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NASHVILLE, United States – Donald Trump and Joe Biden hold a high-stakes debate Thursday that may be the last chance for the polling-lagging president to present his reelection case to an American television audience of millions. in primetime.
Trump, 74, is expected to use the second and final debate to renew his attacks on the past businesses of Biden’s son Hunter.
Biden, 77, is expected to focus on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic which has left more than 222,000 people dead in the United States and millions unemployed.
With just 12 days left until the election, the debate is seen as perhaps Trump’s last and best chance to regain ground on Biden before the Nov.3 vote.
More than 45 million Americans have already cast their votes, according to a count by the University of Florida, and the candidates will target the remaining undecided voters.
“This is an important last chance for candidates to speak with people who have not voted,” said Amy Dacey, executive director of the Sine Institute for Politics and Politics at American University.
“This is probably one of the largest audiences that they will get to just before the election,” Dacey said.
“I think the Trump team should see this as a necessity to reach people and convince them,” said Dacey, a former executive director of the Democratic National Committee.
Kyle Kondik, managing director of the political newsletter “Sabato’s Crystal Ball” at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said the debate is the last major event on the road to the election.
“Donald Trump came into the conventions from behind, and he’s still behind,” Kondik said. “The debate represents one of the last opportunities to change the trajectory of the race.
“However, the stakes are high for both candidates: Biden wants to keep the race where it is and does not want to provide late fuel to the Trump campaign.”
‘Bias, hatred and rudeness’
Trump trails Biden by 7.7 points on a RealClearPolitics average of national polls and is behind in most of the key battlefield states that are crucial to victory.
The 90-minute debate takes place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm ET.
It will be televised by all the major broadcast networks, cable news channels, and streamed live on various platforms, including YouTube.
The first debate on September 29 was a chaotic affair with constant interruptions and insults, and this time measures have been put in place to try to guarantee order.
Candidates’ microphones, for example, will cut off while the other answers the moderator’s questions.
A second debate scheduled for October 15 was canceled after Trump opted for Covid-19 and refused to participate in a virtual debate.
As a health precaution, this time Plexiglas barriers have been erected next to the lecterns where the two candidates will be located.
The topics of the debate were chosen by the moderator, Kristen Welker, correspondent for NBC News in the White House.
Welker, 44, the first woman of color to moderate a debate since 1992, selected six topics: Fighting Covid-19, American Families, Race in America, Climate Change, National Security and Leadership.
Trump has lashed out at Welker on several occasions, calling her a “radical Democrat” and “not good.”
He shot her again Thursday when the White House released raw footage from an interview Trump did with the CBS show “60 Minutes.”
“Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS,” Trump said. “Tonight’s host, Kristen Welker, is so much worse!”
In the “60 Minutes” interview, Trump also continued to launch accusations of corruption at the Bidens, a line of attack he will likely follow during the debate.
“This is the biggest scandal,” Trump told 60 Minutes, a claim that received skepticism from the CBS interviewer. “I think it’s one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen and you won’t cover it.”
The debate comes a day after former President Barack Obama launched into Biden’s election campaign, giving Trump a tough takedown and urging Democrats not to be swayed by complacency over his former vice president’s leadership in the polls.
Obama issued a stark reminder of 2016, when polls showed Hillary Clinton as the clear favorite, only for her to lose to Trump on Election Day.
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