Trump-Biden debate No 1: First debate marked by chaos and bitter barbs
The first presidential debate descended into a bitter clash as the candidates talked over each other to sell their vastly different visions of the US.
The first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden descended into a bitter and brawling clash as the candidates repeatedly talked over each other to sell their vastly different visions of America.
In a remarkable political spectacle, the so-called presidential debate often became a free-for-all shouting match between the president and Mr Biden with the moderator, Fox News’ Chris Wallace, pleading with both men to abide by the rules.
Mr Wallace repeatedly called out Mr Trump for interrupting, prompting the president at one stage to say he was debating the moderator rather than the former Vice President.
Mr Biden attacked the president’s leadership across the board but especially on his management of the coronavirus and the resulting economic recession.
“Under this president we’ve become weaker, sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent,’ Mr Biden said. “It is what it is because you are who you are.”
Mr Trump hit back at Mr Biden, accusing him of being a puppet of the left, opposing police and law enforcement and being a career politician with nothing to show for it.
“In 47 months, I’ve done more than you did in 47 years, Joe,” Mr Trump said. “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe. Forty-seven years, you’ve done nothing.”
Mr Biden and Mr Trump both threw insults at each other, with Mr Biden calling Mr Trump “the worst president America has ever had” and at one stage saying: “Shut up, man. It’s hard to get any word in with this clown.”
Mr Trump tried several times to inject Mr Biden’s son Hunter Biden into the debate, asking Mr Biden to explain his work in China and Ukraine.
In one tense exchange, Mr Biden, brought up the claim that Mr Trump once called soldiers “losers” and said of his late son Beau: “My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there. He got the Bronze Star … he was not a loser, he was a patriot.”
But Mr Trump turned the issue back to Hunter Biden, who got thrown out of the military, saying: “He didn’t have a job until you became Vice President. Once you became Vice President, he made a fortune in Ukraine, in China, in Moscow and various other places. He made a fortune and he didn’t have a job.”
Mr Trump dodged a direct question about whether it was true that he paid just $750 in federal tax in 2016 and 2016, replying only that he paid “millions of dollars in taxes. Millions of dollars in income tax.”
Mr Trump defended his push to have a new Supreme Court justice confirmed before the election, saying: “We won the election and elections have consequences.”
Mr Biden did not press the issue but instead pivoted to claim that a new conservative justice would attack Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, stripping millions of health insurance. He also claimed it would lead to an assault on the landmark Roe v Wade ruling guaranteeing legal abortion.
On the economy, Mr Trump accused Mr Biden of wanting to shut down the economy again for the coronavirus saying such a move would destroy America. “This guy will close down this whole country and destroy this country,” Mr Trump said.
The two candidates clashed over law and order with Mr Trump blaming Democrats for violence in cities like Portland and Chicago.
When the moderator Mr Wallace asked the president if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militias groups, Mr Trump refused to do so and replied that “almost everything I see is from the left wing … somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left.”
Mr Trump accused Mr Biden of not supporting police because the left wing of the Democrats would criticise him, to which Biden replied that he supported the vast majority of police, just not the “bad apples.”
Biden denied that he wanted to “defund” the police and said he opposed all violence on the streets.
On the outcome of the election, Mr Trump warned that the result may not be known “for months” because of voter fraud with mail-in ballots.
Mr Biden responded that; “He’s just afraid of counting the votes.”
After the debte, Mr Trump made it clear he fwlt Mr Wallace had sided with Mr Biden against him, tweeting a combination picture of himself, Mr Wallace and Mr Biden as if he was up against both men.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2020
The second of the three presidential debates will be in Miami on October 15. Democratic Vice President nominee Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence debate each other on October 8 (AEST).
(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)
How the debate unfolded: read our live blog below
Staff writers 1.00pm: Trump: I urge voters to watch polls carefully
In the final question of the night, both candidates were asked whether they would urge his supporters to stay calm while the vote was counted and to pledge not to declare victory until the election results have been certified.
“I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully,” Mr. Trump replied. He said if was a fair election, “I am 100 per cent on board” but that he would not go along with a “fraudulent election.”
Mr Biden, asked the same question, responded: “Yes.” He said he would support the outcome whether he wins or not.
Staff writers 12.45pm: ‘To an extent’ we contribute to climate change
Moving on to climate change, the rivals were asked if they agreed with the science of climate change.
Mr Trump initially restated his reasons for pulling the US out of the Paris Climate Accord, emphasising the need to protect American jobs and competitiveness.
