Some may argue that the upcoming election next month is a very important one, in fact, some may say that it is the most important election. This year’s election will feature the current President of the United States and Republican nominee Donald Trump facing off with Democratic candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden. The last presidential debate was on September 29th in Cleveland, Ohio.

Over 73 million viewers tuned in to the debate that night. Sitting as the third most watched presidential debate, behind Reagan/Carter at 80.6 million and Trump/Clinton at 84 million. 

However, there has been criticisms on how the debate was managed. Richard Chen, a Senior at Solon High School, spoke on the matter.

“I thought the debate was incredibly childish from both sides,” he said. “The next debate needs to have more substance. What I mean by this is instead of starting a topic and going on a tangential rant, there needs to be focus on the greater topic at hand. And there also needs to be more civility in these debates.” 

When asked about what he would like to see in the next debate, “I would’ve also liked discussion about reproductive rights in the debate” Chen said.

There were times, where Biden would put out an idea, and Trump would interrupt with what he thought on the matter. Name calling was also an issue during the 90-minute debate. Chris Wallace, a news anchor for Fox News, and moderator for the last debate covered six topics over the 90 minutes: COVID-19, the economy, the Supreme Court, Race and Violence in American cities, Trump’s and Biden’s records and the integrity of the upcoming election.

There were also times, where Wallace seemed to be having trouble taking control over the two and staying on topic. At times, Wallace raised concerns for not staying balanced between the two. Braden Chapnick, a Senior at Solon High School, spoke on the matter.

“The moderator needs to ask more balanced questions, for example he asked Trump more about what he thought about ANTIFA and the Black Lives Matter movement, and didn’t ask Biden the same thing,” Chapnick also adds on to say, he would like to see the other major topics that weren’t covered in the previous debate.

The next presidential debate will be on October 15th at 9 p.m. The commission has already talked about ideas to cover more and have less interruptions and is working to have more fairness for both candidates. One Idea has grabbed attention nationally about what the next presidential debate might look like. 

Yakov Madar, a Senior at Solon High School spoke on the matter.

“For the next debate they should allow the moderator to shut off the microphone to the person who was interrupting the speaker.”

Another problem that grabbed national attention this past week, that might affect plans for the next debate, Trump was recently tested positive for COVID-19, along with the first lady, Melania Trump. After conflicting reports that Trump was only feeling mild symptoms, he was released from Walter Reed hospital on October 5th.

On top of the upcoming two presidential debates, there will be a vice presidential debate. Vice president Mike Pence will be facing off Senator Kamala Harris tonight at 9 p.m. Despite Trump testing positive, the presidential debate scheduled for October 15th will continue to stay. 

Find out if you are eligible to vote for this year’s election here.