Interrupting Joe Biden almost every time he spoke, President Trump made little effort to reassure voters swing over his leadership Mr. Biden retaliated, « It’s so unpresidential »
« In the past four years you have promised to repeal and replace Obamacare, but in those four years you have never come up with a plan, a comprehensive plan – » « Yes, I ai « » – to replace Obamacare « » Of course I have « » Well, I will give you – « » We got rid of the individual mandate « » I will give you an opportunity – « » Excuse me I am got rid of the individual mandate « » I’m not here to expose his lies – everyone knows he’s a liar « » But you accepted – Joe, you’re the liar « » I want to make sure that – » « You graduated last in your class, not first in your class » « I – [laughs] – God I want to make sure that – » « M President, could you let him finish, sir? « The question is, the question is – » « Lots of new Supreme Court justices, radical left – » « Do you want to shut up, man? » “One of the big debates we had with 23 of my colleagues trying to win the nomination that I won was that Biden wanted to allow people to always have private insurance They can, they do, they will, under my proposal « » It’s not what you said and it’s not what your party said « » It’s just a lie « » Your party don’t say it – your party wants to switch to socialist medicine « » My party is me Right now I’m the Democratic Party « » And they’re going to dominate you, Joe, you know that « » I’m the Party Democrat right now The Democratic Party platform – « » Not according to Harris « » – this is what I, in fact, approved « » Is it true that you paid $ 750 in federal tax on income each of those two years? « I paid millions of dollars in taxes, millions of dollars in income taxes Let me just say something, it was tax laws I don’t wanna pay tax Before I come here I was a private developer, I was a private businessman Like any other private person, unless they’re stupid, they go through the laws, and that’s what it is « » I’m going to eliminate the Trump tax cuts « » Okay « » And we will, I’m going to eliminate these tax cuts – « » OK « » – and make sure we invest in the people who need them People have need help « But why haven’t you done it for 20 years, for the last 25 years? » « Because you weren’t – because you weren’t the president screwing up things « » You were a senator – « » You are the worst president America has ever had Come on « » You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically called the antifa and other members of the left – « ‘That’s right' » – extremist groups But are you ready tonight to condemn white supremacists and militias? « Of course » « – and to say that they have to step back and not escalate the violence in a number of these towns, as we have seen in Kenosha and as we have seen in Portland » « Well sure I’m willing to do it, but – « » So do it « » Go ahead, sir « » I would say, I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not the wing right « » So what are you, what are you saying – « » I am ready for anything – I want to see peace « » Well, do it, sir « » Say it Do it Say it « You want to call them – what do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name « » White supremacists and – « » Go ahead, who would you like me to condemn? « » Proud boys « » Who? » « White supremacists and right-wing militias » Proud Boys, take a step back and stand by your side But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what Someone needs to do something about the antifa and the left , because it’s not a right-wing problem, it’s a left problem – « » His own FBje The director said the threat was – « You wonder – » « No, I think the masks are OK You have to understand, if you look, I mean I have a mask here I put on a mask, you know, when I think I need it Tonight, as an example, everyone has passed a test, and you’ve had some social distancing and all you need to do – but I wear masks when needed If needed I wear masks « » OK, let me ask – « » I don’t wear no mask like him – every time you see him he’s got a mask He could talk 200 feet from – he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen « » The masks f have a big difference His own crC head says if we only wore masks by then – if everyone wore masks socially distanced by January we would probably save up to 100,000 lives That counts ” « And they also said the opposite They also said: » « No serious person said the opposite » « The point is that there will be millions of people because of Covid who will vote by mail, as it does fact elsewhere And it is about trying to dissuade people from voting, because it is trying to scare people into believing that it will not be legitimate « » Regarding the ballots, this is is a disaster A solicited ballot, okay? Asked is OK You ask, you ask They send it back You send it back I did it This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen The other thing: it’s nice, on November 3, you look and you see who won the election And I think we’re gonna do well cause people are really happy with the job we did But you know what? We won’t know, we may not know for months – because these votes are going to be over ”“ Now that millions of mail-in ballots have been sent out, what are you going to do about it ? And do you rely on the Supreme Court, including Justice Barrett, to resolve any disputes? « Yeah, I think I’m relying on them to watch the ballots, definitely I don’t think we will – I hope we don’t need them for the elections themselves, but for the ballots vote, I think so I urge my supporters to go to the ballot box and watch very carefully, because this is what must happen I urge them to do so I urge my people – I hope this will be fair elections If it is a fair election – « » You ask them what? « » – I am 100% on board But if I see tens of thousands of ballots manipulated, I cannot accept that « » Here’s the deal: they count the votes As you pointed out some of these ballots in some states can’t even be opened until election day And if there are thousands of ballots , it will take time to do this No one has at all established that there is mail ballot fraud. nce, that this is sort of a fraudulent process « » He’s already established « » He has no idea what he’s talking about Here’s the deal The point is I will accept it and so will he You know why? Because once the winner is declared, after all the ballots are counted, all the votes are counted, that will be the end «
