Candidates prepare strategies ahead of final opportunity to shift momentum
BEFORE their final televised face-off, President Donald Trump attacked tonight’s debate as yet another campaign event that would be “a stacked deck” against him, while Joe Biden’s camp hunkered down and strategised over Mr Trump’s expected attacks on his family.
The manoeuvring came as both sides prepared for the last scheduled event that could change the trajectory of the campaign and wrestled with the fact the debate will feature a mute button for the first time.
Mr Biden held no public appearances for a second straight day, while Mr Trump tried out lines of attack and, in essence, held his debate prep in public.
In a phone interview on Fox & Friends, Mr Trump lashed out at the moderator for the debate, NBC’s Kristen Welker, as “totally partisan” and sought to portray the debate topics and rules as unfair.
“There are people out there that can be neutral. Kristen
Welker cannot be neutral,” Mr Trump said, adding that she comes from a Democratic family. An official from the Commission on Presidential Debates defended Ms Welker, noting that a Trump official had praised her just last week, and said both campaigns had agreed to the rules. The president has also complained about previous moderators.
The debate, set to take place in Nashville just 12 days before election day, is the clearest opportunity for Trump to shift the dynamic of a presidential race whose contours
Mr Biden leads Mr Trump by 54pc to 43pc in national polls
have remained stable despite numerous surprises. Mr Biden leads Mr Trump by 11 percentage points, 54pc to 43pc, according to an average of national polls since October 4.
It could also take on added significance because the previous match-ups were so chaotic. The first debate was dominated by Mr Trump’s interruptions and determination to talk over Mr Biden, and the second event was cancelled after Mr Trump contracted coronavirus, resulting in separate, duelling town hall appearances on live television.
At the first debate, Mr Trump’s entourage ignored rules that they had to wear masks, but organisers have signalled they will not permit such behaviour this time.
The Commission on Presidential Debates decided unanimously this week to mute each candidate’s microphone during the opening two minutes of his opponent’s remarks on each of the six featured topics. The debate sponsors said the change was a way to enforce rules that the campaigns had already accepted.
Some Trump advisers were annoyed with the change but kept their protests to a minimum because they believed the president’s interruptions in the first debate may have hurt his chances, three advisers said. (© Washington Post)