Dueling town halls for Biden, Trump
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden will compete for TV audiences in dueling town halls on Thursday night instead of meeting face-to-face for their second debate as originally planned.
The two will take questions in different cities on different networks: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump backed out of plans for the presidential faceoff originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers said it would be held virtually following Trump’s Coronavirus diagnosis.
The town halls offer a different format for the two candidates to present themselves to voters, after the two held a chaotic and combative first debate late last month. But Trump, speaking on Fox Business on Thursday morning, indicated he had no plans to change his tone going forward.
Trump said of the first debate that “some people said I was rude, but you have to be rude. The guy’s a liar.”
In case anyone remains unaware of Trump’s tactics, Biden warned supporters at a virtual fundraiser that the president would go after him aggressively in the final weeks of the campaign.
“We’ve got 19 days left and you know he’s going to throw everything but the kitchen sink at me,” Biden said Thursday. “And it’s going to be an overwhelming torrent of lies and distortions.”
During his rally, Trump went hard after Biden, repeating his campaign message that “Joe Biden is a corrupt politician.”
Trump also took his most overt swipe yet at Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, with whom Trump has publicly disagreed on the Coronavirus. He said Fauci is a nice guy, “so I keep him around.” But he also described Fauci, who has served in administrations of both parties, as a Democrat.
“Everybody knows that. He’s Cuomo’s friend,” Trump said, in reference to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.