July 10, 2024 • 27 mins
In this episode of Next Gen PA, we delve into the recent presidential debate, analyzing each candidate's stance on the nation's most pressing topics: foreign affairs, abortion, the economy, and immigration. Join us for an insightful discussion on how this chaotic debate might shape the race to the White House and what we hope to see and hear in the next showdown—if there is one.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[Music]
(00:09):
Hello and welcome to next Gen PA. My name is Samuel Pimental and I'm joined today by my co-hosts.
Connor Joyce from Gettysburg College. Lia Almer, Selina Xu, and Mary Gabriel from Temple University.
There's definitely a lot of mixed emotions of how people feel about the two candidates.
(00:31):
Many people are questioning the integrity of former President Trump and many are also questioning the age and capabilities of current President Biden.
Today, we are here to talk about the issues facing this nation's youth and how they feel about the options they've been given and how they feel about where the current candidates stand on the issues they care about.
(00:54):
So today, let's start off by asking my co-hosts about how they felt about the last debate. Connor, I want to start with you.
What was your opinions on the last debate we had between former President Trump and current President Biden?
Well, I was watching the debate and one thing that becomes clear is I study politics at Gettysburg is that Americans want to fall politically in love with their President.
(01:17):
They want to fall in love with the way that politicians talk, so they're postures on stage, they're public policies, things like that.
And when I watch the debate, I would really be hard pressed to find anybody who fell in love with Biden and Trump.
I myself was wondering throughout the debate, where is our Obama, our Reagan, our Kennedy, our Eisenhower, where is our FDR?
A man who was confined to a wheelchair that mustered the strength to stand to tell us that we could beat the Nazis, handle the Italians and defeat the Japanese.
(01:43):
I was wondering where that inspiring person was who could say things like that that would galvanize a great nation.
So I was really let down by the debate.
People do feel that these candidates didn't have the strength to get them passionate. That's really unfortunate to hear.
So, you know, what about you?
I definitely agree with Connor, and I think a big part of why there was no, you know, like the love for the candidate was there was a lot of finger pointing
(02:12):
and like almost even personal attacks amongst the candidates rather than, you know, discussing the issues that people wanted to hear about.
I mean, to think that we're having presidential candidates, these people will be the leaders of our country, this great nation.
And they're using childish insults to describe each other is truly just mind-boggling.
(02:34):
Lia, how about you?
Just like the lack of respect between the candidates was really apparent and it just shows like they're maturity because when you want a president to lead the country, you want them to be like good speakers as like Connor was saying.
And actually, I saw this like clip back from the 2008 presidential debate between it was like Obama and McCain.
(02:59):
And it was so like starkly different, the amount of respect that they just each would give each other.
I think throughout the debate there was also just a lack of backing up their answers.
They'd hurl in the insult or they'd say the opposing candidate is the worst president in history, but then they wouldn't give factual evidence or clear points.
(03:23):
And it made it really hard for me to understand where each of the candidates were coming from and want to back any of their policies.
What's important about these presidents is of course moral character matters a lot too, but policy.
I mean, these people are making huge decisions that impact everybody's life, not just in the United States, but because we're such a world super power abroad and you want policies, people can get bothered and think that they will help me, they will help my brothers and sisters of this country and they will help people abroad.
(03:57):
Mary, what was your opinion on the debate?
Yeah, I would totally agree with what everyone says.
And I think that's what a lot of the American people are feeling that these two candidates don't really have respect for each other.
And that's just really sad to see.
The first thing I noticed was that Trump and Biden didn't shake hands on stage, which is pretty customary and you know, just shows respect for the other candidate.
(04:26):
And that was sad to see. And basically the whole debate just felt like it was a fighting match between the two parties.
And I agree with Lia that there wasn't any backing up of facts or fact checking.
I think it would be nice to see some real time fact checking from CNN during the debate because both of them had some like questionable things that they were saying.
(04:54):
Not always the truth. So that was really confusing, especially I bet for some of the other viewers.
They didn't really know who to believe.
So yeah, it was definitely a let down overall, I think.
Good points. I mean, in the same debate, we heard that President Trump had the best immigration policies and had the worst immigration policies, same with President Biden.
(05:18):
So when you have two people who are not necessarily telling the whole truth, it's kind of hard to know what to believe and what policies in the past have actually worked and not worked.
And I think that leads us to the actual policies of the president's and of this debate.
I mean, where do they stand? What's important about these policies and what do we need?
(05:40):
So I want to start off with Connor again, foreign affairs. What do we need to know about foreign affairs with this current presidential election?
Well, with foreign affairs, we can start off with the wars that have been going on around the globe.
So I'm not talked about in the debate that should have been talked about.
We think about maybe even the Taiwanese and the Japanese with the South Koreans joining up together in the Pacific to kind of combat Chinese aggression.
