The recent U.S. presidential debate leaves citizens needing to do their research and actively participate in the election, says a BYUH professor and students
Following the first U.S. presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10, assistant professor Christina Akanoa said she encourages all BYU–Hawaii students to be active participants in politics and do their research on the issues that matter to them. “It’s a privilege that we have here [in the United States]. Freedom, this free election … So we have to appreciate that and go out and participate,” shared Akanoa, a member of the Faculty of Business & Government.
Although more than half of BYUH students are not American citizens, Akanoa said it’s still important to understand and get involved in the political environment that people live in. She explained three different types of citizens: Active participants who are informed and exercise their civic responsibilities by doing their part; subjects who are informed but don’t do anything about it ;and parochials who are not informed and do not participate. The reasons why citizens become parochials, Akanoa said, “could be isolation … could be because you’re just tired of the political environment, and it could be [because] you don’t care about politics.”
Political science major Keila Faaootoa, a freshman from Utah, agreed with Akanoa, explaining when people participate in politics, “it puts proper people in power. If you don’t care, then you leave yourself subject to people who don’t care.” She said people should get involved in politics instead of turning a blind eye to it all.
To be an active participant, Akanoa said people need to research more on the candidates, their policies and their actions because what Trump and Harris discussed in the debate was surface-level information. “If there’s an issue there that matters the most to you, you should do your homework. Be a good citizen and be responsible,” she shared. All official data and statistics resulting from each candidate's previous policies can be found in public records, Akanoa said.
Ruth Noronha Pushnam, a Malaysian senior majoring in biochemistry, shared the importance of being informed about U.S. politics even though she is not an American citizen. “While I’m graduating soon and probably won’t be directly impacted by the decisions of whoever wins, I can’t help but think about my family here in the United States who could be greatly affected by policies that might harm them,” she said.
Pushnam said her parents have always been invested in the state of the world, and added she has previously enjoyed watching political debates to see who would win. In Malaysia, “My best friend and I would watch the presidential debates and the elections like you would a TV series,” Pushnam shared.
People may watch presidential debates for the entertainment value rather than the issues, Akanoa said, “and some just watch it because there’s still hope. The day people stop hoping and have no trust in their government, we’re not going to have legitimacy, which is such a big part of what makes [governments] work in each society.”
Although Pushnam said she felt the debate was “grim,” she explained debates between two presidential candidates “determine a great deal of the state of a whole country.” Akanoa agreed, saying, “Be vigilant in the choice you make because it is going to affect you.”
Some people may watch the debate and get turned off from voting, believing it won’t matter who wins, Akanoa said, but she encouraged everyone to make the effort to vote. “You have to continue to vote,” she shared. “The day we stop doing that, it’s going to be even worse, 10 times worse.”
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An abundance of misinformation
Pushnam said she was concerned about the sheer amount of misinformation found in the rhetoric of Trump and Harris during the debate. “We’re already living in an era of mass information,” she said, “and I can’t imagine how confused people on both sides of the political spectrum must feel when confronted with conflicting claims by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.” She mentioned the confusion and uncertainty she felt about some of the claims from Trump about the state he left the country in, as well as Harris’ claims that they have been “fixing” what Trump left them.
Faaootoa advised both candidates to be careful what they say moving forward. Harris should be cautious of what she says and the promises she makes, Faaootoa said, because she still has a chance to get reelected if she wins this first term.
In contrast, Faaootoa said Trump will go from a delegate to a trustee if he gets reelected to his second term, which means after the next four years he will stop running for election and move towards supporting the Republican party and its future candidates. Although Trump doesn’t have to try to get reelected after this term, he will represent the Republican party, she explained. “If [Trump] doesn’t hold up to what he’s saying, then people who vote for Republicans will be like, ‘All Republicans lie. They just say what they want to get into office,’” Faaootoa shared.
Ease of information is both a positive and negative aspect of American politics, said Akanoa. “We can get information so easily nowadays because of social media … But at the same time, the negative side to that is that we’re not well-informed.” Faaootoa explained since people may not watch the full debate, they only see media directed by each party. “Clips get put on social media and everyone watches 20-second bits of the election and [hear] things they want to hear.”
Akanoa offered advice to people struggling to combat misinformation, suggesting to not take anything at face value and always learn from more than one source.
“The important thing about knowing this is you don’t want anybody to take advantage of you,” Akanoa shared. “That’s what political science does. It helps you critically analyze situations and then it helps you make the best possible choice that you can make understanding the dynamics [of the situation].”
On Sept. 11, AP News posted an article that fact-checked 19 statements from both candidates. According to AP News, here are the different ways the candidates spread misinformation throughout the debate:
- Trump overstated his economic record as the greatest in history.
