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The final presidential debate of the US election campaign happened overnight, with Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashing.
And whether you missed it or want a recap, we’ve rounded up the defining moments and tried to assess who came out on top.
Click or tap here to see the full report – and here are six moments that stood out:
1. Mute civil debates again
If you missed the first debate between these two, consider yourself lucky.
Calling it a “debate” feels generous, it was more of a shouting match.
In an attempt to avoid a replay, a mute button was introduced to proceedings Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee.
This meant that each candidate was allowed two uninterrupted minutes at the beginning of each section to give their initial response.
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And it had an impact.
The tone was more civilized, with fewer interruptions overall. It felt more like a debate, although the pair’s first meeting set the bar low.
Praise should go to moderator Kristen Welker, who expertly organized the proceedings.
“I very much respect the way he’s handling this,” Trump told the NBC News correspondent at the White House at one point.
2. A family affair
But while the overall tone was more civilized, there were still some irritating exchanges.
Things heated up when both candidates were asked about foreign interference in the US elections.
Trump used this as an opportunity to bring up recent media reports about Biden’s son Hunter.
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The New York Post has reported that Biden used his position as vice president to benefit his son’s business interests in Ukraine, but the veracity of the article has been widely questioned.
Mr. Biden refuted any allegation of wrongdoing, saying that “not a single single thing was out of place” in terms of his conduct vis-à-vis Ukraine.
This did not discourage the president, who compared the Biden family to a vacuum cleaner because “they are absorbing money.”
And he repeated unsubstantiated allegations that Biden has received funding from Russian sources.
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Once again, the former vice president denied it and told the debate: “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source in my life.”
Biden turned the attack on Trump around and asked the president to “publish your tax returns or stop talking about corruption.”
He asked, “What are you hiding?”
Biden also used the segment to bring up some recent media reports that Trump has a bank account in China.
3. Trump compares himself to Lincoln
Another flash point was race relations.
Biden called his opponent “one of the most racist presidents we’ve ever had in modern history” and someone who “fuels every racist fire.”
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The president proclaimed himself “the least racist person in this room” and boasted that only Abraham Lincoln, who abolished slavery, had done more for black Americans.
He advocated for the separation of immigrant children from their families following detentions along the US-Mexico border, after it was revealed that 545 children remain separated from their parents.
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Trump said it was the Obama administration that “built cages” to stop them.
This was disputed by Biden, who said the children were “ripped” from their families in 2018.
4. Coronavirus
Large differences were shown when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, given that his administration’s handling of the virus has been in the limelight, Trump was more optimistic.
He said the United States was “turning the curve” and “turning the corner,” with a vaccine “coming.”
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The president spoke out against new closures, criticizing Democratic-controlled states for their COVID-19 restrictions.
“The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself and that is what is happening,” Trump said.
His claim that the country needs to “learn to live with it” prompted a quick reprimand from Biden, who told him: “People are learning to die with it.”
The former vice president sought to present himself as a unifying figure amid the pandemic, saying he does not see “red states and blue states” and “they are all American.”
5. Biden’s bet on unity
Biden’s speech to voters throughout the campaign has been that he is a unifying figure who is in touch with the people of Main Street.
Biden spoke during the debate about not seeing red states or blue states and frequently referenced the fact that he was born in Pennsylvania, a key state in transition.
He believes he can begin to heal America after four years of bitterness and division.
As Jim Carrey said when he played the former vice president on Saturday Night Live: “We can all stop America from actively burning again.”
6. ‘I ran for you’
The president wanted to portray his opponent as a Washington insider who has been roaming the corridors of power for decades.
And he consistently referenced Biden’s eight years as Barack Obama’s vice president, from 2009 to 2017.
“You were there and you didn’t do anything,” Trump told Biden as they squabbled over race relations.
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“I ran for you,” the president added.
Titular candidates can often find it difficult to cope with the baggage of their time in office.
But Trump wanted to remind people that as an outsider ridiculed by the political establishment, he came to victory four years ago promising to “drain the swamp.”
“Success will unite us, we are on our way to success,” he declared in his response to the last question of the night on leadership.
The president had a solid performance, sometimes appearing to have the upper hand, ”was the verdict of our US correspondent, Cordelia Lynch.
“That may help win over some of the tremendously small group of undecided voters.
“But polls would suggest he needed a knockout and he didn’t feel that way.”