(06:07):
But that wasn't talked about in the debates and said they really focused on Ukraine and Israel, which both have their respective dues to be made.
There was a lot of misinformation that was spatted off during the analysis that they both gave us, particularly when it came to NATO defense spending and a little bit of vision of history.
So that was very concerning.
(06:28):
And when you go further into just kind of the debate of Israel, there was lots of misinformation when it came to who did what when, as well as what sides truly stand for in each other's attacks.
So that was just it was really concerning to just watch and listen because you had to go back through and to completely unravel everything that was said during the foreign policy section.
(06:51):
While we have the two big wars that are heavily televised and reported on the world is in just four countries. It's made up of many countries and we should know how our presidents feel about, especially the major conflicts going on.
And I do think the fact that there was false information and the fact that certain conflicts weren't covered is quite concerning.
(07:15):
We really, as America people, I think deserve to know and have the comfort that our presidents will be looking out for us domestically and abroad to kind of talk about domestically.
Selina, I want to ask you about abortion, about what was talked about what needs to be talked about and how abortion this election cycle is important and what the feeling is on it.
(07:38):
Yeah, so I want to start with Roe v Wade. So when president Biden was asked about what he would do about this, he said if he was elected that he would be enforced Roe v Wade and try to get it turned over again.
And he said that he supported Roe v Wade, but that the decision of abortion should really be left to a doctor, which I completely agree with because the doctors are the ones with the most knowledge on this topic.
(08:04):
Trump, on the other hand, said that he supported the abortion pill and that if he was elected, he said that he wouldn't interfere with the abortion pill.
But I think just because they said it in the debate, it doesn't mean that they're actually going to carry out those actions if elected. So I think it's wise to be aware that not everything again is truthful.
(08:26):
That's what we need is the truth. It's hard for a president to say they can enforce something that has been enacted by Supreme Court.
And if you're for abortion, you hope that happens, but if you're for abortion, you also want to know what actually can be done for abortion or if you're against abortion, you want the fact to matter as you want Trump to be truthful about his more anti-abortion status.
(08:51):
So I think truth with abortion matters to let people know what rights they have don't have. And to make sure that by voting for the president, they're going to enact what they say, they're going to enact.
Now, a big issue on everyone's mind when they go by gas, when they go by a house, when they try to go to college is the economy and the prices and inflation, the low unemployment.
(09:17):
But again, high inflation. And I want to ask Leah about the economy. What do we need to know about it? What was discussed? And what did these presidents promise to do about it?
Yeah, definitely. The economy was a major issue that they were talking about. It was actually brought up first in the debate and kind of open with like the American people.
(09:39):
This is like heavy on their minds with necessities, like groceries, gas prices, like very integral to our daily lives. But so overall the debate on the economy, they covered like various topics.
I know they covered like inflation, especially with like the COVID-19 pandemic and the ramifications and aftermath of that.
(10:03):
And then like Trump's tax cuts and also the national debt that during Trump's presidency, like sword to the highest numbers.
But just some things that like I thought were interesting. Biden was like, citing how he was like making new jobs for Americans.
(10:24):
He said like 15,000 new jobs and there was just a lot of back and forth that I found really concerned during this debate.
Trump like kind of denied Biden's claims. And also another thing that kind of struck me as not very great was Trump was talking on a lot of like hypotheticals I think.
(10:50):
And then he said he was like hinting that America could have gone into like the Great Depression if it weren't for his presidency. And just like random like kind of hypotheticals that like never happened, which I really don't think should be in a debate like that.
And then also another thing that kind of ties a little bit into foreign affairs, they were talking a little bit about the Israel Palestine conflict and stuff and like the economics of that.
(11:19):
And that was tying into I believe like taxes and stuff are like Trump's economics with like the Middle East and stuff.
And he was like making claims that the conflict may not have happened under him because he said he was like making Iran poor with his economics.
But I just really found that concerning. And then of course we had Joe Biden's kind of lack of coherence in the whole Medicaid situation where he kind of lost his train of thought when he was asked questions about that.
(11:53):
So overall I think this section of the debate debate was really concerning hypotheticals are not what Americans want to hear economics can be your retirement savings your life savings for your family.
Your house your car people don't want hypothetical of what could or couldn't happen to them. They want to know facts. They want to know that they can rest safely knowing they'll have a roof over their head, a car to drive and a family that's well fed and supported.
(12:28):
Now one thing President Trump brought up a lot and made it seem like it was the big issue facing Americans was immigration. You'd heavily criticize Biden's immigration policies but Biden also criticized hits and Mary.
I want to get your opinion and immigration.
What do these two have to offer about immigration. What do they say and what should the American public know about what they're saying?