“I want crystal clean water. And air. I want beautiful clean air. … I haven’t destroyed our businesses. Our businesses aren’t put out of commission.” On whether there was a link between climate change and recent fires in the West, Mr. Trump cited forest management as a crucial factor, rather than climate.
Pressed again on whether he believed human activity contributes to global warming, he said: “A lot of things do. To an extent, yes.”
Joe Biden then defended efforts to make the US less dependent on fossil fuels, saying new greener jobs would replace lost industries, and the shift could reduce the numbers of major climate events. He parried Mr. Trump’s charge that Mr. Biden would follow progressives’ blueprint on a Green New Deal, which calls for major overhaul of the U.S. economy.
“Look how much we’re paying now to deal with the hurricane,” he said. He said of Mr Trump: “He has an answer. Drop a nuclear weapon on them,” referring to an Axios news report in 2019.
“I never said that, you made it up,” Mr Trump said.
Staff writers 12.35pm: ‘You have vote in your control’
How can the rivals reassure Americans that the next president is the legitimate winner of the election?
Mr Biden urged people to vote, while Mr Trump once more questioned the possible legitimacy of the election.
Mr Biden told Americans to vote either by mail or in person. “You have it in your control to determine what the country is going to look like these next four years,” he said. “He cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of this election.”
Mr Biden said he will accept the outcome of the election whether he wins or loses.
Mr Trump complained about a “coup” he says was waged against him ever since he began running for president before repeating his former complaints about mail-in voting. “As far as the ballots are concerned, it is a disaster,” he said, repeating unfounded claims about voter fraud in mail-in voting.
He said of the election outcome: “We might not know for months, because these ballots are going to be all over.” He called the election “rigged” — a claim he often made in 2016, too.
Mr Biden suggested the president’s comments about the legitimacy of the election were founded in his fear of losing the election. “He’s just afraid of counting the votes,” Mr Biden said.
With the Wall St Journal
Anne Barrowclough 12.30pm: ‘I don’t know Beau Biden’
Joe Biden has targeted Donald Trump for reportedly calling US war dead “losers,” stating that his late son Beau, who served in Iraq before succumbing to brain cancer in 2015, was no loser.
However Mr Trump appeared to get confused between Beau and Hunter Biden, appearing to criticise Beau before Mr Biden corrected him.
“I don’t know Beau Biden,” Trump scoffed.
He then returned to his attack on Hunter, raising his past issues with drug addiction. Mr Biden again turned to the camera and addressed viewers directly, saying: “My son had a drug problem, but he’s overcome it and I’m proud of him.”
Staff writers 12.25pm: Trump – most violence is from left
Chris Wallace asks Donald Trump whether he was willing to condemn white supremacist and militia groups and to call for them to “stand down” and not incite violence.
“I would say, almost everything I see is from the left wing,” Mr Trump replied, before asking Mr Wallace to name a white supremacist organisation. When the moderator offered up Proud Boys, a far-right group that engages in political violence, Mr Trump said: “Proud boys, stand back and stand by, but I tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about Antifa and the left.”
Mr Biden was pressed on what he means by pushing for “reimagining policing.”
“What I support is the police having the opportunity to deal with the problems they face,” Mr Biden replied.
“Name one law enforcement group that supported you,” Mr Trump demanded. Mr Biden remained silent.
Staff writers 12.15pm: Rivals accuse each other of racism
Joe Biden has said Mr Trump attempts to make everything into a racial “dog whistle”, arguing that the President has “done virtually nothing” for African Americans during his time as president.
During a prolonged segment on race, the two fought over who would handle issues of race, culminating in Mr Biden calling Mr Trump a racist.
Asked why he would be better at tackling issues of race, Mr Biden attacked Mr Trump for equivocating on the racist right-wing rally in Charlottesville in 2017 with the protests in response and the fact that protesters outside the White House were forcibly moved earlier this year so the President could walk to a nearby church.
Joe Biden: President Trump uses "everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred" #Debates2020 https://t.co/29cHc7lWzV pic.twitter.com/qTeuuMebMm
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 30, 2020
“This is a president who uses everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred, division,” Mr Biden said. “This man has done virtually nothing” for Black Americans.
Mr Trump responded to the attack by noting Mr Biden’s role in passing the 1994 crime bill, a law that led to significant increases in the incarceration of Black Americans.
“I’m letting people out of jail…” Trump said, pointing to criminal justice reform he passed in his first term. “You have treated the Black community about as bad as anybody in this country.”
He also said race- and gender-focused training used in some federal agencies is racist.
“I ended it because it’s racist,” Mr Trump said when asked about his recent executive order banning the federal government and federal contractors from promoting “race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating” in the training of government workers, adding later, “They were teaching people to hate our country, and I’m not going to do that.”
