Brendan Smilovsky / AFP by Getty Images
President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met for their second and final debate because tens of millions of Americans have already voted. The deeply divided country will begin the final sprint on election day amid the coronavirus epidemic, and it is not yet clear how many voters will form their minds.
Here are five takeaways from a discussion in Nashville, Tennyson, a very different and very civil night than the last encounter.
1. There was a real discussion
The first debate between Trump and Biden is unseen. It didn’t care about interruptions and cross talk, moderator and name-calling – all of which were mostly on the president’s side.
Under the new rules imposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates, each discussion item initially had a staff-operated mute button for the CPD, which turned off each candidate’s microphone for the first 2 minutes of the opponent’s speaking time.
Kristen Welker, moderator of NBC News, skillfully moved the conversation. She followed and pressed for answers and gave both candidates the opportunity to respond to each other’s comments. Welker was pushed back when candidates tried to run over time or tried to change the subject. She was firm and her nonsensical approach put candidates to work.
Trump withdrew from the election after the first debate and this time took the advice of Republicans to reduce it. Last night he was more measured and tried to stay in the message. Biden is also more disciplined and ready to address personal attacks, as the Trump campaign foretold about his son Hunter’s business dealings.
2. The coronavirus is still the driving force in elections
The 2020 election focused on Trump handling the coronavirus and this is the topic of Welker’s first question. Two candidates tested negative for coronavirus before entering the stage on Thursday, and those in the smaller audience were required to wear masks. Trump family members appeared to be wearing masks, abiding by the rules Put them on later Refused to do so during the first discussion.
The policies and attitudes of the two candidates on the epidemic are no more different. Biden warned that a “dark winter” was looming and that 220,000 Americans had died, with the president initially failing to control his response to the virus.
“Anyone who has caused so many deaths should not be president of the United States,” Biden said.
Trump has repeatedly stated that his policy has saved millions of lives “We’ve turning the corner.” After testing himself positively after the final discussion, the president admitted that he had personal experience with the disease, but argued that he could handle it, “I have it and I have recovered.”
He reiterated his claim that the vaccine was weeks away, but admitted when pressed: “This is not a guarantee.” Trump says there is “a good chance” of approval by the end of this year, and that he has a plan for the military to help deliver millions of doses.
The president sought to lead to the economic impact of a return to sanctions, arguing that Biden wanted to close the country: “We can not close this country. It’s a huge country with a huge economy. People are losing their jobs.”
Commenting on the virus, Biden said, “We are learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it.”
3. There was a health care debate against “Bidencare” ending Obamacare
In the presidential election and congressional races, the Democrats GOP attempted to attack Obamacare during the campaign and this proved to be effective.
Biden outlined his plan for the Affordable Care Act “Bidencare“During the debate on Thursday night.
The president vowed to maintain the status quo, but Biden hit him Not presenting the plan One to replace the ACA despite having four years indicated to be imminent. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to legislation brought in by the Trump administration a week after the election. As he has done before, Byron has linked health care issues over the coronavirus epidemic with the administration’s efforts to tear down the ACA.
Earlier on Thursday, the president released a raw video from a tape interview for the CBS News program 60 minutes There he stressed his position in the ACA. Trump announced, “I hope they end it. It would be great if they could end it. “And during the debate he continued to sharply criticize the ACA, which became more popular 10 years after it came into force and proved to be a political plus for Democrats.
“All we want to do is cancel it,” the president said, adding that he had “canceled” a personal order requiring him to register in coverage plans or pay a fine.
Biden’s plan was to run a social medicine drug that threatens Medicare, which is government health coverage for seniors. He equated Biden’s plan with other Democrats’ plans for a “Medicare for All” program at an early stage.
But Biden rejected those proposals, saying on health care “I hit all those other people because I disagreed with them.”
4. Trump attacked Biden as an ordinary politician who was guilty of corruption
Trump won in 2016 by arguing that he was not a politician in 2016, but a businessman, going to Washington to “drain the swamp.” He has been trying to repeat that strategy for the past two weeks and trying to portray Biden as a corrupt Washington man who has a 47-year government career. Although re-election races for those in power are usually referendums on their first terms, Trump has talked more about his own record and about Biden.
Going into the debate, the Trump campaign gave signs that Biden’s son Hunter was working with foreign businesses, arguing that this led the former vice president to enrich himself personally. The President referred to the reports New York Post About Alleged emails from Hunter It described his attempts to create a business in China that had money for his father and uncle.
The authenticity of the material cited in the news reports has not been verified – it has been given Post By Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer and friend. And Biden denied the campaign allegations. Trump was one of the campaign guests for the debate A man who claims to be a former business associate Hunter Biden said he had direct knowledge that Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business dealings and planned to meet with Senate GOP investigators on the matter.
Biden was ready to attack. “I have never taken a single penny from any foreign source in my life so far,” he said. He argued that Trump’s focus on the Biden family was intended to divert attention from the problems facing voters’ families.
“I’m not an ordinary politician, so I’m elected,” the president said, dismissing Biden’s response to changing the subject like other “typical politicians”.
The president made several suggestions that Biden receive millions from foreign governments, but gave no evidence to support his claims. Biden believes that many of the allegations made by Trump about the Biden family during the impeachment investigation turned out to be false.
With less than two weeks to go before election day, Trump’s attempt to change the focus of the campaign may not be connected and voters may be confused, as his allegations are less than obvious. Most voters focused on the economy and health care, not on allegations that did not support corruption.
Biden used the exchange to bring one New York Times The report, which revealed that Trump had a China bank account, raised questions about Trump’s own tax payments to China and his refusal to release his U.S. tax returns. President He said he believed it was closed He reiterated that he would release his revenue after the completion of the China account and IRS audit. The IRS record is that the audit did not prevent Trump from releasing his revenue.
5. The debate does not matter
Already over 40 million people have voted, and Recent polls Silver, a very small number of voters, is close to this election. Biden was also bored, and checked his watch at the end of the discussion.
Both campaigns primarily wanted to avoid making big mistakes in the last debate, and both candidates delivered. Their focus in the final stretch is to get supporters and see how states process unprecedented ballots from those who voted in advance or by mail to avoid long lines during the ongoing national health crisis.
More Stories
How List Acquisition Helps Your Political Campaign Become Successful
Four escaped cows were caught
A simple administrative decision? | Press