(12:54):
Yeah, a lot of hypotheticals were say were said with regards to immigration and not a lot of facts from both Biden and Trump.
It was definitely one of the biggest issues that was brought up during this debate.
Specifically I noticed that whenever Trump was asked a question or given time to speak he often reverted back to immigration policies and talking about how that was failing during Biden's administration and not really answering what question he was given.
(13:29):
So I found that really interesting. It shows that Trump is using immigration as a really big issue to go against Biden but getting to what they actually said.
So Biden said that the border now has fewer crossings than when Trump was in office and this just generally isn't true.
(13:53):
There wasn't a lot of back checking on this. A lot of broad statements were made without the actual figures being put in and I think that's what a lot of the American people want to see.
And Trump also made a lot of misleading statements. He said that Biden had allowed waves of people from prisons to come into the United States.
(14:15):
He said that migrants are coming in from mental institutions from Mexico and this just isn't generally true. His campaign cannot even find evidence for this.
Biden has seen like some people from prisons and some people on the terrorist watch list come through but not as much as Trump was saying.
(14:41):
So those numbers are a very small percentage of the people who are coming across the border.
So generally I saw that Trump was just making it a much bigger figure and facts that what is actually happening.
Trump also said that Biden has only created jobs for illegal immigrants. This is not true. He was just saying like nonsense to try to pit the American people against Biden.
(15:07):
I think this is really sad that from both parties you can't trust what a presidential nominee is saying. You think you would want you want the person who might be your next president to be speaking facts and that just wasn't happening specifically for the immigration.
(15:28):
So that's the topic of this debate. Trump said that he had the safest border in the history of this country. That's not true. It was really interesting. I noted that Trump said that the border control endorsed him.
So like name dropped Brandon to endorse him. I don't know who Brandon is but that was really interesting. So yeah, he just both presidents obviously see immigration as a really big topic and would often revert to this when being asked a question even if it wasn't about immigration.
(16:06):
We should have presidents who admit their downfalls in this particular topic, but we should also have them reassure us that they'll fix the problems that happen at the border truthfully though.
And I do agree with you in that doesn't feel like we got a lot of truth.
When the president says they had the safest border, but they actually didn't that's concerning because now as an American public, we don't know if they'll actually take the steps to make the border safer or if they'll just tell us it's safer when in reality. It's not.
(16:41):
And now I want to open it up again about everyone's opinion on these two candidates.
I know there's not a ton of love for either one, however, I do want everyone to say how they felt about these candidates. How they felt if they have a chance at winning or losing.
And if there was another debate, what would you want to be different, either from the moderators or from the candidates themselves and Connor, I want to start with you before I address that question.
(17:07):
I would just like to go to immigration when that's time to add a particular thought I had when she was talking. So our immigration system isn't crisis.
Obviously the immigration crisis stems from a litany of executive orders, spending numerous presidential administrations for sports of presidents. Congress has been unable to enthrine meaningful border legislation in the law.
And the buck should stop with Congress, not the president, but instead it stopped with the president because Congress is incapable of action that seems.
(17:35):
There is a reason that Congress is article one of the Constitution and not article two, establishing meaningful border legislation should be the will of Congress and of the nation itself.
Now moving to your later question about what should the next debate be, you know, next candidate should act like things like that.
Well, I think that we should try and try for a debate that focus on critical issues like the national deficit, which were predicted to have $50.7 trillion in national debt by 2034, which is approximately 122% of America's economic output currently.
(18:11):
Climate change is big. The Belt and Road Initiative expanding into Africa, population growth, the crisis in the Sahel region. Like these are all topics that were not discussed at all that are critical and vital to America's future, even beyond the next couple of presidents that we're going to have.
I think we should focus on a debate with facts and not fiction.
Like I would like to hear more about how the US ranks 23rd in quality of life in the world, 19th and social purpose, 59th in open for business.
(18:40):
How are public schools have been graded as 63% out of a score from 100? We've given a C. How actually a D actually under us to get that we've given a D.
32% on healthcare, for instance, it's 8% and affordability to live.
These should all be topics that we talk about. How are we going to build the 10 best schools in the world, things like that, not revisionist history.
(19:02):
And I think that's what we should be focused on in debates. Issues that actually matter, not just for attack games that go back and forth and it's just lie after lie after lie or how am I going to score political points that way.
So I think that should be the cornerstone of the next debate. As for to address questions such as should president step down, what should be the next moves.
(19:24):
I think that maybe a good solution would be to have a new president candidate for the Democratic Party run for the office against Trump.
As Biden looked slow with arctic a little out of touch with reality. He's done his time and he has been very successful in his diplomatic career in Congress, but representing Delaware and now now the president.
(19:46):
See, it's just I think his time has has reached a point where it's time for him to step off and elect a new person for the convention.
