Biden-Trump 1^st Presidential Debate by Albert A. Motale

There is expectation and the reality in life; our expectations may differ but the Realities may be similar. Presidential election debates are media events, Candidate’s performance at Media debates do not significantly have an impact on outcomes of elections. People are going to vote based on the bread-and-butter issues, their economic situation, policies, interest and partisanship.

 It was evident that Biden was already trailing at the polls even before the Presidential election debate on Thursday night and, his performance at the debate was poor and those raising the most concerns are the democrats themselves. The Democrats understand the stakes, and no democrat would wish seeing the return of Trump to the White House.

 The USA has been able to elevate their Presidential elections into a spectacle of global event and it is always a delight to watch and other countries have been trying to fashion their elections based on its style. Nigeria has been the only country able to do the same by equally elevating their Presidential election into a global event. All other elections including that of UK, France, Germany and South Africa have not been able to generate similar media and global tractions.

The US Presidential debate between Trump and Biden had the usual expectations and realities. People tend to vote on media events, especially on Presidential debate outcomes based on their expectations and not only the realities. If Real Madrid (iconic team) of Spain plays against my favorite team-Bendel Insurance (known by a celebrated-few) of Benin City, NIGERIA, the expectations shall be different. If the match ends in a one all draw, Bendel Insurance supporters shall celebrate, but the supporters of Real Madrid shall look at the scoreline as cataclysmic disaster and would not celebrate, as their expectations might not have been met. That is the feeling of the Democrats in the aftermath of the Presidential election debate. They could not hide how they felt during and after the debate was over. 

 Biden might have scored or graded low by millions of viewers based on their expectations of expecting a better performance from him. He disappointed! Trump was more audible than Biden, but the reality is that, Trump was usually off topic and did not impress either.

 The expectations of most US voters were to see and expect a better performance of Biden as we saw during his heydays at the VP presidential debates and his first debate against President Trump which he demolished Governor Serah Palin (2008 Vice Presidential race) and President Trump (2020 Presidential race). So, the anticipated expectations were not met. The reality is that, while Biden performance was below expectations, Trump also did not provide any direct clear answers to most of the policy questions asked. The voters are left wandering with no clear choice to cast their votes.

 Both Trump and Biden are very old men and too old to be President of the USA in 2024. The USA is not an ageing state like Japan but a country of young people that should have been spoiled for much-younger candidates. They are too old and not suitable for a country like USA. Unfortunately, the US has been plagued with two bad choices in Biden and Trump. Both displayed forgetfulness and both could not give direct answers to questions as they were constantly reminded to answer the questions. Biden appears to have a grasp of the issues better than Trump and could enumerate the issues by even counting 1,2, 3 but forgetfulness took the better part of his concluding sentences. Trump was, at most times, completely off topic as he focused more on rebuttals. Trump could not define any policy issues rather, he insisted on labelling Biden as the one using the judicial arm in persecuting him, which is horrendously false.

The presidential debate reinforced yet again the insignificance of Africa in US politics, trade and diplomacy. There was no mention of Africa throughout the debate whereas the Middle East and Europe were prominently mentioned. Even though we have Africa defining US Citizenship as African Americans. Africa is never a feature in US Presidential election debates. So, why are Africans concerned about the US election that has nothing to do with Africa?

What are the Trade values between USA and Africa?

Africa is being suffocated by a Dracula, World Bank and IMF policies, EU, US capital trade policies are destroying Economies of Africa, yet weaponizing immigration. Illicit financial flows from Africa are killing Africa and the US needs to address these cancers by EU and USA companies stealing from Africa at a US Presidential Debate Platform, which they failed to do.

 The US- Africa trade values are on the decline.

 What are USA policies geared towards promoting trade, development and African businesses in Africa? What the US is pushing more in Africa is the legalization of same-sex unions and not economic rights, prosperity and wealth creation. The USA is more concerned with setting up military bases in Africa for their strategic interest than helping Africa’s economic interest. This is why African nations value China’s presence in Africa.

Both Trump and Biden never visited Africa as Presidents.

African voters should be looking for candidates whose strategic policies favor economic development in Africa akin to that of Chinese - Africa cooperation and development partnerships. Sadly enough, both men were not asked question about Africa in their 90-minutes debate period. 

The issue of senility falls within the remits of the USA Constitution.

Both Biden and Trump are just too old. Age would have been a factor in the western media, if any African aged 79 was running for Presidency. It is hypocritical how Mugabe’s old age was used as a disqualifying factor to run for the presidency by western media but same not binding on these two senile men, who are consumed with old age.

Both USA and Nigeria have constitutional provisions for incapacitation of a president, as grounds for removal from office. Under Trump’s first term in office the 25^th amendment, which calls for incapacitation was rumored to be invoked in the corridors of the White House. Same is the case with Biden. These two men are highly unqualified to hold the office of President of the United States because they suffer from some form of dementia. There are well-defined constitutional provisions to allow for the execution of  incapacitation process and procedure

The Nigeria constitution provides for members of the Federal Executive Council to raise and move a Motion on the state of the Health of the President. That motion shall then be forwarded to the Senate for consideration and approval. After which, a motion shall be moved by the Senate to invite the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council to set up a medical team to assess the health status of the President with Representations from the President's medical Doctors. That report shall be presented to the Senate.

The constitution of Nigeria provides for only the Senate to impeach or remove a President from office just as that of the USA. Every society gets the leader it deserves. The Democrats could substitute Biden if his health is now an issue. Or, is it too late for such substitution? Yes! Trump might likely win the next election with a burden of felony hanging over his head.