US President Donald Trump defends his approach to the coronavirus outbreak and claims that the worst of the pandemic is in the past.
Democrat Joe Biden renewed his attacks on US President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the final debate on Thursday before the November 3 election, while Trump launched unfounded corruption allegations. to Biden and his family.
Trump, a Republican, initially adopted a more moderate tone than during his first presidential debate in September, which was quickly derailed by his constant interruptions. But Thursday’s clash still featured many personal attacks between two men who show little respect for one another.
The televised meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, represented one of the last opportunities for Trump to reshape a campaign dominated by a pandemic that has killed more than 221,000 people in the United States. Opinion polls show Trump is behind Biden, although the contest is tighter in some states that are likely to decide the election.
When debating climate change, Trump said: “Look at India … It’s dirty. Its air is dirty.” It justified the decisions of his administration regarding the reduction of carbon emissions.
The American response to the coronavirus was an important talking point.
“Anyone who is responsible for so many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” Biden said.
Trump defended his approach to the outbreak, claiming that the worst of the pandemic was in the past.
“We are turning the corner,” said Trump, who has played down the virus for months. “It goes”.
Trump also claimed that a vaccine was potentially “weeks” away. Most experts, including administration officials, have said that a vaccine is unlikely to be widely available until mid-2021.
Several U.S. states, including the state of Ohio, which has not taken place in the election, reported record single-day increases in COVID-19 infections on Thursday, evidence that the pandemic is accelerating again.
After an initial segment on the pandemic, Thursday’s showdown focused on quick exchanges over whether any of the candidates had inappropriate foreign entanglements.
Trump repeated his accusations that Biden and his son Hunter participated in unethical practices in China and Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, and Biden called them false and discredited.
Trump’s effort to uncover dirt on Hunter Biden’s business ties in Ukraine led to the president’s impeachment. The president and his children have been accused of conflicts of interest of their own since he entered the White House in 2017, most related to the family’s international hotel and real estate businesses.
‘Malarkey’
Biden defended his family and said unequivocally that he had never earned “a single penny” from a foreign country, before turning to accuse Trump of trying to distract Americans.
“There’s a reason he’s bringing up all this nonsense,” Biden said, looking directly at the camera. “It’s not about your family and mine. It’s about your family, and your family is suffering a lot. “
He also accused Trump of avoiding his taxes, citing a New York Times The research that reported that Trump’s tax returns show he paid almost no federal income taxes for more than 20 years.
“Publish your tax returns or stop talking about corruption,” Biden said.
Trump, who has broken decades of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns, said he had paid “millions.” He again said that he would release his statements only once a long-standing audit was completed.
The candidates clashed over health care, Chinese politics and, after months of protests against racism, race relations with Biden, saying that Trump was “one of the most racist presidents” in history.
“He pours fuel into every racist fire,” Biden said. “This guy has a dog whistle as big as a foghorn.”
Trump responded by criticizing Biden’s authorship of a 1994 crime bill that increased the incarceration of minority defendants and claimed that he had done more for Black Americans than any president with the “possible” exception of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s.
Disagree on health care
Biden criticized Trump’s effort to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, the radical health care reform passed when Biden was vice president in President Barack Obama’s administration.
“People deserve affordable health care, period,” Biden said, noting that the law prevented insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
Trump said he wanted to replace the ACA with something “much better” that offered the same protections, even though the administration has yet to come up with a comprehensive health plan despite promises to do so for years.
Relatively few voters have yet to make up their minds, and Trump’s window to influence the outcome may be closing. A record 47 million Americans have already cast their votes, dwarfing the early voting total for the 2016 election.
The controversial first debate, when the two men exchanged insults, was watched by at least 73 million viewers. Trump rejected another planned debate last week after he switched to a virtual format following his COVID-19 diagnosis.
On Thursday, the committee overseeing the debate removed the Plexiglass barriers separating the candidates after Trump provided evidence that he had tested negative for COVID-19, a source familiar with the matter said.
The commission also muted the candidates’ microphones to allow each to make two-minute statements on each new topic before turning them back on, in an effort to avoid the chaos of the first debate.
The temperature of the approximately 200 attendees was checked before entering the venue, and all were required to wear a medical mask at all times.
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