But that being said, I think that person has to be young, a new face and also have some sort of experience winning over middle voters as well as the left and part of the party.
(20:07):
You brought up some statistics, which are concerning and yet we didn't hear anything about this.
You'd want to think that either leader of your nation is going to address its issues or at least be aware of the issues. And I think you also bring a good point up in that it might possibly be Biden's time to go.
(20:28):
Maybe he's run his course, he's had a great career, but maybe it's his time to throw it in the bag. And that is a really good point to bring up.
Selina, I want to get your opinion on things.
So I like what Connor said about focusing the next debates on critical issues. I feel like this debate, many issues were discussed, but the presidential candidates were mostly talking about what they had already done in the past and focusing on the past and the policies.
(20:57):
But I think it would be a lot more beneficial if they were discussed their plans for the future and how to solve future issues and rather than, you know, making personal attacks, like respecting each other and understanding that there are differences and like addressing each other's differences to debate respectfully.
(21:21):
That will be a lot better for the next few debates. And I think for maybe the vice presidents, they could help gain votes as well, because I don't think it's looking too well for either side as right now.
These are president. These are the highest office in the United States, America. They should not be acting like children, they should be acting like gentlemen, they should be acting respectful.
(21:47):
Because I don't want a president who has the temperament of a child. I hope nobody else would want that either. Now, Leah, I want to get your opinion on everything as well.
Yeah, I agree with what we've all been saying. I think this debate overall was like really concerning. And I think neither of the candidates won.
I think that sentiment's pretty strong across the board.
(22:12):
But I think in the future, I would agree with Connor. Like I think Biden might want to definitely consider stepping down and letting a new democratic candidate run for presidency because just like his performance at the debate was just really showing that his age is a huge issue, possibly in his next presidency and his health.
(22:41):
In his mental state. And I think that it could be really beneficial. And maybe just for like the democratic party in general to have another representative because I think that a lot of people across all different political views were really concerned when they watched the debate and saw his performance.
(23:04):
But yeah, in the future, I think like the next debates, I would agree. Like I think that they should focus on first of all, just like having a smoother debate, like respect and like better backed up ideas and less insults.
(23:25):
A lot of calls for president Biden to step down. And I do hope that the administration is listening to people's calls and taking this to consideration for his next actions. And finally, Mary, I want to get your opinion on everything.
Yeah, I would completely agree with what everyone is saying. I think the overall consensus here is that no one was happy with what this debate was.
(23:49):
And the debate was Democrat or Republican, both candidates really showed their like true colors during the debate Biden. It didn't seem that he was in the best health.
Definitely, they are considering getting another democratic candidate for him. Trump was just lying. A lot of the debate. I read that CNN, Daniel Dale says that Trump made about 30 false claims.
(24:16):
And then he said that Biden also made about nine false claims. That's very concerning. They're just saying things to try to get people on their side, not fact checking.
Hopefully in the future, I would want to see like a real time fact check going on during the debate.
And then he said that Biden has been podcasted alongside the debate. So we actually know what policies are truthful and what's going on.
(24:46):
I also would agree with Connor and what they should say what the future looks like and what they would want to implement specifically with climate change.
And then it's really concerned about the future of our world in regards to climate change. About 61% of Americans say that global climate change is affecting their local community and is having a personal effect on them.
(25:13):
That should be something that these candidates are talking about because everyone mostly is affected by climate change, whether it's the increasing heat, whether it's frequent severe storms like hurricanes.
We're having a category five hurricane near Jamaica right now. And that's the, that's the like soonest category five hurricane that we've had so far, which is really concerning.
(25:40):
So I would have liked that to be brought up in the debate a little bit more just seeing what the different sides perspectives on that are, especially for the younger people, since we probably will be the ones having to deal with this.
But yeah, overall, I just want some more respect between the two candidates in this debate. They're both human.
(26:01):
In general, they just want the best for this country. It seems like in it just in their own like ways, I would want some respect from them, definitely moving forward.
That's honestly wild to think about the fact that for the highest office in the United States, things we're asking for are quite basic and something you'd want out of a manager at a retail store.
(26:26):
Respect and honesty. Why can't we seem to get these? Why can't we seem to have either president realize that the other one is also human and deserves at least some form of respect for holding the highest office in the United States.
Now, I want to thank you all for the point you brought up as well. We need to get youth's perspective out there.
(26:50):
In the end, while adults will be dealing with consequences for a long time as well, we'll be the ones dealing with it next 20, 30, 40, 50 plus years of our lives.
And the fact is, we don't have this perspective coming out or not. We don't have the presidential candidates speaking to us.
And I think we need more of that. We need them listening and speaking to us with truth and respect to both us and the other candidates.
