President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden faced off on Tuesday night in the first debate of the campaign. Like many viewers, Portland Trail Blazers player Hassan Whiteside was reportedly unhappy with how the two men acted during the event. He allegedly tweeted about leaving America and heading to Hawaii.
A tweet started making the rounds on social media Tuesday night that appeared to be from Whiteside’s verified account. “i can’t do this for four more years f— america bro im moving to hawaii [face palm emoji]” the tweet said. Users that saw the message immediately began roasting the NBA player for not knowing that Hawaii is a state. However, Whiteside responded by saying that the tweet was “fake news.”
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Barstool Sports tweeted out a screenshot of Whiteside’s alleged statement, and he responded by saying that the time didn’t match up. “This photoshopped more Fake news i see It’s not even 9:36 where I’m at,” Whiteside wrote. Several Twitter users responded to this statement by proclaiming that he doesn’t know what time zones are and by saying that Twitter shows the time local to each user.
Regardless of the tweet’s authenticity, the presidential debate brought out many reactions on social media. Fans and critics of each candidate expressed their disgust about the lack of civility on display and the answers to the various questions. Both Trump and Biden called each other names, launched personal attacks and constantly talked over each other. There was a two-minute time cap for each response, but this quickly became more of a suggestion.
“If hearing that this debate is over was music to your ears, you may not be alone,” NBC News’ Lester Holt said at the end of the debate. “What could have been a low point in American political discourse, certainly in any modern debate we’ve seen, just took place over an hour and a half.”
Multiple others agreed with the sentiment considering that ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos called the event the “worst debate” he has ever seen. CNN’s Dana Bash simply referred to the back-and-forth between Trump and Biden as a “s— show.” The criticism continued from analysts and casual viewers alike after the debate ended and into the morning.
Tuesday’s debate will be followed by a second debate in Miami on Thursday, Oct. 15. A third and final debate will take place in Nashville on Thursday, Oct. 22. A vice-presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris is scheduled for Oct. 7.
