Here’s what Kansas, Missouri politicians said about the first presidential debate
The first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden lit up the social media accounts of local politicians.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas, former Missouri senator Claire McCaskill and former Kansas and Missouri Secretary of States Kris Kobach and Jason Kander all took to Twitter to give their thoughts regarding Tuesday night’s rancorous encounter.
A few, in general, spoke about their frustrations over how the debate unfolded.
As expected, there also were splits along party lines on which candidate performed better.
Kobach, a Republican who lost the August GOP Senate primary to Rep. Roger Marshall, agreed with the President’s stance on the cause of wildfires. He also criticized Biden for not answering when asked if he’d support adding Supreme Court justices should Democrats regain control of the Presidency and Senate.
Meanwhile, McCaskill and Kander — both Democrats — went after Trump for his abrasiveness. McCaskill, in a TV interview with MSNBC’s 11th Hour on Tuesday night, said she believed Trump illustrated “exactly who he is: a bully who is unmoored, who is chaotic.”
There also were numerous grievances directed at moderator Chris Wallace, who struggled to maintain order throughout.
Topeka Democratic mayor Michelle De La Isla — she’s running for Congress in Kansas’ Second District — spoke to a potential fix for the next two debates. She’s in favor of putting the candidates in separate rooms so they don’t talk over each other as much, an idea that would appear to have public support according to a Politico online poll posted after the debate.
In a subsequent Twitter conversation, De La Isla shared her hope that future debates would be more respectful.
“We can disagree,” De La Isla said, “but it shouldn’t be this way.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 10:54 AM.