(27:19):
So thank you all for your time. And I hope that somebody out there hears this. It tries to change what's going on in this nation. Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Next Gen PA is a podcast from the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg. For more information on the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, visit our website at www.wacharrisburg.org
(27:47):
[Music]
[Music]
(00:09):
Hello and welcome to next Gen PA. My name is Samuel Pimental and I'm joined today by my co-hosts.
Connor Joyce from Gettysburg College. Lia Almer, Selina Xu, and Mary Gabriel from Temple University.
There's definitely a lot of mixed emotions of how people feel about the two candidates.
(00:31):
Many people are questioning the integrity of former President Trump and many are also questioning the age and capabilities of current President Biden.
Today, we are here to talk about the issues facing this nation's youth and how they feel about the options they've been given and how they feel about where the current candidates stand on the issues they care about.
(00:54):
So today, let's start off by asking my co-hosts about how they felt about the last debate. Connor, I want to start with you.
What was your opinions on the last debate we had between former President Trump and current President Biden?
Well, I was watching the debate and one thing that becomes clear is I study politics at Gettysburg is that Americans want to fall politically in love with their President.
(01:17):
They want to fall in love with the way that politicians talk, so they're postures on stage, they're public policies, things like that.
And when I watch the debate, I would really be hard pressed to find anybody who fell in love with Biden and Trump.
I myself was wondering throughout the debate, where is our Obama, our Reagan, our Kennedy, our Eisenhower, where is our FDR?
A man who was confined to a wheelchair that mustered the strength to stand to tell us that we could beat the Nazis, handle the Italians and defeat the Japanese.
(01:43):
I was wondering where that inspiring person was who could say things like that that would galvanize a great nation.
So I was really let down by the debate.
People do feel that these candidates didn't have the strength to get them passionate. That's really unfortunate to hear.
So, you know, what about you?
I definitely agree with Connor, and I think a big part of why there was no, you know, like the love for the candidate was there was a lot of finger pointing
(02:12):
and like almost even personal attacks amongst the candidates rather than, you know, discussing the issues that people wanted to hear about.
I mean, to think that we're having presidential candidates, these people will be the leaders of our country, this great nation.
And they're using childish insults to describe each other is truly just mind-boggling.
(02:34):
Lia, how about you?
Just like the lack of respect between the candidates was really apparent and it just shows like they're maturity because when you want a president to lead the country, you want them to be like good speakers as like Connor was saying.
And actually, I saw this like clip back from the 2008 presidential debate between it was like Obama and McCain.
(02:59):
And it was so like starkly different, the amount of respect that they just each would give each other.
I think throughout the debate there was also just a lack of backing up their answers.
They'd hurl in the insult or they'd say the opposing candidate is the worst president in history, but then they wouldn't give factual evidence or clear points.
(03:23):
And it made it really hard for me to understand where each of the candidates were coming from and want to back any of their policies.
What's important about these presidents is of course moral character matters a lot too, but policy.
I mean, these people are making huge decisions that impact everybody's life, not just in the United States, but because we're such a world super power abroad and you want policies, people can get bothered and think that they will help me, they will help my brothers and sisters of this country and they will help people abroad.
(03:57):
Mary, what was your opinion on the debate?
Yeah, I would totally agree with what everyone says.
And I think that's what a lot of the American people are feeling that these two candidates don't really have respect for each other.
And that's just really sad to see.
The first thing I noticed was that Trump and Biden didn't shake hands on stage, which is pretty customary and you know, just shows respect for the other candidate.
(04:26):
And that was sad to see. And basically the whole debate just felt like it was a fighting match between the two parties.
And I agree with Lia that there wasn't any backing up of facts or fact checking.
I think it would be nice to see some real time fact checking from CNN during the debate because both of them had some like questionable things that they were saying.
(04:54):
Not always the truth. So that was really confusing, especially I bet for some of the other viewers.
They didn't really know who to believe.
So yeah, it was definitely a let down overall, I think.
Good points. I mean, in the same debate, we heard that President Trump had the best immigration policies and had the worst immigration policies, same with President Biden.
(05:18):
So when you have two people who are not necessarily telling the whole truth, it's kind of hard to know what to believe and what policies in the past have actually worked and not worked.
And I think that leads us to the actual policies of the president's and of this debate.
I mean, where do they stand? What's important about these policies and what do we need?
(05:40):
So I want to start off with Connor again, foreign affairs. What do we need to know about foreign affairs with this current presidential election?
Well, with foreign affairs, we can start off with the wars that have been going on around the globe.
So I'm not talked about in the debate that should have been talked about.
We think about maybe even the Taiwanese and the Japanese with the South Koreans joining up together in the Pacific to kind of combat Chinese aggression.
(06:07):
But that wasn't talked about in the debates and said they really focused on Ukraine and Israel, which both have their respective dues to be made.
