COVID all the rage in pair of debates
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump gave a combative and at times agitated defence of his COVID-19 response, while Joe Biden – offering a glaring contrast in style in a rival televised town hall event –— accused him of doing “nothing” to end the crisis.
The duelling appearances, scheduled at the same time on rival networks, showed Mr Biden giving unflashy, often in-depth answers to voters in the audience, while Mr Trump delivered a fiery defence of his presidency.
Mr Trump, who is well behind in opinion polls, was especially under pressure when it came to the coronavirus that has killed 217,000 Americans.
“We’re rounding the corner,” he insisted, even as swathes of the US are being hit by rising caseloads.
But pressed by the host of the NBC town hall in Miami, the President became quickly frustrated, especially when he was asked about his previous lukewarm denunciations of extremist right-wing white supremacy groups in the US.
He notably refused to denounce QAnon, a bizarre conspiracy theory movement that believes Mr Trump is fighting a mysterious global elite running the world’s governments while also trafficking in child sex.
Mr Trump said: “I know nothing about QAnon,” but then said he liked the shadowy group’s position being “against pedophilia”.
Mr Biden’s appearance on the rival ABC news network mirrored his generally lowkey campaign, with promises of bipartisan healing in divided Washington as he aimed steady fire on Mr Trump’s coronavirus record.
“We’re in a situation where we have 210,000-plus people dead and what’s he doing? Nothing. He’s still not wearing masks,” he said of Mr Trump at the event in Philadelphia.
His standout comments at a time of profound conflict in the US were when he vowed to change the atmosphere, saying “grudges don’t work”.
“We’ve got to change the nature of the way we deal with one another,” he said.
“What I will be doing if I’m elected president, the first thing – and not a joke … I’m going to pick up the phone and call them and say, ‘Let’s get together’.”
Originally, both candidates had been meant to meet for what would have been their second of three debates.
The first debate, which took place in Philadelphia,
was a brutal affair in which Mr Trump repeatedly talked over the top of Mr Biden, and the Democrat told him to “shut up”. The follow-up, however, was scrapped after organisers switched to a virtual format, citing Mr Trump’s coronavirus infection, and the President refused to attend.
Despite Mr Trump’s insistence that the pandemic is in the rear view mirror, it continues to disrupt the tense presidential election.
Mr Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris has now put her own travel on hold after her communications director tested positive for COVID-19.
Mr Biden has reported multiple negative virus tests since Mr Trump’s diagnosis on October 1, the latest being on Thursday (local time).