Harsh words in final debate
2020-10-23
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump arrive to participate in their second 2020 presidential campaign debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, US, October 22, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]
From handling the coronavirus pandemic to delivering leadership, US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden exchanged barbs and critiques as they tried to make their cases to voters in the second and final presidential debate Thursday night.
The 90-minute clash in Nashville, Tennessee, impressively moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News, focused on topics including fighting the coronavirus, American families, race in the United States, climate change, national security and leadership.
Unlike their first face-off on Sept 29 where chaotic interruptions and cross-talk started almost from the start of the debate, the two presidential contenders traded words in a relatively polite and calm way, thanks to the nudging of the moderator and a new rule that muted the microphone for the candidate who was not talking.
Both men managed to get in various attacks on each other, with Trump repeatedly bringing up the foreign business relationships of Biden's son, Hunter.
For a raging pandemic that has claimed at least 220,000 American lives and left the economy in tatters, Trump insisted he had done a good job with it and said the country needs to "learn to live with it", to which Biden responded, "People are learning to die with it."
Asked to outline his plan for the future, Trump said, "We're fighting it and we're fighting it hard. … We're rounding the corner. It's going away."
Biden said, "If you hear nothing else I say tonight hear this ... Anyone who's responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of United States of America."
"We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does," Trump said.
Asked about his openness to further lockdowns, Biden said, "I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country."
"They're shut down so tight, and they're dying," Trump said of Democratic states. "I have a young son. He also tested positive. … It just went away. People are losing their jobs. They're committing suicide."
A record 47.6 million Americans had voted in the 2020 general election ahead of the debate, representing 34.6 percent of the total ballots cast in 2016, according to data released by the University of Florida's US Elections Project Thursday.
The two candidates clashed on Russia and Ukraine.
"They spied on my campaign: Trump said. "Mueller spent $48 million and they found nothing wrong."
"Not one single solitary thing was out of line (in Ukraine)," Biden said. "The guy who got in trouble in Ukraine is this guy."
On healthcare, Trump said: "We have 180 million people out there that have great private health care. … They want to terminate 180 million plans."
"I think healthcare is not a privilege. It's a right," Biden said. "I am very proud of my plan," which he said would be called Bidencare. "How many of you are rolling around in bed wondering what in God's name would happen if you get sick."
On the minimum wage and small businesses, Biden said: "We should be bailing them out now, those small businesses.
Trump said that in "some places, $15 (an hour minimum wage) is not so bad".
There also was a clash on immigration, particularly on children being separated from their parents.
"Those children are brought here by coyotes (runners)," Trump said. "They (the Democrats) built cages. They used to say I built the cages. Then it was determined they were built in 2014. A lot of these kids come over without their parents."
"Kids were ripped from their parents' arms and they were separated," Biden said.
Cal Jillson, a political scientist and historian at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said only a major stumble by Biden could start to close this race.
"Trump has been trailing by seven to 10 points for months, most voters have already made up their minds, and 40 million votes, one-quarter of the likely total, have already been cast, so Trump has to try to induce a Biden stumble," Jillson said.
The topic of climate change made a rare appearance at Thursday's debate.
It is a critically important topic, but to diffuse, not to drive the election, according to Jillson.
"More immediate concerns, like the pandemic and economic recovery, will drive voter choices," he said.
William Banks, distinguished professor emeritus at Syracuse University College of Law in New York, said the debate was unlikely to alter the course of presidential campaigns.
He said polls show that voters are more attentive to climate issues now than before. Trump more or less denies climate change. Biden has a Green New Deal, and he will promote it.
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