A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House: First Debate Edition

Well, the first presidential debate of the 2016 cycle occurred earlier this week. In case you missed it, here’s a recap, as told by Twitter. (Who needs thoughtful political analysis when we have the internet to help us interpret the debate?)

Part 1: Pre-Debate Mind Games

I mean, like… you said it, not me.

*Brushes invisible piece of lint off her shoulder*

Part 2: LLLLLLET’S GET READY TO RUMBLEEEEEE!!!!

Lester Holt: Good evening from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, I’m Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News. Welcome to the first presidential debate. Now, I invite you to applaud as we welcome the candidates, Democratic nominee for president of the United States, Hillary Clinton, and Republican nominee for president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Quick reader poll: This the understatement of the ______.

1. Year

2. Decade

3. Century

4. Millennium

Same.

Some people thought Clinton started off slowly. Some people thought Trump came out guns blazing (also reasonable). And then there was CNN commentator Paul Begala:

Part 3: Fact Check

“We have taken the homepage of my website, HillaryClinton.com and we’ve turned it into a fact checker.” – Hillary Clinton

Naturally, at this point, Twitter took it upon themselves to fact check in real time as well. They were very helpful…

“Our jobs are fleeing the country. They are going to Mexico, they are going to many other countries.” – Donald Trump

“You’re telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.” -DT

And later:

Later still:

Comedian Hari Kondabolu summed it up pretty well in a single tweet:

Part 4: The Moderator Has Left the Building

At some point, it occurred to people that Lester hadn’t said anything for awhile…

To be fair, if I were him, I would’ve peaced out right after asking the first question.

Part 5: The Twitterverse Grows Distracted

Part 6: Closing Thoughts

As the theatrics died down, Twitter weighed in with a few parting thoughts.

For those of you who thought Trump wasn’t speaking English, Her Campus agreed:

General consensus was that Trump lost… badly:

People were exasperated:

And as for Lester Holt? Well…

I feel you, Lester. I feel you. (Less than a week until the Vice Presidential Debate… I honestly don’t know if America can make it to Election Day sober.)

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