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Democrat Joe Biden told President Donald Trump to “shut up” in an opening debate that almost immediately turned into a shouting match 35 days before the most tense US elections in recent memory.
The debate in Cleveland, Ohio, was as short-tempered as had been feared, with Trump leading the way by yelling at both his challenger and Fox News moderator Chris Wallace.
There was no handshake when the two men took the stage and while this was due to Covid-19 restrictions, the absence of the traditional greeting symbolized divisions across the country in the final countdown to November 3.
Trump was as harsh on the 77-year-old Biden as he had threatened to do, saying the “radical left” had the centrist Democrat “wrapped up in their little finger.”
This is one of the highlights so far. Amid repeated interruptions by @realDonaldTrump, @Joe Biden He says, “Do you want to shut up man?” # Debates2020 @rtenews pic.twitter.com/UvW62gC4Wy
– Brian O’Donovan (@BrianOD_News) September 30, 2020
And it got personal, seeking to rile the Democrat by accusing one of his sons of corruption and telling Biden there is “nothing smart” about the Democrat.
Yet Biden not only gave everything he received, but launched the kind of attack on Trump that the billionaire president has rarely had to endure to his face.
“Liar”, “racist” and “clown” were just some of the missiles launched by Biden, who also called Trump the “puppy” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At times, neither Biden nor Wallace were able to speak, as Trump loudly touted his financial record and went after Biden’s son Hunter.
Nine takeaways from the US presidential debate
At one point, an exasperated Biden, who is leading strongly in the polls, turned to Trump and said, “Shut up, man!”
The Republican had even spread lurid conspiracy theories until the last minute that Biden would need drugs or a headset that secretly provided answers to get him through the night.
The anger-filled event did nothing to assuage fears across the country that the presidential election, taking place amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic, could end in chaos.
When asked by Mr. Wallace if they promised to urge calm and refrain from declaring victory if the election results are not immediately known, Biden said, “Yes.”
Trump, however, did not compromise and said that if he saw “tens of thousands of tampered ballots, I cannot accept that.”
Within minutes of the debate. @realDonaldTrump I can’t stop interrupting you both @Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace. Lots of laughs and smiles from Mr. Biden. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/VJUUr6OpiJ
– Brian O’Donovan (@BrianOD_News) September 30, 2020
And when asked if he condemned far-right armed militias like the Proud Boys group, Trump gave a cryptic response: “Proud Boys, back off and wait.”
Biden sought to link Trump directly to the Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives in the United States, more than in any other country.
And he came up with a visible plan to dodge Trump’s rhetorical storm by frequently turning to face the cameras and addressing the tens of millions of people watching across the country.
“How many of you woke up this morning and had an empty chair at the kitchen table because someone died from Covid?” Biden said, channeling his famous ability to show empathy for suffering, something Trump has long struggled to match.
Mocking Trump, 74, for one of his most notorious statements about alleged cures for the coronavirus, Biden said: “Maybe he could inject bleach into his arm and that would fix it.”
Even before they appeared in the first of his three scheduled 90-minute TV showdowns, Biden was capitalizing on explosive revelations in The New York Times that his billionaire opponent had managed to avoid paying almost any federal income tax for years.
Trump, who has long broken presidential transparency by refusing to release his tax returns, allegedly used loopholes to pay just $ 750 in federal taxes during the first year of his presidency.
Hours before the Cleveland showdown, Biden released his own tax returns, demanding that Trump do the same in the debate.
Trump insisted in the debate that he has paid “millions” in taxes.
But the affair continues to threaten to provide Biden with ammunition to try to undermine Trump’s crucial support of blue-collar voters or what the Republican calls “the forgotten men and women.”
The debate will be repeated on the RTÉ News channel at 9am (Irish time) this morning.
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