Published 11:33 IST, October 1st 2020
George RR Martin on US Presidential debate: 'Trump had set records for being obnoxious'
Reacting to the US Presidential Debate, George RR Martin said that Donald Trump had set records for being obnoxious, speaking lies, interrupting Joe Biden.
George RR Martin came down heavily on United States of America President Donald Trump during the first of the three presidential debates between him and Joe Biden ahead of the elections. The Game of Thrones writer termed the debate as ‘ugly’ and called Trump out for being 'obnoxious, offensive and rude.' He even stated that it was not the ‘behaviour of a president’ or a presidential candidate.
George RR Martin calls out Donald Trump
Taking to Twitter, George RR Martin shared his blog about his take on the presidential debate, calling it something that he had never witnessed, and that it was 'appalling, offensive, disgusting.'
Martin recalled watching the debate between John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon in 1960 and even shared a video from it for the ‘Millenials, Gen Xers, Gen Zs.’ Highlighting that some of the issues debated upon then might not be relevant now, he wanted to stress on the tone.
“Two candidates exchanging views and ideas, debating facts, dealing with the issues of the day, all the while treating each other with respect. It was a DEBATE,” he wrote.
Martin recalled the other debates of Nixon and Kennedy, the ones between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and the three-way battle between Bill Clinton-Geroge Bush and Ross Perot. He remembered watching Ronald Reagan debate Jimmy Carter, and John Anderson-Walter, Barack Obama against John McCain, and Obama against Mitt Romney. Martin wrote that Trump was ‘bad against Hilary Clinton’ but had 'set records' this time.
The acclaimed writer added that Trump had ‘ranted’, ‘raved’, ‘shouted’, and 'interrupted' repeatedly, refused to let Joe Biden ‘finish a sentence without breaking in.’
“He spoke over Biden, he spoke over the moderator, he ignored the questions, he ignored the rules — rules his own campaign had negotiated and agreed to — he told shocking lies, and doubled down when called on them, he engaged in smears and personal attacks, he tried to discredit the result of the vote before most of America has even voted,” George RR Martin noted in his blog.
He likened Trump’s conduct to that of a ‘schoolyard bully, an obnoxious child, the tinpot strongman of some third world dictatorship.’ He asked if any of the other leaders would have behaved in the way Trump had in public, even if they had their ‘obnoxious moments' in ‘private'.
The writer also stated the POTUS had 'disgraced the presidency’'. Keeping all issues aside, like ‘race relations to climate change to the pandemic’, he added that the debate proved ‘one thing beyond doubt’ that Biden is a ‘decent human being’ while 'Donald Trump is not.'
Democratic challenger Joe Biden and Donald Trump clashed over each other's personality, past record, family, racism and their visions in the debate held in Cleveland, Ohio on Tuesday. Calling each others ‘liars’, both attacked each other during the debate, with Biden questioning Trump’s handling of the coronarvirus situation, while POTUS highlighted Biden’s role in the drafting of 1994 crime bill and poking fun over the lack of audience at his rallies.
The next two presidential debates have been slated for October 15 and 22 respectively, before the elections on November 3.
(With inputs from PTI)
Updated 11:33 IST, October 1st 2020