KALAMAZOO, Mich. — After Thursday night's presidential debate, FOX 17 took to the streets of Kalamazoo to gather public opinion on the highly anticipated event. While some individuals admitted to not watching the debate, those who did had strong feelings.
Lee Cummings, a Kalamazoo resident, was disappointed. "It was unfortunate," he said. "I think it's sad that in a country this big, the two men that are running for office right now are both in their late 70s, early 80s, we've got to recruit younger leaders to get involved in the system, if we're going to have a future."
While it was "difficult to watch," Lee felt former president, Donald Trump presented himself well. "It's difficult to see our president of the United States no matter what side of the aisle you typically stand on. It's difficult to see the man who is your president experiencing obvious decline in his in his faculties," he told FOX 17.
However, Jackie Mitchell and her friend, Regina Garza Mitchell, felt different. "I think Biden just isn't a good speaker. And that hurts him. And that was really obvious last night to me when I was watching, Garza Mitchell said.
"I think Trump's appeared to be a bully. That's what I felt like I was watching a schoolyard fight," Mitchell told FOX 17.
Some people were not happy with the way Biden answered speicific questions. Cummings told FOX 17 what stuck out the most was President Biden saying that no soldiers died under his watch. "That's a failure as the commander in chief to remember the 13 servicemen and women that died in Afghanistan, as well as others that were injured," he said.
Other community members felt neither candidate really answered the questions. "There's a lot of blame game, a lot of what's typical in a debate, but then you look at how they're reacting to that questions and their facial expressions. And that's kind of what's made me the saddest," said Kalamazoo Resident, Madison Ring.
Overall, community members told FOX 17 that the debate reaffirmed who they were going to vote for. The next scheduled debate is September 10.
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