The Wall St Journal
Anne Barrowclough 12.05pm: ‘This is not about my family’
Mr Trump has moved to attack Mr Biden’s son Hunter over his business dealings in Ukraine, claiming he made millions in both Ukraine and China.
“China ate your lunch, Joe. And no wonder: your son goes in and takes out billions of dollars, and he makes millions of dollars,” Mr. Trump said. He also accused Hunter Biden of earning $3.5 million from the wife of the former mayor of Moscow.
It was a subject Mr Biden’s supporters were concerned would floor him, but he appeared ready for the question, speaking straight to camera as he refuted Mr Trump’s claims his son engaged in wrongdoing when he served on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
“This is not about my family or his family, this is about your family — the American people,” Biden said. “He doesn’t want to talk about what you need.”
Anne Barrowclough 11.55am: ‘Joe shows up with biggest mask’
With more than 200,000 Americans dead from coronavirus, the pair argued about the need to wear masks.
Mr Trump derides Mr Biden for wearing a mask in public all the time.
“I don’t wear a mask like (Biden), every time you see him, he’s got a mask,” Mr Trump said. “He could be speaking 200 feet away from it, and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve seen.”
Mr Biden, when asked about the use of masks, referenced the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director’s beseeching of Americans to put them on.
Mr Trump interrupted to argue to that health officials have said “the opposite”, to which Mr Biden responded: “No serious person has said the opposite.”
Mr Trump brought up the Trump administration’s plan to quickly distribute a coronavirus vaccine once it is ready to be deployed, but Mr Biden reminded viewers of the president’s ‘inject disinfection’ gaffe.
“This is the same man who told you by Easter this would be gone away. By the warm weather, it’d be gone — like a miracle. And by the way, maybe you could inject some bleach into your arm,” Mr Biden said.
Staff writers 11.50am: ‘I paid millions in taxes’
Question 3: The Economy
Chris Wallace tried repeatedly to ask whether Donald Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, as the New York Times reported earlier this week.
Mr. Trump said that he paid “millions of dollars.” Then he said that he attempted to avoid taxes as much as possible, referencing tax breaks that he and others try to claim.
“I don’t want to pay tax,” he said. He added that private investors like himself, “unless they’re stupid, they go through the laws and that’s what it is.”
Mr Wallace has had to reprimand Mr Trump for interrupting again, saying it was unfair on voters.
“It’s hard to get any word in with this clown – excuse me, this person,” Mr. Biden said.
“In 47 months, I’ve done more than you did in 47 years, Joe,” Mr. Trump responded.
Staff writers 11.35am: ’The president has no plan’
Question 2: Coronavirus. The candidates are asked why the American people should trust them to be in charge of the coronavirus response.
Joe Biden accused Mr Trump of being ill-prepared to handle the coronavirus pandemic, latching on to President Trump’s previous comments about the death toll from the virus.
Asked during a recent interview with Axios about the high U.S. death toll from the pandemic, Mr. Trump said, “They are dying. That’s true. And you – it is what it is. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing everything we can. It’s under control as much as you can control it.”
During the debate, Mr. Biden said, “It is what it is because you are who you are —that’s why it is,” adding, “The president has no plan.”
Mr Trump defended his pandemic response and accused the media of not giving him enough credit for what he has done.
Mr. Biden made the case that the president can’t be trusted when it comes to the coronavirus.
“Do you believe for a moment what he’s telling you, in light of all the lies he has told you,” Mr. Biden asked.
“He still hasn’t even acknowledged that he knew this was happening, knew how dangerous it was going to be back in February, and he didn’t even tell you.
“He’s on record as saying it. He panicked or he just looked at the stock market, one of the two, because guess what, a lot of people die and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker.”
Mr Trump responded by attacking Mr Biden for graduating from University of Delaware and said he “graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class.”
“Don’t ever use the word smart with me,” Mr Trump said.
With The Wall St Journal
Anne Barrowclough 11.15am: ‘This is so un-Presidential’
The debate is descending into chaos as the pair spar over health care, with Mr Trump speaking over Mr Biden and even speaking over Mr Wallace who has to ask him: “Please let Mr Biden speak.”
Mr Trump also speaks over Mr Wallace, who has to reprimand him:
“Mr. President, I’m the moderator of this debate, and I would like you to let me ask my question.”
Only 20 minutes into the first presidential debate, and it's chaos https://t.co/e3AVqvvuQD pic.twitter.com/X2DJMsHRIJ
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 30, 2020
“I guess I’m debating you not him, but that’s OK, I’m not surprised,” Mr. Trump quipped a minute later.