There was a lot of misinformation that was spatted off during the analysis that they both gave us, particularly when it came to NATO defense spending and a little bit of vision of history.
So that was very concerning.
(06:28):
And when you go further into just kind of the debate of Israel, there was lots of misinformation when it came to who did what when, as well as what sides truly stand for in each other's attacks.
So that was just it was really concerning to just watch and listen because you had to go back through and to completely unravel everything that was said during the foreign policy section.
(06:51):
While we have the two big wars that are heavily televised and reported on the world is in just four countries. It's made up of many countries and we should know how our presidents feel about, especially the major conflicts going on.
And I do think the fact that there was false information and the fact that certain conflicts weren't covered is quite concerning.
(07:15):
We really, as America people, I think deserve to know and have the comfort that our presidents will be looking out for us domestically and abroad to kind of talk about domestically.
Selina, I want to ask you about abortion, about what was talked about what needs to be talked about and how abortion this election cycle is important and what the feeling is on it.
(07:38):
Yeah, so I want to start with Roe v Wade. So when president Biden was asked about what he would do about this, he said if he was elected that he would be enforced Roe v Wade and try to get it turned over again.
And he said that he supported Roe v Wade, but that the decision of abortion should really be left to a doctor, which I completely agree with because the doctors are the ones with the most knowledge on this topic.
(08:04):
Trump, on the other hand, said that he supported the abortion pill and that if he was elected, he said that he wouldn't interfere with the abortion pill.
But I think just because they said it in the debate, it doesn't mean that they're actually going to carry out those actions if elected. So I think it's wise to be aware that not everything again is truthful.
(08:26):
That's what we need is the truth. It's hard for a president to say they can enforce something that has been enacted by Supreme Court.
And if you're for abortion, you hope that happens, but if you're for abortion, you also want to know what actually can be done for abortion or if you're against abortion, you want the fact to matter as you want Trump to be truthful about his more anti-abortion status.
(08:51):
So I think truth with abortion matters to let people know what rights they have don't have. And to make sure that by voting for the president, they're going to enact what they say, they're going to enact.
Now, a big issue on everyone's mind when they go by gas, when they go by a house, when they try to go to college is the economy and the prices and inflation, the low unemployment.
(09:17):
But again, high inflation. And I want to ask Leah about the economy. What do we need to know about it? What was discussed? And what did these presidents promise to do about it?
Yeah, definitely. The economy was a major issue that they were talking about. It was actually brought up first in the debate and kind of open with like the American people.
(09:39):
This is like heavy on their minds with necessities, like groceries, gas prices, like very integral to our daily lives. But so overall the debate on the economy, they covered like various topics.
I know they covered like inflation, especially with like the COVID-19 pandemic and the ramifications and aftermath of that.
(10:03):
And then like Trump's tax cuts and also the national debt that during Trump's presidency, like sword to the highest numbers.
But just some things that like I thought were interesting. Biden was like, citing how he was like making new jobs for Americans.
(10:24):
He said like 15,000 new jobs and there was just a lot of back and forth that I found really concerned during this debate.
Trump like kind of denied Biden's claims. And also another thing that kind of struck me as not very great was Trump was talking on a lot of like hypotheticals I think.
(10:50):
And then he said he was like hinting that America could have gone into like the Great Depression if it weren't for his presidency. And just like random like kind of hypotheticals that like never happened, which I really don't think should be in a debate like that.
And then also another thing that kind of ties a little bit into foreign affairs, they were talking a little bit about the Israel Palestine conflict and stuff and like the economics of that.
(11:19):
And that was tying into I believe like taxes and stuff are like Trump's economics with like the Middle East and stuff.
And he was like making claims that the conflict may not have happened under him because he said he was like making Iran poor with his economics.
But I just really found that concerning. And then of course we had Joe Biden's kind of lack of coherence in the whole Medicaid situation where he kind of lost his train of thought when he was asked questions about that.
(11:53):
So overall I think this section of the debate debate was really concerning hypotheticals are not what Americans want to hear economics can be your retirement savings your life savings for your family.
Your house your car people don't want hypothetical of what could or couldn't happen to them. They want to know facts. They want to know that they can rest safely knowing they'll have a roof over their head, a car to drive and a family that's well fed and supported.
(12:28):
Now one thing President Trump brought up a lot and made it seem like it was the big issue facing Americans was immigration. You'd heavily criticize Biden's immigration policies but Biden also criticized hits and Mary.
I want to get your opinion and immigration.
What do these two have to offer about immigration. What do they say and what should the American public know about what they're saying?
(12:54):
Yeah, a lot of hypotheticals were say were said with regards to immigration and not a lot of facts from both Biden and Trump.
It was definitely one of the biggest issues that was brought up during this debate.
