administration had done on practically everything, Biden countered: “the character of the country is on the ballot. Our character is on the ballot. Look at us closely.”