Students got a bit heated at an FAU student debate on Oct. 4, moderated by the student chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Republican, Democratic and Independent students were present to discuss the U.S. presidential election.

The event, which TPUSA advertised as “Democratic Students vs. FAU College Republicans” on Instagram, consisted of six students. Three were part of FAU’s chapter of College Republicans (FAU GOP), while the other three students were two registered independents and one Democrat. 

TPUSA is a conservative non-profit student advocacy group with a chapter at FAU. The group hosted this event for students to exchange their thoughts on policy and whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris is the best fit for the next president. 

Nick Coyte, the president of TPUSA, stated that FAU GOP was the only political student organization on campus involved, as FAU’s chapter of College Democrats declined to participate. Coyte said one of the club’s members was initially cooperative when he pitched the idea, but later changed their mind.

“The College Democrats later stated that they wanted nothing to do with the event and had no intention of helping to organize it,” said Coyte. “Some of their members justified this decision to us by suggesting Turning Point is a biased group that would treat the College Democrats unfairly, going on to explain that they are going to reserve their efforts for debates run by the school.”

Coyte spoke on the FAU College Democrats’ absence from the debate, stating the move was a step backward as an effort this semester was bridging divides between on-campus political organizations when discussing controversial subjects. 

He said it was difficult finding people to represent the democratic side of the debate and shared that if someone showed up, they would “throw them up there.”

Michael Koppelmann was one of the students debating against the FAU GOP students. He learned about the debate after approaching the TPUSA table in the breezeway a few weeks prior. 

FAU alumnus Nathan Galang was another debater on the “Democratic” side, as he was the sole proponent for a Kamala Harris presidency at the debate. 

Galang stated that FAU GOP prevented video recording at the debate as he was willing to be recorded at the debate. He said it was because people did not want their “extremist” views shown on camera. 

“TPUSA also did a good job at moderating fairly, so good on them,” Galang said. “No credit to the College Republicans, though.”

TPUSA’s moderator and secretary, Jack M., prepared a seven-slide presentation for the debate, which included multiple statements that both sides would respond to. 

Students argued back and forth on which party and presidential candidate best exemplifies each statement after being asked by the moderator, “Do we agree with this? What stance do you take?”

The debate was going smoothly until the fifth slide, which read, “The other candidate is bringing America closer to war.”

Hitting the topic of foreign policy escalated the tension in the debate, with Galang propelling out of his seat and slamming the opposite side for overreliance on anecdotal evidence and disinformation.

Galang felt he made his voice and opinion heard during the debate. Unabatedly, he spoke over 20 times throughout the night.

“Any room I’m in, that’s going to be the case,” said Galang. 

Several exchanges occurred throughout the night between Galang and Nathan Mitchell, who was one student representing the FAU GOP. 

Both Mitchell and Galang butted heads several times during the debate, but found common ground in the end. 

“I wanted to say more about foreign policy,” said Mitchell, reflecting on the debate. 

The two other students representing FAU GOP declined to comment.

Another statement that spurred an argument between the debaters was the penultimate slide, which read, “My candidate respects and upholds the Constitution.”

Finally, the debate wrapped up after all six debaters had the opportunity to weigh in on the final slide: “No matter who wins the election, America will be okay.” 

Though exchanges were loud and cacophonous at times, everyone found common ground at the end of the debate. 

“Some people got more airtime than others, some people I wanted to hear from got less, but I’d like to do this again… I think it would be fun,” Mitchell said.

Moderator Jack M. chimed in after the debate with his perspective.

“Politics should be exciting… Having an exchange of ideas is super important, and sometimes getting off-topic is just part of the nature of conversation,” he said.

Liam Burke is a Staff Writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email liam.burke1224@gmail.com.