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Donald Trump did not engage in conventional debate preparation like participating in mock debates. He relied on his innate ability to adlib, and he spoke simply, albeit crazily in a manner that resonated with his deluded supporters.

The stable genius’ lack of debate preparation was manifest in his answers which were bereft of nuance and detail. His replies to the straightforward questions posed by the moderators had almost nothing to do with the topic at hand, instead he used his allotted two minutes per question to ramble incoherently about his favorite topics and conspiracy theories, namely immigration, crime and the “rigged” 2020 election.

But I give the former president credit for dialing down his rhetoric a couple of notches. Debate Trump was not as wacky and inflammatory as Maga Rally Trump. His replies were lacking in substance and insight, but he scored points with his forceful and confident delivery.

Liberal critics complained that the pathological liar’s false claims were not fact-checked in real time by the moderators. But it was an impossible task for the moderators to fact-check him when virtually every utterance that emanated from his sphincter-shaped mouth was a lie.

Trump’s debate performance was uneven and lackluster, but compared to Joe Biden’s dreadful performance, he was Reaganesque. The octogenarian’s performance was an unmitigated disaster. The 81-year-old incumbent had one job, and one job only, prove to a skeptical electorate that he still possessed the mental acuity to serve another term. He failed. Miserably.

From the moment he gingerly and tentatively walked to his podium, he looked defeated, downcast and disoriented. His raspy and barely audible voice, deer-in-the headlight stare, inability to complete a sentence and frequent loss of train of thought were enough to convince even the most diehard supporter that he is mentally unfit to be president.

At one point Biden froze for a few seconds, his apologists can’t explain this disturbing cognitive fail as a cheap fake. Biden is a dead man walking, he isn’t low-energy Joe, he’s rigor mortis Joe.

Presidential debates have a history of candidates having one viral moment that sabotages their performance, witness Gerald Ford’s “Free Poland” gaffe. But it wasn’t one mistake that doomed Biden, the entire evening was dominated by his incoherence, mental instability and inability to respond with a cogent thought.

I am a progressive who thinks that Trump is the worst president in history, who will destroy our democracy if he returns to power. The Democratic Party has a deep bench with many potential candidates like California Governor Gavin Newsome who would have no problem defeating Trump. It is tragic that we are burdened with a senile candidate, as evidenced by his horrific debate performance, who will lose to Trump.

Robert Reyes
Lynchburg