Specifically I noticed that whenever Trump was asked a question or given time to speak he often reverted back to immigration policies and talking about how that was failing during Biden's administration and not really answering what question he was given.
(13:29):
So I found that really interesting. It shows that Trump is using immigration as a really big issue to go against Biden but getting to what they actually said.
So Biden said that the border now has fewer crossings than when Trump was in office and this just generally isn't true.
(13:53):
There wasn't a lot of back checking on this. A lot of broad statements were made without the actual figures being put in and I think that's what a lot of the American people want to see.
And Trump also made a lot of misleading statements. He said that Biden had allowed waves of people from prisons to come into the United States.
(14:15):
He said that migrants are coming in from mental institutions from Mexico and this just isn't generally true. His campaign cannot even find evidence for this.
Biden has seen like some people from prisons and some people on the terrorist watch list come through but not as much as Trump was saying.
(14:41):
So those numbers are a very small percentage of the people who are coming across the border.
So generally I saw that Trump was just making it a much bigger figure and facts that what is actually happening.
Trump also said that Biden has only created jobs for illegal immigrants. This is not true. He was just saying like nonsense to try to pit the American people against Biden.
(15:07):
I think this is really sad that from both parties you can't trust what a presidential nominee is saying. You think you would want you want the person who might be your next president to be speaking facts and that just wasn't happening specifically for the immigration.
(15:28):
So that's the topic of this debate. Trump said that he had the safest border in the history of this country. That's not true. It was really interesting. I noted that Trump said that the border control endorsed him.
So like name dropped Brandon to endorse him. I don't know who Brandon is but that was really interesting. So yeah, he just both presidents obviously see immigration as a really big topic and would often revert to this when being asked a question even if it wasn't about immigration.
(16:06):
We should have presidents who admit their downfalls in this particular topic, but we should also have them reassure us that they'll fix the problems that happen at the border truthfully though.
And I do agree with you in that doesn't feel like we got a lot of truth.
When the president says they had the safest border, but they actually didn't that's concerning because now as an American public, we don't know if they'll actually take the steps to make the border safer or if they'll just tell us it's safer when in reality. It's not.
(16:41):
And now I want to open it up again about everyone's opinion on these two candidates.
I know there's not a ton of love for either one, however, I do want everyone to say how they felt about these candidates. How they felt if they have a chance at winning or losing.
And if there was another debate, what would you want to be different, either from the moderators or from the candidates themselves and Connor, I want to start with you before I address that question.
(17:07):
I would just like to go to immigration when that's time to add a particular thought I had when she was talking. So our immigration system isn't crisis.
Obviously the immigration crisis stems from a litany of executive orders, spending numerous presidential administrations for sports of presidents. Congress has been unable to enthrine meaningful border legislation in the law.
And the buck should stop with Congress, not the president, but instead it stopped with the president because Congress is incapable of action that seems.
(17:35):
There is a reason that Congress is article one of the Constitution and not article two, establishing meaningful border legislation should be the will of Congress and of the nation itself.
Now moving to your later question about what should the next debate be, you know, next candidate should act like things like that.
Well, I think that we should try and try for a debate that focus on critical issues like the national deficit, which were predicted to have $50.7 trillion in national debt by 2034, which is approximately 122% of America's economic output currently.
(18:11):
Climate change is big. The Belt and Road Initiative expanding into Africa, population growth, the crisis in the Sahel region. Like these are all topics that were not discussed at all that are critical and vital to America's future, even beyond the next couple of presidents that we're going to have.
I think we should focus on a debate with facts and not fiction.
Like I would like to hear more about how the US ranks 23rd in quality of life in the world, 19th and social purpose, 59th in open for business.
(18:40):
How are public schools have been graded as 63% out of a score from 100? We've given a C. How actually a D actually under us to get that we've given a D.
32% on healthcare, for instance, it's 8% and affordability to live.
These should all be topics that we talk about. How are we going to build the 10 best schools in the world, things like that, not revisionist history.
(19:02):
And I think that's what we should be focused on in debates. Issues that actually matter, not just for attack games that go back and forth and it's just lie after lie after lie or how am I going to score political points that way.
So I think that should be the cornerstone of the next debate. As for to address questions such as should president step down, what should be the next moves.
(19:24):
I think that maybe a good solution would be to have a new president candidate for the Democratic Party run for the office against Trump.
As Biden looked slow with arctic a little out of touch with reality. He's done his time and he has been very successful in his diplomatic career in Congress, but representing Delaware and now now the president.
(19:46):
See, it's just I think his time has has reached a point where it's time for him to step off and elect a new person for the convention.
But that being said, I think that person has to be young, a new face and also have some sort of experience winning over middle voters as well as the left and part of the party.
(20:07):
You brought up some statistics, which are concerning and yet we didn't hear anything about this.
