The WH2020 betting edges to Biden after probably the worst TV debate ever
I made the mistake of staying up and watching the Trump – Biden debate which was truly awful. This was the verdict of Taegan Goddard of PoliticalWire:
This debate was one of the most embarrassing events in the history of American politics. Donald Trump’s only strategy was to interrupt constantly. When he talked, he mostly lied. But Trump was successful at throwing the entire debate off the rails. He apparently decided you can’t lose a debate if you ruin it. Joe Biden tried to take the questions seriously but didn’t have either the patience or skill to spar with Trump. It’s really impossible to fairly evaluate his performance
He concluded:
Even Chris Wallace, who has proven himself a very good interviewer, couldn’t control the debate as moderator. He resorted to talking to Trump as if he were a toddler. I can’t imagine anyone watching having much faith in our country, our politics or the upcoming election. It was a disgrace. Of course, that might be exactly what Trump wanted from this debate.
In the build up to the event the amount traded on Betfair moved to £100m making this by far the biggest political betting event of all time. The initial verdict of punters is seen in the chart – Biden odds got tighter while Trump’s eased.