The first of two presidential debates between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden is already in the books, but the only issue is that Trump didn’t come to have a debate, instead, he wanted to prove to the country he could attack Biden in every which way possible, which you could argue he did.

While Biden attempted to have a somewhat civil debate about the many issues surrounding our country, Trump was more concerned about Biden allegedly taking performance-enhancing drugs and failure to denounce white supremacists during the debate.

But along with his questionable answers, Trump bulldozed clean over the rules clearly placed in front of both candidates throughout the debate by relentlessly injecting his personal opinion at every turn. 

Countless times, moderator Chris Wallace attempted to keep Trump in line, but the President had made up his mind that the only option was to disrupt and confuse the American people.

This has led to one of the saddest discussions our country has ever had to have: the discussion of whether or not we are actually going to have to mute candidates to allow for actual answers to questions. Unfortunately during this debate, we need to decide between reality and clarity.

Though I truly believe that muting the opposing candidate during the debate is the only way to combat our current issue, I have one major issue that may arise due to how the moderator decides whether to mute candidates: It must be equal for both Trump and Biden.

This is crucial for the next debate if it happens because if the control was strictly in the hands of the moderator, human judgment is brought into the equation, which can be another pedestal for Trump to stand on. 

I say this about Trump only because if it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have to mute the candidates. Though Biden did interject at times I felt was inappropriate, it wasn’t nearly on the level that Trump took it to. Trump attacked Biden so frequently that he couldn’t contribute much of anything to the debate without being confronted.   

Another issue is the integrity of the debates themselves, which I also feel is at stake by muting microphones. However, when it comes to the extremely important issues our country is facing, we cannot allow for blatant disruption and constant confusion. 

It is important for the American people to hear both sides before making an accurate vote. Many times during these elections, we fail to truly listen to what each side has to say. Instead, we treat it as a sports team and conjure the opposing side to be the enemy. Trump has taken it a step further by encouraging these actions and participating in the foolishness himself. 

No matter who you are voting for, I urge you during the next debate to listen to what you believe to be the opposing candidate has to say. Because if we begin to do that, then candidates will feel like the election depends on their actual performance.