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What made last night’s presidential debate so…weird

*sniffle*

Jack Jenkins Twitter
CREDIT: AP Photos
CREDIT: AP Photos

As the lights went down last night at the first presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, millions of Americans appeared to have the same reaction: that was weird.

It’s not that the debate wasn’t exciting or interesting—there were plenty of fireworks and applause lines to keep viewers engaged and entertained. But as several commentators and Twitter users pointed out, there was just something…off…about the whole thing.

So what made last night so bizarre? Here are some ideas.

1. Sniffles

One of the oddest—and most distracting—parts of the debate was Donald Trump’s near-constant sniffling. It’s not clear if the culprit was a cold, dust, or a hot mic, but it was only minutes before Twitter was awash with comments about Trump’s nasal nuisance.

https://twitter.com/UNIQUEinFLA/status/780603768618438656

Bodily functions may seem like an unfair thing to hold against a candidate, but the truth is voters often draw conclusions based on appearance.

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When John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated in 1960, for instance, those who listened on the radio mostly believed Nixon had won. But the event also happened to be the first televised presidential debate in American history, a fact that proved unfortunate for Kennedy’s opponent: Nixon had recently been released from the hospital, and appeared sickly and sweaty to many observers — a stark contrast to the young, vibrant Kennedy. Many scholars still believe Kennedy won the election that night, and presidential candidates have mostly worked to maintain a respectable debate image ever since — which is why Trump’s sniffle-fest felt so unusual.

2. Trump’s inexplicable lack of preparation

Love ’em or hate ’em, presidential debates are kind of a big deal. A solid debate performance in front of millions of viewers can spike a candidate’s poll numbers, and a bad outing can sink an entire campaign. For this reason, presidential hopefuls typically over-prepare for debates, obsessing over every possible question and holding numerous mock-debates with staffers to gird themselves against anything their opponents might throw their way.

Clinton dutifully followed this tradition, and reportedly spent hours cloistered away practicing for Monday’s war of words. Trump, on the other hand, did something truly bizarre: he flat-out bragged about his lack of preparation, preferring informal golf-club chats with advisers to rigorous study of briefing books (his staff apparently prepared them, but he didn’t devote “much time to reading them,” according to one reporter). The logic, his campaign argued, was “let Trump be Trump.”

But last night, the disastrous results of Trump’s unorthodox strategy were on full display. Commentator after commentator mentioned how unready Trump appeared, noting that he struggled to muster answers to moderator Lester Holt’s questions and how easily he was thrown off-kilter by Clinton’s verbal barbs. Voters, it seems, agreed: CNN’s post-debate poll reported that 62 percent of debate watchers believed Clinton took the night, compared to just 27 percent who sided with Trump. Among their critiques, a solid 55 percent believed that Trump couldn’t even handle the presidency if elected.

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In fact, one of Clinton’s best lines came after Trump tried to slam her for removing herself from the campaign trail to prepare for the debate.

“I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president,” Clinton said, sparking applause.

3. Yelling at the moderator

Generally speaking, participants in presidential debates are deferential to moderators. Candidates may not like the questions they are asked, and they may despise having to debate at all—as was the case with President Barack Obama in 2012. But while candidates often interrupt each other when they get up on stage, they typically try to hold their tongue when challenged by a debate moderator.

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But not Trump. The business mogul struggled to keep his cool several times throughout the evening, and clearly didn’t have much tolerance for Holt’s questions about President Obama’s birth certificate. He then became especially frustrated when pressed on whether or not he supported the war in Iraq, shouting back at Holt several times while insisting he never backed the invasion (he did).

Below is the heated exchange, as transcribed by the Washington Post:

HOLT: Mr. Trump, a lot of these are judgment questions. You had supported the war in Iraq before the invasion. What makes your…

TRUMP: I did not support the war in Iraq.

HOLT: In 2002…

TRUMP: That is a mainstream media nonsense put out by her, because she — frankly, I think the best person in her campaign is mainstream media.

HOLT: My question is, since you supported it…

TRUMP: Just — would you like to hear…

HOLT: … why is your — why is your judgment…

TRUMP: Wait a minute. I was against the war in Iraq. Just so you put it out.

HOLT: The record shows otherwise, but why — why was…

TRUMP: The record does not show that.

HOLT: Why was — is your judgment any…

TRUMP: The record shows that I’m right.

The result—along with Trump’s generally frustrated demeanor throughout the evening—did not go unnoticed by viewers.

4. Clinton’s wiggle — and why it worked

None of this is meant to imply that Clinton didn’t also have struggles last night, or that she didn’t have flashes of frustration or awkwardness. But compared to Trump, most of her missteps were, well, kind of normal, and her contrast to Trump’s bizzaro candidacy — which has traditionally been his greatest strength — may have finally halted the businessman’s momentum.

Take, for example, what happened about midway through the debate. After Trump finished another extended diatribe, Clinton decided we all needed a reset. Shortly after Trump stopped talking, she let out a whoop and, well, a wiggle.

Clinton’s shimmy was unusual, but not “weird” in and of itself; it certainly appeared to go over well with the studio audience. Rather, it was weird that she had to do it at all. In previous presidential elections, such a move might have been mistaken for a show of fatigue or weakness. But when standing next to Trump, Clinton’s shoulder strut — which roughly translated to “OMG can you believe this guy I can’t even” — contrasted her visible attempt at composure to Trump’s increasingly loud screaming.

The move signaled precisely what many saw as the core takeaway of the debate: that when faced with conflict, Trump will flail and yell, and Clinton will work to keep her cool.

5. Just the raw absurdity of it all

As Vox’s German Lopez pointed out, the weirdness of the 2016 election started long before the candidates took the stage last night. This year has been an election season like no other, culminating with a debate that pitted Hillary Clinton—a woman who has made a decades-long career in politics as First Lady, a U.S. Senator from New York, and Secretary of State—against a billionaire reality television star.

Or, as one Twitter user put it:

What’s more, some of the debate topics—while somewhat logical in the 2016’s freakish context—are simply odd when analyzed from 10,000 feet.

Trump, for instance, discussed at length his take on the “birther” controversy, or the idea that Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States (he was). The fact that this issue—which was arguably put to rest years ago, assuming it was ever a genuine issue in the first place—was even a point of discussion is wild in and of itself. Add to this a number of Trump’s oddly phrased lines (e.g., accusing Clinton of fighting ISIS “her entire adult life” or saying “I was going to say something extremely rough to Hillary, to her family, and I said to myself, ‘I can’t do it. I just can’t do it. It’s inappropriate. It’s not nice.’”), and the whole set up just felt…kind of weird.