Trump, Biden use town halls to square off
WASHINGTON — President Trump and Democrat Joe Biden squared off, in a way, Thursday night, their scuttled second debate replaced by dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic that has reshaped the nation.
Trump was defensive about his administration’s handling of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 215,000 American, and evasive when when pressed about whether he took a required coronavirus test before his first debate with Biden. Angry and combative, he refused to denounce the QAnon conspiracy group — and only testily did so on white supremacists.
The president also appeared to acknowledge he is in debt and left open the possibility that some of it is owed to a foreign bank. He insisted that he didn’t owe any money to Russia or any “sinister people” and suggested that being $ 400 million in debt was a “very, very small percentage” compared with his assets.
Biden, appearing nearly 1,200 miles away, denounced the White House’s handling of the virus, declaring that it was at fault for closing a pandemic response office established by the Obama administration in which he served. Though vague at times, he acknowledged it was a mistake to support a 1994 crime bill that led to increased Black incarceration and suggested he finally will offer clarity on his position on expanding the Supreme Court if Trump’s nominee to the bench is seated before election day.
Trump, less than two weeks after being diagnosed with COVID19, dodged directly answering whether he took a test the day of the Sept. 29 debate, only saying “possibly I did, possibly I didn’t.” Debate rules required that each candidate, using the honor system, had tested negative before the Cleveland event, but Trump spoke in circles when asked when he last tested negative.
It was his positive test two days later that created Thursday’s spectacle, which deprived most viewers of a simultaneous look at the candidates just 19 days before the vote.
The presidential rivals took questions in different cities on different networks: Trump on NBC from Miami, Biden on ABC from Philadelphia. Trump backed out of plans for the debate originally scheduled for the evening after debate organizers said it would be held virtually after his COVID19 diagnosis.