If you expected an objective analysis of the first presidential debate from poker Twitter, you were sadly mistaken. Poker players sounded off on the heated debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and most of the comments were quite predictable.
President Trump is seeking re-election, but the polls say he’s well behind. According to Real Clear Politics, Biden holds a 6.1 point lead nationally, and also leads in most battleground states. But as the Democrats learned in 2016 when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, pre-election polling isn’t always accurate.
Tuesday’s first debate, held at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion in Cleveland, won’t go down as one of the greatest moments in US history. The candidates repeatedly talked over each other, and moderator Chris Wallace was heavily criticized by both sides for failing to take control of the debate.
“That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper said of the debate. “The American people lost. That was horrific.”
Many on poker Twitter agreed with Tapper’s assessment. Matt Glantz is a liberal who claims Biden won the debate, but he wasn’t overly impressed with the former Vice President’s performance. That tells you everything you need to know about his opinion of Trump.
Biden sucks!
Trumps sucks way way way more!
It's not close.
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) September 30, 2020
Poker Twitter Takes Predictable Sides
Retired actor and poker enthusiast James Woods was, as expected, lively on social media on Tuesday evening. He was, predictably, complimentary of Trump and critical of Biden numerous times.
Outnumbered and out gunned, Trump was an everyman tough guy who declared very clearly he wasn’t about to take any crap from a tired career political hack and his media gunsel. Imagine if Trump had been able to answer one question uninterrupted and Biden been forced to answer his.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) September 30, 2020
“Outnumbered and out gunned, Trump was an everyman tough guy who declared very clearly he wasn’t about to take any crap from a tired career political hack and his media gunsel. Imagine if Trump had been able to answer one question uninterrupted and Biden been forced to answer his,” Woods wrote.
Mike Dentale, like Woods, is a staunch conservative and defender of President Trump. You’d have to search hard to find a positive quote Dentale’s made on social media about any liberal or a negative remark directed at Trump. On Tuesday night, his Twitter feed was no different than normal.
Dentale wrote in one post: “Trump just committed a double homicide on live TV.” He also referred to Biden as “nothing but a babbling talking points idiot” and a “broken record.”
https://twitter.com/MikeDentale/status/1311130149673369600?s=20
Unsurprisingly, the liberal members of poker Twitter didn’t see things the same way. Shocking, isn’t it? Daniel Negreanu creatively dubbed the President “Conald Trump.” He referred to the former reality TV star as “the face of evil,” and trashed Trump for refusing to denounce white supremacy during the debate when asked to by moderator Wallace.
Conald Trump is a truly awful and evil man. His behavior was disgusting the entire 90 minutes and he wouldn’t follow the rules he agreed to.
The rules were clear. Trump broke them constantly as he does with most things.
A disgrace. #Debates2020
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) September 30, 2020
Matt Berkey was as critical of Wallace as he was either candidate. He wrote early on in the evening: “Chris Wallace simply can’t moderate this. Trump is a disruptive force w/zero interest in respect or points and is absolutely going to bully Biden into saying something regretful. Biden really needs to let his experience shine rather than attempting to exchange haymakers.”
Berkey said that Biden’s attempt to stand up to a “bully” like Trump was done in “an embarrassing fashion.” He then took another crack at the moderator from Fox News.
“Really a massive problem that they don’t bring in a qualified moderator. Allowing this shit show to be an endless barrage of ad hominem attacks, appeals to emotion, whataboutisms and a myriad of other logical fallacies is fruitless and quite frankly embarrassing,” Berkey wrote.
Jamie Kerstetter referred to the heated debate as “so embarrassing,” before joking about moving to Canada. She was, like many others, critical of Wallace.
I don’t think I can vote for Chris Wallace after this lackluster performance
— Jamie Kerstetter (@JamieKerstetter) September 30, 2020