You'd want to think that either leader of your nation is going to address its issues or at least be aware of the issues. And I think you also bring a good point up in that it might possibly be Biden's time to go.
(20:28):
Maybe he's run his course, he's had a great career, but maybe it's his time to throw it in the bag. And that is a really good point to bring up.
Selina, I want to get your opinion on things.
So I like what Connor said about focusing the next debates on critical issues. I feel like this debate, many issues were discussed, but the presidential candidates were mostly talking about what they had already done in the past and focusing on the past and the policies.
(20:57):
But I think it would be a lot more beneficial if they were discussed their plans for the future and how to solve future issues and rather than, you know, making personal attacks, like respecting each other and understanding that there are differences and like addressing each other's differences to debate respectfully.
(21:21):
That will be a lot better for the next few debates. And I think for maybe the vice presidents, they could help gain votes as well, because I don't think it's looking too well for either side as right now.
These are president. These are the highest office in the United States, America. They should not be acting like children, they should be acting like gentlemen, they should be acting respectful.
(21:47):
Because I don't want a president who has the temperament of a child. I hope nobody else would want that either. Now, Leah, I want to get your opinion on everything as well.
Yeah, I agree with what we've all been saying. I think this debate overall was like really concerning. And I think neither of the candidates won.
I think that sentiment's pretty strong across the board.
(22:12):
But I think in the future, I would agree with Connor. Like I think Biden might want to definitely consider stepping down and letting a new democratic candidate run for presidency because just like his performance at the debate was just really showing that his age is a huge issue, possibly in his next presidency and his health.
(22:41):
In his mental state. And I think that it could be really beneficial. And maybe just for like the democratic party in general to have another representative because I think that a lot of people across all different political views were really concerned when they watched the debate and saw his performance.
(23:04):
But yeah, in the future, I think like the next debates, I would agree. Like I think that they should focus on first of all, just like having a smoother debate, like respect and like better backed up ideas and less insults.
(23:25):
A lot of calls for president Biden to step down. And I do hope that the administration is listening to people's calls and taking this to consideration for his next actions. And finally, Mary, I want to get your opinion on everything.
Yeah, I would completely agree with what everyone is saying. I think the overall consensus here is that no one was happy with what this debate was.
(23:49):
And the debate was Democrat or Republican, both candidates really showed their like true colors during the debate Biden. It didn't seem that he was in the best health.
Definitely, they are considering getting another democratic candidate for him. Trump was just lying. A lot of the debate. I read that CNN, Daniel Dale says that Trump made about 30 false claims.
(24:16):
And then he said that Biden also made about nine false claims. That's very concerning. They're just saying things to try to get people on their side, not fact checking.
Hopefully in the future, I would want to see like a real time fact check going on during the debate.
And then he said that Biden has been podcasted alongside the debate. So we actually know what policies are truthful and what's going on.
(24:46):
I also would agree with Connor and what they should say what the future looks like and what they would want to implement specifically with climate change.
And then it's really concerned about the future of our world in regards to climate change. About 61% of Americans say that global climate change is affecting their local community and is having a personal effect on them.
(25:13):
That should be something that these candidates are talking about because everyone mostly is affected by climate change, whether it's the increasing heat, whether it's frequent severe storms like hurricanes.
We're having a category five hurricane near Jamaica right now. And that's the, that's the like soonest category five hurricane that we've had so far, which is really concerning.
(25:40):
So I would have liked that to be brought up in the debate a little bit more just seeing what the different sides perspectives on that are, especially for the younger people, since we probably will be the ones having to deal with this.
But yeah, overall, I just want some more respect between the two candidates in this debate. They're both human.
(26:01):
In general, they just want the best for this country. It seems like in it just in their own like ways, I would want some respect from them, definitely moving forward.
That's honestly wild to think about the fact that for the highest office in the United States, things we're asking for are quite basic and something you'd want out of a manager at a retail store.
(26:26):
Respect and honesty. Why can't we seem to get these? Why can't we seem to have either president realize that the other one is also human and deserves at least some form of respect for holding the highest office in the United States.
Now, I want to thank you all for the point you brought up as well. We need to get youth's perspective out there.
(26:50):
In the end, while adults will be dealing with consequences for a long time as well, we'll be the ones dealing with it next 20, 30, 40, 50 plus years of our lives.
And the fact is, we don't have this perspective coming out or not. We don't have the presidential candidates speaking to us.
And I think we need more of that. We need them listening and speaking to us with truth and respect to both us and the other candidates.
(27:19):
So thank you all for your time. And I hope that somebody out there hears this. It tries to change what's going on in this nation. Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Next Gen PA is a podcast from the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg. For more information on the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, visit our website at www.wacharrisburg.org
(27:47):
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