BEIJING – Chinese media has engaged in an all-out mockery of the first Biden-Trump presidential debate that took place on June 27, calling the event a “variety show”.
On Douyin, the domestic version of TikTok, the debate hit the trending chart, chalking up 5.5 million views as at June 30. “You all keep bickering, while we all keep going to the Moon. We’ll have a bright future,” said another commenter. The debate, organised by US news network CNN, cannot be accessed in China except in international hotels, as well as through illegal streaming boxes.Professor Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, said the general response the Chinese displayed to the debate “reflects a kind of mutual antagonism between the two countries’ netizens”.
Well-known nationalistic commenter Hu Xijin, who has more than 550,000 followers on social media platform X, described the debate as “very entertaining for many Chinese people”.