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By Reuters 
3h ago
Jarrett Renshaw and Steve Holland
Cleveland – President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden fought fiercely over Trump’s record on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare, and the economy in a hot-tempered, chaotic first debate marked by personal insults and repeated Trump interruptions .
Trump pushed his way through the 90-minute debate, trying to goad Biden, claiming that Democrats were trying to steal the November presidential election and refused to condemn white supremacist groups when asked to do so.
Moderator Chris Wallace never established control of the debate, and Trump repeatedly ignored his calls to let Biden speak. The two White House contenders spoke to each other and hurled insults in a frenetic political fight that made it difficult for either of them to be right.
At one point, an exasperated Biden said after Trump’s repeated interruptions, “You wanna shut up, man? This is so un-presidential.”
Wallace tried in vain to fool Trump, who ignored his time limits and spoke out about Biden.
“I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I ask you, sir, to do that,” Wallace said.
When Trump said he should tell Biden the same thing, Wallace said, “Well, frankly, you’ve been interrupting more.”
As of Tuesday night, 1.4 million Americans had already cast their early votes. With time running out to change their minds or influence the small group of undecided voters, the stakes were high when the two White House candidates took the stage five weeks before Election Day on November 3.
For Trump, 74, Tuesday’s debate represented one of the few remaining opportunities to change the trajectory of a career that most opinion polls show he is losing, as most Americans disapprove of his handling of so much of the coronavirus pandemic and the protests of racial injustice.
The 77-year-old Biden has maintained a consistent lead over Trump in national opinion polls, though polls in the battlefield states that will decide the election show closer competition. It was difficult to determine whether the debate would move the needle.
When Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and tell them to stand down, he initially said he would be willing to do anything for peace, but later said that most of the violence was coming from the left wing.
“This is not a right wing problem. It is left wing,” he said.
He also repeated his unsubstantiated complaints that mail-in ballots would lead to widespread election fraud and refused to commit to accepting the election results or to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.
“If I see tens of thousands of ballots being tampered with, I cannot accept that,” he said. “This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen it before.”
Biden urged Americans to make a plan to vote and assured voters that Trump would leave if Biden won. He said that he would not declare victory until the result was validated.
“If we get the votes, it will be all over. He will go away,” she said, adding that Trump’s complaints about mail-in ballots were that Trump was “afraid” of counting the votes.
BIDEN ASSAILS TRUMP IN THE VIRUS REGISTRY
Biden was highly critical of Trump’s record on the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, accusing him of failing to protect Americans because he was more concerned about the economy.
“He panicked or looked at the stock market,” Biden said of Trump, who has lobbied for states to reopen their economies and downplay the threat of the pandemic.
“A lot of people died and a lot more are going to die unless you get a lot smarter, a lot faster,” Biden said.
Trump opposed Biden using the word “smart” and defended his approach to the pandemic. “We have done a great job.”
Biden also mentioned a recent report that Trump had called members of the military “losers” and “fools.” Biden, whose son Beau died of cancer, had served in the military.
“He wasn’t a loser and he was a patriot,” Biden said.
The two contenders did not shake hands when entering the debate, adhering to protocols on social distancing due to coronavirus.
DEFENSE OF THE COURT PUSH
Trump defended his effort to swiftly occupy a seat on the US Supreme Court, saying “elections have consequences” and that he had the right despite Democratic objections.
“I will tell you very simply that we win the elections, the elections have consequences. We have the Senate and the White House and we have a phenomenal nominee respected by all,” Trump said in defense of his nominee, Conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett. .
Biden said the late Liberal judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat should be filled after the election, when it was clear who would be president.
“We should wait, we should wait and see what the outcome of this election is,” Biden said, adding that a more conservative Supreme Court would jeopardize the Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare.
Trump is moving quickly to fill the Ginsburg seat in hopes of cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, a key priority for social conservatives.
Democrats have argued that Republicans are being hypocritical for acting quickly to fill the seat given that they had blocked then-President Barack Obama’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016, arguing that they should wait until after the November election.
Hours before the debate, Biden released his 2019 tax returns and his campaign called on Trump, who has been criticized for not publishing his returns, to do the same.
Biden took the plunge two days after the New York Times reported that Trump paid only $ 750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, and none in 10 of the previous 15 years, after years of reporting large business losses. commercial.
Trump had long sought to keep his personal financial records secret.
Biden’s taxes showed that he and his wife Jill paid more than $ 346,000 in federal taxes and other payments for 2019 on income of nearly $ 985,000 before seeking a refund of nearly $ 47,000 and said they had overpaid the government.
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