WASHINGTON – The first presidential debate between President Trump and Joseph R Biden Jr unfolded in a gruesome melee on Tuesday, as Mr. Trump harassed and interrupted M Biden almost every time he spoke and the former vice president denounced the president as a ‘clown’ and told him to ‘shut up’ «
In a chaotic 90-minute back-and-forth, the party’s two main candidates expressed a bitter contempt for each other unheard of in modern American politics
Mr. Trump, lagging behind in the polls and urgently hoping to restart his campaign, was clearly trying to be the aggressor But he intervened so insistently that Mr. Biden could barely answer questions put to him, forcing Fox News moderator Chris Wallace to repeatedly urge the president to let his opponent speak
« Do you want to shut up, man? » Mr. Biden demanded from M Trump at one point in obvious exasperation « It’s so unpresidential »
« In 47 months, I have done more than you in 47 years, » said M Trump fired back, referring to his rival’s career in Washington
The president’s bulldozer-style tactics posed a significant risk to an incumbent following Mr. Biden because voters, including some who supported him in 2016, are so tired of his almost daily attacks and explosions.However, the former vice president has swung between trying to ignore Mr. Trump by addressing voters directly on camera and giving in to temptation by hurling insults at President Mr. Biden called Mr. Trump a liar and a racist
Mr. Trump has peppered his remarks with misleading allegations and outright lies, predicting that a coronavirus vaccine was imminent when his own chief health advisers say otherwise, claiming his backtracking of energy efficiency standards would not increase pollution and insisting that a political adviser, Kellyanne Conway, had not described the riots as helpful to M Trump campaign, even though it did it on TV
And even as he went on the offensive against Mr. Biden on public policy issues, M Trump refused to condemn white supremacy and right-wing extremist groups at the behest of Mr. Wallace and Mr. Biden When Mr. Wallace asked him if he would be ready to do it, Mr. Trump replied « Of course » and asked the pair to name a group they would like him to denounce
But when M Biden named the Proud Boys, a far-right group, M Trump didn’t and even suggested they be ready
« Proud boys? Stand back and get ready, « the president said, before turning to say, » Someone needs to do something against the antifa and the left «
Mr. Trump also escalated his baseless claims of widespread electoral fraud early in the debate stage He again raised the prospect of a ‘fraudulent election’ and ignored evidence to the contrary regarding postal voting offered by M Wallace and Mr Biden And Mr Trump urged his constituents to « go to the polls and watch very carefully » for any signs of misconduct – an encouragement that could disrupt Election Day
Mister Trump’s volcanic performance seemed to be the gamble of a president seeking to tarnish his adversary by any means available, limitless by standards of correctness and decorum and not guided by a calculated sense of how » influence the electorate or allay voters’ reservations about his leadership
In an election marked by clearly defined and stubbornly stable opinions on the two candidates, the president’s conduct was tantamount to pulling the pin on a hand grenade and hoping that the ensuing explosion would do more harm to the candidate. ‘other candidate
But M Trump made no effort to address his most obvious political vulnerabilities, from his mismanagement of the pandemic to his refusal to condemn right-wing extremism, and it was not clear that he did anything. either during the evening to appeal to voters who didn’t like him, including those who reluctantly supported him four years ago
The president wasn’t just targeting Mr. Biden; he also undermined his own advisers After Mr Biden criticized him for his handling of the coronavirus – « he’s crazy about it, » former vice president said – Mr. Trump mocked his opponent for wearing « the biggest mask I’ve ever seen, » then belittled Dr Anthony S Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease specialist
« He said very firmly that ‘masks are not good’, then he said he had changed his mind, » Mr. Trump said of Dr. Fauci The president later said his own FBje director, Christopher Wray, was « wrong » after Mr. Biden noted that M Wray said that the radical left group’s antifa was more of an idea than an organization
The debate, at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, quickly descended into insults and hectorations within the first 15 minutes, paltry attacks that were extraordinary even by M’s standards Trump’s unruly presidency
When M Biden tried to discuss voters who lost loved ones to coronavirus, M Trump intervened « You would have lost a lot more people, » he said
The former vice president alternated smiling and shaking his head in bewilderment and unleashing his own attacks as M Trump kept interrupting
In an unusually busy moment, M Trump spoke about M Biden’s late son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, dismissing the opportunity to show a minimum of personal grace to his political opponent Mr. Biden alluded to Beau Biden’s military service in berating the president for having apparently referred to fallen US soldiers as « losers »
Mr. Trump responded with a rhetorical eye roll and began to attack Mr. Biden’s other son: “I don’t know Beau; I know Hunter, ”he said, mocking Hunter Biden for his business dealings and drug addiction issues.
