Voters, Austin NAACP weigh in on contentious presidential debate

It's no question that Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder believes everyone who can, should register to vote, especially after watching Tuesday night's presidential debate.

“It was very unfortunate, I think they gave politics a bad name, it was embarrassing around the world," Linder said.

He said this election is one of the most important and the conduct of the first debate was tough to watch, but policies are what Americans should pay attention to.

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“We talk a lot about what people say, but what they have done is more convincing. Both of these people, especially Joe Biden have records of what they have done in the past whether it's on economics, education, police brutality, Trump does too. So it's very obvious who is who,” he said.

East Austin business owner Brian Mays is still undecided about who he is voting for. “I thought it was alright but they were disrespecting each other too much,” said Mays about the debate.

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However, he feels he has a lot at stake being a business owner. “If they disrespect each other what are you going to do for us?” he said.

He even feels these candidates are not up to par for the job. “I don’t think we need a man president, I think we need a woman president,” said Mays.

Trump and Biden debated hot topics including the Supreme Court replacement and COVID-19. One of the biggest takeaways was the president being asked to denounce white supremacists, and in response saying to ‘stand back and stand by.’

RELATED: Presidential debate: Trump, Biden spar over Supreme Court, health care, COVID-19

“I was disappointed that he didn’t denounce because if you don’t denounce it that means you support it,” said business owner Andrea Ross.

Linder said, for voters to make an informed decision, continue to listen to the debates, but more importantly, do your homework. “I would advise people to look at their policies, their records, and that's what defines the candidate,” he said.

RELATED: Commission on Presidential Debates says it will make changes to format

“With the state of where we are today, it's a really important election. There are a lot of things that have to be solved now or they will get progressively worse,” said Ross.

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