Switching channels
Washington bureau chief Ed Keenan keeps track as Trump and Biden go head to head — well sort of.
WASHINGTON—“In February I said ‘This is a serious problem.’ Trump denied it,” Democratic nominee Joe Biden said in a hall in Philadelphia, answering a question about COVID-19. “He missed enormous opportunities, and kept saying things that aren’t true.” CLICK “He has to say that. He’s a friend of mine, he’s a good guy. Wrong or not wrong,” President Donald Trump said in Florida, answering a question about Chris Christie admitting he should have worn a mask to the White House. “You have to understand, I’m the president, I can’t be locked in a room.” CLICK “When a president doesn’t wear a mask, people say well it mustn’t be that important,” Biden said. “I think it matters what we say.” CLICK “I’ve heard many different stories about the masks,” Trump said. “One that they want, one that they don’t want.” He cited a doctor who he said opposes masks, and moderator Savannah Guthrie pointed out that the person he was citing wasn’t an infectious disease expert. “Well, I don’t know,” Trump said. “He’s one of the great experts of the world.”
The two candidates for president of the United States were to have faced off Thursday in the second of three scheduled debates. But Trump’s COVID diagnosis two weeks ago led organizers to insist the debate be held remotely — after which Trump backed out. ABC scheduled a town hall with Biden in its place. NBC followed up by scheduling a town hall with Trump at the same time. So the men went head-to-head in a different way, one the reality TV star president may prefer: competing for ratings among channel flippers on different networks.
I clicked back and forth, trying to construct a debate from the candidates using my remote. It wasn’t the most coherent way to get a sense of the candidates. But then, the debate in late September when they shared the same stage was more noteworthy for its chaos than its clarity anyhow. If nothing else, this format meant Biden got to finish his sentences.
That’s something Trump keeps insisting he can’t do — just Thursday afternoon, he was saying he wished he could watch Biden’s event just to “see if he can last.” But Biden looked comfortable and in command of both his faculties and the relevant facts as he spoke for 90 minutes with moderator George Stephanopoulos.
A Trump supporter asked Biden about rolling back Trump’s tax cuts — wouldn’t that hurt regular people?
“$1.3 trillion of his $2 trillion tax cuts went to the top onetenth of one per cent, that’s what I’m talking about rolling back,” Biden said. He said that during the COVID crisis, billionaires had increased their wealth by an additional $700 billion — and that those people need to contribute while stimulus should help those suffering, not those thriving.
“Let me be clear, I do not want to ban fracking,” he said to another question. But, he said, it must be regulated, and he pivoted to his plan to invest heavily in Green Energy to both protect the environment and create jobs. “The president thinks it’s a joke, I think it’s jobs,” Biden said.
When Biden spoke about how he thought the constitution implied that a Supreme Court seat shouldn’t be filled once an election had begun, Stephanopoulos pressed him on whether he would expand the Supreme Court to balance Trump’s lastminute pick. Biden said his final response would depend on how the current confirmation process unfolds. But he promised a firm answer before election day.
Hours before his town hall, Trump had told a North Carolina rally crowd that NBC was “setting him up” to look bad as part of a “con job,” but he’d figured what the hell, “It’s a free hour on television.”
In contrast to Biden’s laidback tone, Trump in Florida took a combative approach to moderator Guthrie, who challenged him often. “You do read newspapers,” he asked her at one point. “Did you ever hear of a word called negotiation?” he asked at another. he was referring to negotiating with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about a new stimulus bill. “Nancy Pelosi, we are ready to sign,” he said.
Turning to the recent New York Times reporting on his tax returns, Guthrie asked Trump who he owes more than $400 million to. “I don’t owe Russia money,” he said, “I will let you know who I owe. It’s a small amount of money.” Compared to his assets, he said repeatedly, it’s a small percentage of his net worth. “$400 million is a peanut,” he said.
He did give the answer people have wanted to hear to ease concerns he might reject election results if he loses. “They ask, will you accept a peaceful transfer (of power), and the answer is, yes I will,” he said. “Ideally I don’t want a transfer, because I want to win.”
At times flipping back and forth did provide a proxy for a debate.
Both candidates discussed corporate tax rates — Biden promised to raise them, while pointing out that a Wall Street firm had reported his platform might create 18.6 million jobs. Trump said he’d lowered the tax rates to attract companies. “Our corporate taxes were the highest in the world, and now they’re among the lowest, and what that means is jobs.”
In closing, Trump was asked to address voters unhappy with his performance but willing to give him another chance — what would he say to them? “I’ve done a great job,” he said.
Biden was asked to contemplate losing — and suggested he’d go back to his work at the Biden Institute, trying to ease the divisions in the country. That would be his project, he suggested, win or lose.
“That’s what presidents do, we’ve got to heal this nation,” Biden said. “We’ve got a great opportunity to own the 21st century, but we can’t do it divided.”
Those switching between networks saw Trump — argumentative, boastful, on the edge of his seat — as always compelling if uncomfortable viewing. And then CLICK: there was Biden: relaxed, speaking softly, leaning back and promising to change the channel.