In the middle of Mr Trump’s assault, M Biden has repeatedly denied that there was anything inappropriate about Hunter Biden’s work overseas, and said he was « proud of my son » for facing the addiction.
One of the few phases of the debate that could have been taken by an open-minded viewer as a prolonged and articulate exchange of views took place over the coronavirus pandemic Mr. Trump expressed his impatience with a set of public health restrictions and M Biden slammed the president for disregarding measures such as wearing a mask and social distancing
« If we were only wearing masks by then – and socially distanced – by January, we would probably save up to 100,000 lives, » said M Biden, who also alluded to the disclosure in journalist Bob Woodward’s recent book that the President intentionally misled the American people last winter about the severity of the virus
Mr. Trump, reiterating his demands for the country to return to normal, called on Democratic governors to « quickly open these states »
But even on an issue as serious as the pandemic, Mr. Trump freely indulged in personal mockery When Mr Biden called him « totally irresponsible » for organizing mass rallies without health protection in place, Mr. Trump responded by mocking M Biden’s more compelling events, suggesting the former vice president would also be hosting big events, « if you could draw the crowds » The president, at another time, falsely claimed that Mr. Biden had finished at the bottom of his college class. « There is nothing smart about you, » M Trump told his opponent
Mr. Biden sometimes laughed at Mr. Trump, recalling at one point the president’s suggestion that people inject disinfectant into their bodies to fight the virus, a blunder that for some time put an end to M Trump’s daily briefings « It was said sarcastically », Mr. Trump claimed, although his remarks sounded serious at the time
For all his obvious frustration with M Trump for breaking the rules, M Wallace made no attempt to correct the president as he unblocked a series of lies Mr. Trump, for example, insisted Mr. Biden once called criminals ‘super-predators’ « But Hillary Clinton said it, in 1996 And he didn’t correct Mr. Trump when he said Ms Conway did not describe the riots as helpful to M Trump campaign
In addition to making false claims, Mr. Trump was also unable, or unwilling, to discuss political issues in detail Pressed to know if he believed in climate change, the president said, « I think to some extent yes, » before saying quickly add: « We are planting a billion trees »
As eclipsed as it may have been, the political content of the opening phase of the debate reflected the stark contrasts already exposed during the race At the Supreme Court, the two men parted ways over the desirability of Mr. Trump will appoint a new judge to the court in the final months of his tenure, with the president offering a provocative justification for doing so: « We won the election, » he said, « and we have the right to do so. »
Perhaps more surprisingly, M Trump fired M Biden’s warning that Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruling guaranteeing women’s right to abortion, was « on the ballot »
The president projected his disbelief, though the decision would clearly risk being overturned by a conservative court. « Nothing’s going on there, » Mr. Trump insisted
Mr. Trump had no defense for Mr. Biden’s warning that if the Supreme Court overturned the Affordable Care Act could endanger women and people with pre-existing conditions, he also did not offer a substantive response to Mr. Wallace’s question pushing him to articulate a specific vision of health policy
The president argued that he had already done so, although he had not, and said his success in repealing the individual mandate from the Obama-era law was a ‘big thing’ in itself Instead of finally filling in the blanks of his healthcare program, Mr. Trump sought to attack M Biden, linking him to the « socialist » aspirations of the left wing of the Democratic Party
Mr Biden, who campaigned against socialized medicine in the Democratic primary, hijacked the attack – « I’m the Democratic Party right now, » he said – and sought to keep the accent on M Trump’s lack of health policies in addition to gutting ACUNE
« He doesn’t have a plan », M Biden said « The point is this man doesn’t know what he’s talking about »
For Mr Trump, this first debate seemed like his best chance to change the course of a presidential race that has so far resisted all manner of Trumpian efforts to shake it up The president has gone through a series of attacks on his Democratic challenger in recent months, criticizing or outright denigrating Mr. Biden’s track record, personal ethics, economic policies, family finances, and mental and physical health – often rely on misinformation and lies
Over the past month, Republicans have made a particularly concerted effort to brand Mr Biden as overly sympathetic to racial justice protests that have become unruly and insufficiently engaged in maintaining public order
Yet this argument has not moved the race an inch in Mr. Trump’s leadership, or changed the view of a majority of voters who hold a negative view of his personal character and his leadership during the pandemic From the start of the race, Mr. Trump has prioritized his largely rural, conservative base over any other constituency, and he has done little to reach Americans who don’t already support him
On the contrary, in a year of tumult there has been one constant: M Biden has enjoyed a steady lead in the polls since he actually claimed the nomination in April
Powered by women, voters of color, and whites with college degrees, and who fare better with Republican-leaning ridings than Clinton did in 2016, the former vice-president president is better placed for the last month of the election than any challenger since 1992
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News from the world – FI – With crossed conversations, lies and mockery, Trump tramples decorum in debate with Biden