After quite a lot more of this, a fed up Joe Biden says: "Will you shut up, man? This is so un-Presidential.”
Anne Barrowclough 11.10am: First question: the Supreme Court
First question is on the Supreme Court. Why are you right on the decision over Amy Coney Barrett?
Mr Trump argues: “We won the election, we have the Senate and the White House. We had the right to choose her and very few people knowingly would say different”.
Mr Biden points out: “The American people have a right to say who the Supreme Court nominee is. They’re not going to get that chance now. The election has already started. We should wait and see what the outcome of this election is”.
Mr. Biden said confirming the president’s nominee would result in ending the Affordable Care Act, which he said would affect millions of Americans. “It’s just not appropriate to do this before the election,” he said.
Mr. Biden said Roe v. Wade, a landmark Supreme Court decision protecting women’s right to get an abortion, was also at stake.
Anne Barrowclough 11.05am: Wallace introduces first debate
Chris Wallace of Fox News is introducing the first debate. Each candidate has two minutes to answer each question, before the topic is opened to discussion. Mr Wallace has been critical of Mr Trump in interviews and has a reputation for fact checking his subjects, but he says he won’t fact check during the debate.
Anne Barrowclough 10.25am: Trump team demands earpiece check
Hours before the debate kicked off, the Trump campaign issued a statement claiming the Biden camp was refusing an inspection for electronic earpieces on him and that it was asking for multiple breaks during the debate. Kate Bedingfield, Mr. Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said the accusation was “completely absurd,” adding: “Of course he is not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for breaks.”
The accusation comes after Mr Trump said Mr Biden should be tested for performance enhancing drugs as he was unlikely to survive the debate without them.
It’s debate night, so I’ve got my earpiece and performance enhancers ready. pic.twitter.com/EhOiWdjh1b
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 29, 2020
Mr Biden decided to deal with the accusation with humour, tweeting a picture of an earpiece and a tub of ice cream with the words: “It’s debate night, so I’ve got my earpiece and performance enhancers ready.”
Cameron Stewart 10.15am: Fire, fury as rivals face off
In Cleveland, Ohio, today, a wall of security surrounds the Cleveland Clinic campus where Donald Trump and Joe Biden will hold their first debate. When I went there, I saw a handful of protesters outside including one man who drove his pick-up truck around the block constantly with Biden flags and the US coronavirus death toll written on the side.
But apart from a wall of media, this debate, the first of three, is very different from previous presidential debates. There will only be about 90 people in attendance, each spaced out. Both Trump and Biden will stand far apart on stage and there will be no handshake. The media has mostly been kept out.
But none of these COVID-restrictions will stop the fire and fury on the main stage as the two men come face-to-face for the first time in this campaign.
With Trump trailing Biden nationally by about 6.1 points, the pressure will be on the president to produce a moment that shakes up the campaign and gives him momentum with just five weeks to go before polling day.
The 90-minute debate begins at 11am (AEST). It will cover six topics in 15 minute sections; the Supreme Court nomination battle, the economy, the coronavirus pandemic, the racial justice protests and violence, the integrity of the election and the records of both candidates.
On the Supreme Court both Trump and Biden are likely to clash on whether a new Supreme Court nominee – judge Amy Barrett – should be confirmed before Election Day, given that Republicans refused to confirm Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016 on the grounds that it was too close to an election.
10 false or misleading claims Joe Biden and Donald Trump make about each other https://t.co/aOxMY7i4Ga pic.twitter.com/gBY6crkhBo
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 29, 2020
On the economy Biden will argue that Trump has made America’s economic recession worse than it needed to be because of his mishandling of the coronavirus. Trump will argue that the US economy was strong before the pandemic hit and therefore he is the best candidate to rebuild the economy.
On the pandemic itself, Biden is likely to attack Trump repeatedly over his handling of the virus given that most Americans believe he did not manage it well. Trump will argue that many more would have died if he had not taken early action like stopping flights from China.
On law and order, Trump will blame Democrats for their governance of major US cities where racial violence has flared in recent months and will accuse Biden of being soft on crime. Biden is likely to say that protests are okay but not violence.
On the integrity of the election, Biden and Trump are likely to argue over the merits of postal voting and the legitimacy of the final result.
Both men are set to attack each other on their style, with Biden saying Trump is divisive and chaotic and Trump saying Biden is too old and does not have the mental agility to be president.
Biden will seek to make the debate all about Trump and his style of leadership while Trump is likely to portray Biden as a puppet of the left-wing of the Democrats who would introduce a socialist-style agenda if elected.
This debate could be anything, but it will not be boring.
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