The CPD instituted a new rule for the debate in Nashville: each candidate would have their microphone turned off while their opponent was giving their initial two-minute response. This was intended to prevent the consistent interruptions that occurred during the first debate, which were primarily blamed on Trump but were started by former vice president Joe Biden. I suspect that the CPD, which has proved itself to be very biased, thought this would harm the President most. People who don’t like Trump tend to believe that his combative argumentative debate style is due to a lack of substance; he talks over his opponent to silence their points and distract from the fact that he has none. This was proven to be completely false on Thursday.

Trump’s usual aggression on the debate stage was reeled in when he didn’t have a functional microphone. Instead we saw him biding his time, taking notes and dismantling Biden’s points. It was a marked difference from the first debate when Trump cut the rope every time Biden threatened to hang himself. Tonight, Trump forced Biden to reveal that he wanted to grant amnesty to over 10 million illegal immigrants, to transition American energy away from oil and that he still has no defense for the 1994 crime bill. The first two are disasters for middle America; the latter is no winner among minorities. Biden got pinned down on Hunter’s emails that alleged meetings between foreign business partners and the former VP and discussed cash in exchange for introductions, which he pathetically explained away as ‘Russian disinformation’.