Social media reacts to the first presidential debate

Twitter responded to the first presidential debate with eye rolls, opinions and anxiety.

Published: Sept 29, 2020, 10:03 p.m. MDT

President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden exchange points during the first presidential debate Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. Associated Press

President Donald Trump faced off against former vice president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in what was a wild 90 minutes in the first presidential debate.

The two spoke about a number of topics — from the coronavirus pandemic to racial injustice to the economy.

Of course, the debate wasn’t without liveliness. Trump spoke heavily over Biden, while Biden played a more relaxed style throughout the night. Biden stumbled through a few of his answers. Trump hammered Biden on his record as well.

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Social media rolled its eyes and expressed its opinion with what happened during the debate’s first night. We’ve rounded up a slew of reactions, which you can read below.

That was a relatively easy debate to fact check because the president has made the vast majority of these false claims before.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 30, 2020

Gotta have power to cut the mics in the Presidential debates
— Kevin Love (@kevinlove) September 30, 2020

I came into tonight excited and hopeful to see this debate and I have to say I'm flabbergasted that was a presidential debate. I'm dismayed by what I saw. #PresidentialDebate
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) September 30, 2020

Everyone be honest.

Not a single American mind was changed tonight.
Needle was not moved in either direction. #PresidentialDebate #Debate2020
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) September 30, 2020

“The American people lost tonight. Because that was horrific.” -@jaketapper
— Max Chesnes (@MaxChesnes) September 30, 2020

Genuinely sucks we only have two more of these.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 30, 2020

That was a mess.
— Touré (@Toure) September 30, 2020

Well that was horrible!! Onward.
— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) September 30, 2020

Scariest line all night: “To be continued...”
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) September 30, 2020

What was the point of that?
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) September 30, 2020

That hour and a half was the longest week of my life
— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings) September 30, 2020

I'm not sure why trying to fight the debate to a messy, unwatchable draw is supposed to be a good strategy for Trump when he's 7 points behind in the polls.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) September 30, 2020

Nothing was funny about that, Mr. Wallace.
— Alexis Johnson (@alexisjreports) September 30, 2020

There are two more debates
— Lauren Peikoff✡️ (@laurenpeikoff) September 30, 2020

What the heck was that.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) September 30, 2020

We never know official results on election night.
— Jena Griswold (@JenaGriswold) September 30, 2020

Trump threatening to light the country on fire if he doesn't win. This is so so so dangerous.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) September 30, 2020

I cannot believe we just gave the president 3 minutes on national television to try to undermine American confidence in election, with no evidence or basis. It makes me sick.
— Addisu Demissie (@ASDem) September 30, 2020

Dump me in a river
— Washington Post TikTok Dad (@davejorgenson) September 30, 2020

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