Candidates press their contrasts in Midwest
PITTSBURGH — President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden kept up their debate-stage clash from afar on Wednesday as they competed for working-class voters in the Midwest, while elected officials in both parties — and the debate commission, too — sought to deal with the most chaotic presidential faceoff in memory.
The debate raised fresh questions about Trump’s continued reluctance to condemn white supremacy, his efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election and his unwillingness to respect debate ground rules his campaign had agreed to. Some Democrats called on Biden to skip the next two debates.
Biden’s campaign confirmed he would participate in the subsequent meetings as did Trump’s. But the Commission on Presidential Debates promised “additional structure ... to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.”
Less than 12 hours after the wild debate concluded, Biden called Trump’s behavior in the prime-time confrontation “a national embarrassment.” The Democratic challenger launched his most aggressive day on the campaign trail all year, with eight stops planned for a train tour that began mid-morning in Cleveland and was ending 10 hours later in western Pennsylvania. Trump was to address voters and donors in Minnesota late in the day.
Biden balanced criticism of Trump with a call for national unity.
“He lies to you,” Biden told supporters under a sunny sky with a cool breeze outside the Cleveland train station.
“I’ll always tell you the truth,” the former vice president said.
While some Republicans feared that Trump’s debate performance was too aggressive, he gave himself high marks before leaving
Washington. He had spent much of the morning assailing Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace on social media.
The first of three scheduled debates between Trump and Biden deteriorated into bitter taunts and chaos the night before as the Republican president repeatedly interrupted his Democratic rival with angry — and personal — jabs that overshadowed any substantive discussion of the crises threatening the nation.
Trump and Biden frequently talked over each other with Trump interrupting, nearly shouting, so often that Biden eventually snapped at him, “Will you shut up, man?”
Trump repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of the election and refused to say whether he would accept the results, calling on his supporters to scrutinize voting procedures at the polls — something that critics warned could easily cross into voter intimidation.
Trump also refused to condemn white supremacists who have supported him, telling one such group known as Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
On Capitol Hill, Republicans showed signs of debate hangover with few willing to defend Trump’s performance.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney called the debate “an embarrassment” and said Trump “of course” should have condemned white supremacists.
“I think he misspoke,” said South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the only Black Republican senator. “I think he should correct it. If he doesn’t correct it, I guess he didn’t misspeak.”
Trump did not say he misspoke when asked directly on Wednesday, but a day after citing the Proud Boys by name, he claimed to not know who they were.
“They have to stand down — everybody. Whatever group you’re talking about, let law enforcement do the work,” he said.