Donald Trump and Joe Biden. File

The first US presidential debate between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden turned into a media circus, with the principal performers locked in a freefall into the exasperating and ridiculous. The two traded barbs and insults that were not expected and certainly out of sync with civility. The man who is going to occupy the office of the President of the United States of America, reportedly the most powerful nation on earth, should be a model of civility and political etiquette. Name-calling and insults do not behove the standing of the person who is going to be the White House occupant.

It can put off a lot of viewers – the faceoff attracted a much smaller television audience than the record set four years ago.

An estimated 28.7 million people tuned in on broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, below the roughly 45 million viewers who watched Trump debate former first lady Hillary Clinton on those channels in 2016.

In a 90-minute confrontation ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Biden and Trump battled fiercely over Trump’s record on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and the economy.

The event, moderated by Fox News Channel host Chris Wallace, was streamed live on Twitter, YouTube, network websites and other digital platforms.

Moderator Wallace pleaded for a more orderly debate, at one point looking at Trump and saying, “The country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.”

“Ask him, too,” Trump said.

“Well, frankly, you’ve been doing more interrupting than he has,” Wallace said.

Biden on Wednesday called the debate “a national embarrassment.”

The debate left many aghast and perplexed, and doubting the very credibility of American politics. There have been fears whether the transfer of power would be smooth.

Few observers appeared to come away thinking that the last remaining superpower could rise above its bitter partisan rancour as the election looms barely a month away.

One major worry to emerge from the debate was whether the election results might be challenged or delayed, in part because Trump raised concerns about ballots and possible vote-rigging that his critics say are a ploy to tamp down turnout or scare people away from the polls.

Kenyan commentator Patrick Gathara says: “This debate would be sheer comedy if it wasn’t such a pitiful and tragic advertisement for US dysfunction.”

The editor-at-large of The Australian newspaper, Paul Kelly, described the debate as a “spiteful, chaotic, abusive, often out-of-control brawling encounter with both candidates revealing their contempt for each other.”

“America faces a dangerous several weeks,” he said.

Leslie Vinjamuri, director of the US and the Americas programme at the London think tank Chatham House, said many European observers already had “very low” expectations of Trump, but even so the debate was jarring.

People look up to America to lead and to guide and to be a role model. But the debate has brought in shock and disbelief. The debate is the first of three ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The next Trump and Biden matchups are scheduled for Oct. 15 and Oct. 22.

However, political pundits, alongside supporters of the Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden, have urged the former vice president to drop out of the remaining two debates, after he was interrupted multiple times by Trump.

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Trump repeatedly spoke over Biden and avoided answering questions posed by Wallace.

It remains to be seen whether the next two ‘battles’ remain a sober affair, observing dignity and decorum.