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Donald Trump and Joe Biden offered completely different visions for fighting the coronavirus pandemic during the last presidential debate on Thursday night in Nashville, perhaps the last chance for the president to change the dynamics of a race that increasingly favors his opponent. Democrat with less than two weeks to go. day.
The evening in Nashville began relatively calm, with rivals presenting their final arguments to the nation amid a pandemic that has killed more than 220,000 Americans and infected millions more, including the president. In part because of the pandemic, more than 40 million Americans have already cast their vote, breaking records and leaving Trump with an ever-narrowing window to restart the debate.
Trump continued to downplay the severity of the public health crisis, defending his response and predicting that a vaccine was imminent, even though his own public health experts have said one likely won’t be widely available to the American public until next summer. .
“It will go away,” Trump said, offering an optimistic assessment of the pandemic’s trajectory even as cases have started to rise again in the US and public health experts warn that the US is on the brink of a new one. dangerous wave.
“We are turning the corner,” he added.
“We cannot keep this country closed. This is a huge country with a huge economy, ”Trump said. “There is depression, alcohol, drugs on a level that no one has seen before. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. “
In contrast, Biden opened his comments by acknowledging the terrible toll of the coronavirus pandemic and warning that the nation must prepare for “a dark winter.”
Biden said: “220,000 deaths. If you hear nothing more I say tonight, listen to this. Whoever is responsible for so many deaths should not remain President of the United States. “
The 90-minute debate was a much more civilized affair than last month’s first presidential debate, which turned into a chaotic fight with Trump incessantly intimidating his opponent and fighting with the moderator. On Thursday, Trump largely followed the rules, allowing Biden to speak without interruption and even congratulate the moderator, NBC News correspondent Kristen Welker, whom he spent the last week criticizing.
Biden was also more restrained. When Trump made a false claim about his opponent, Biden looked up into the sky, as if calling on a higher power to prevent him from reacting. But it didn’t always stop him.
When Trump said that Biden called his decision to impose Covid-19-related travel restrictions on China “xenophobic,” the Democrat responded: “It is xenophobic, but not because it has cut off access to China.”
The candidates clashed drastically over their finances and the tangles of the family business, and Trump repeatedly raised unsubstantiated claims about the president’s son, Hunter Biden. The Democratic candidate defended his son and categorically denied the allegations as he sought to return the conversation to politics.
“There’s a reason he’s bringing up all this nonsense,” Biden said, speaking directly to the camera. “He doesn’t want to talk about substantive issues. It is not about your family and my family. It’s about your family. “
Mocking Biden’s direct appeals to the American people, Trump called it a political cliché to invoke the “kitchen table” and said he would never employ such a tactic. “I am not a typical politician,” he said. “That’s why they chose me.”
Both candidates were asked to speak directly to black and brown Americans about racism in America. Biden made it clear that institutional racism exists and that fighting racial inequality would be a priority of his administration. Trump, ignoring the warning, attacked his opponent and then claimed once again that he had done more for African Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln.
Scoffing at the idea that Trump would compare himself to Lincoln, Biden called Trump “one of the most racist presidents we’ve ever had in modern history” and “fuels every racist fire.”
Despite cascading economic and public health crises, Biden has maintained a consistent lead over the incumbent, according to public opinion polls, while Trump has struggled to outline his vision for a second term and deal with disapproval from the incumbents. voters of their response to the pandemic.
Trump’s angry performance in the first presidential debate was poorly reviewed, and Biden only strengthened his lead in the polls after the crash.
This time, each candidate had their microphone muted while their rival gave a two-minute response to each of the six predetermined discussion topics, including: Fighting Covid-19, American Families, Race in America, Climate Change, Security national and leadership.