- Harris left out the context of COVID-19 when discussing Trump's loss of manufacturing jobs.
- Trump misstated the Biden term has created the highest inflation in U.S. history.
- Harris incorrectly said Trump is planning to implement Project 2025.
- Trump falsely said abortions happen after birth, which is criminalized in every state.
- Harris said Trump’s economic plan would explode the deficit, but the same study found her plan would also increase the deficit
- Trump’s statement about Harris ending fracking in Pennsylvania on Day One ignores the fact that she would only be able to ban fracking on federal lands, which is 2% of Pennsylvania.
- Trump inflated numbers around migrants and crime.
- Trump shared baseless claims that noncitizens are being asked to vote by Democrats.
- Trump misrepresented crime rates as increasing when they have actually been decreasing recently.
- Trump endorsed a false claim that immigrants are eating animals in Springfield, Ohio.
- Trump misrepresented the way the government counted the jobs created by Biden’s administration.
- Trump incorrectly stated that Nancy Pelosi was in charge of the National Guard during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
- Trump falsely claimed that China is building automobile plants in Mexico.
- Trump continued to falsely state that he won the 2020 election.
- Trump said Russian President Vladmir Putin seriously endorsed Harris, which intelligence officials say was a sarcastic comment from Putin.
- Harris took a comment Trump made about the election being a “bloodbath” out of context.
- Trump inflated numbers around new military equipment being left in Afghanistan.
- Trump misstated key details regarding the Central Park Five case, including wrongly stating that the victim had been killed and the suspects had pleaded guilty.
Diving into the debate
Akanoa, Pushnam and Faaootoa said they did not feel like either candidate won the debate. “My personal take is it was disappointing, from both sides,” said Pushnam. Akanoa said she thinks American citizens need to know more about each candidate, “We need to hear more of what they’re going to plan to do.”
Faaootoa wishes the candidates would present three realistic policies they’re going to make sure they accomplish when they get into office and be held accountable for them, she said. She shared she wants them to focus on “three main things that really show why they want to be in power and what they’re going to do for the nation.”
Throughout the debate, there seemed to be a notable lack of substantial plans and policies from both candidates, shared Akanoa. “Substance is always more important … There were a lot of personal attacks which I didn’t think was effective.”
Pushnam agreed, explaining, “I wish they both would have focused on [their plans] over defending themselves from the smack talk from either party.” Akanoa said people came to the debate to hear about solutions, not about the problems they already knew existed. “We all know the problems … What do you have to propose to fix the economy or to fix the healthcare system or illegal immigration?” she shared.
Akanoa explained personal attacks are unfortunately always a part of the political climate, “It’s always the problem. Candidates or politicians will always point fingers at each other when the problem actually existed before then. It just got worse because we didn’t really fix it.”
She said she values diplomacy in politics and wished more diplomacy had been on display during the debate, as she believes diplomacy allows people to better understand one another and come together to fix problems. She said diplomacy is like a Samoan saying, “E fofo le alamea i le alamea,” which means, “The sea urchin heals itself with its own spine.” She explained this proverb reflects that “what you do unto others will come back to you,” which is one of the reasons why it’s important to treat others with kindness, respect and diplomacy.
According to AP News, one of the attacking statements from the debate that immediately went viral online, both by citizens on social media and by the Republican party itself, was Trump’s incorrect claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats. The debate moderators immediately fact-checked this false statement, which Pushnam said was helpful, but she said she still had no idea how to process these “absurdly alarming claims.”
Akanoa said false statements like this one took away from the important discussions that should have happened during the debate. “Maybe you could have used that time to create practical solutions rather than just wasting time on creating a conflict,” she said.
However, Akanoa said she did feel like Trump effectively depicted himself as a strong leader, a quality that she thinks Americans are unsure that Harris can fulfill. She said she felt Harris was on the defense for most of the debate but quickly rose to the challenge. “I think females, we’re always trying to find our place in many different contexts because of the history of women in politics,” Akanoa shared, emphasizing the significance of a woman running for one of the most important political positions in the United States.
Harris was surprisingly confident and presented herself as “a person of the people,” Faaootoa said, something she thinks resonated with voters. Voters were also “drawn to Trump because of the sense of nationalism and patriotism,” she said, making it difficult to determine who voters may choose in the election since “both of them really played to their strengths.”
Pushnam summed up how she felt people thought about the debate, “What I have heard is that Trump supporters believe that he was treated unfairly by the moderators and others thought he was constantly spouting lies. Many also were disappointed in Harris for not giving proper responses to big important questions that needed addressing.”
The presidential debate between Trump and Harris can be viewed on YouTube through this link: ABC News Presidential Debate: Harris and Trump meet in Philadelphia