Trump, Biden clash over pandemic in final presidential debate

NASHVILLE: United States President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered sharply contrasting views on the coronavirus pandemic at the final presidential debate, just twelve days before the November 3 election.

Trump adopted a more restrained tone than the chaotic first presidential debate in September when he repeatedly interrupted Biden. The clash still featured plenty of personal attacks between two men as Trump levelled unfounded corruption accusations at Biden and his family.

The televised encounter in Nashville, Tennessee, represented one of Trump’s last remaining opportunities to reshape a campaign dominated by the pandemic. Trump has trailed Biden in opinion polls for months, though the contest is tighter in some battleground states likely to decide the election.

“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” Biden said. Trump defended his approach to the outbreak and said the country could not afford to close businesses again, even amid fresh surges.

“We’re learning to live with it,” said Trump, who has played down the virus for months. “We have no choice.” “Learning to live with it?” Biden retorted. “Come on. We’re dying with it.”

Trump portrayed Biden as a career politician whose nearly 50-year record was insubstantial. Biden returned to Trump’s nearly four years as president, pointing to the economic damage the virus has done to people’s lives. After an opening segment on the pandemic, the clash pivoted to rapid-fire exchanges over whether either candidate had improper foreign entanglements.

Trump repeated his accusations that Biden and his son Hunter engaged in unethical practices in China and Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations and Biden called them false and discredited.

Biden defended his family and said unequivocally that he had never made “a single penny” from a foreign country, before pivoting to accuse Trump of trying to distract Americans. “There’s a reason why he’s bringing up all this malarkey,” Biden said, looking directly into the camera. “It’s not about his family and my family. It’s about your family, and your family’s hurting badly.”

He accused Trump of avoiding paying taxes, citing an investigation that reported Trump’s tax returns show he paid almost no federal income tax over more than 20 years. The candidates clashed over healthcare, China policy and race relations, with Biden saying Trump was “one of the most racist presidents” in history.

Biden criticised Trump’s effort to persuade the US Supreme Court to invalidate the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the sweeping healthcare reform passed when Biden was vice president in President Barack Obama’s administration.

Trump said he wanted to replace the ACA that would offer the same protections, even though the administration has yet to propose a comprehensive healthcare plan despite a promise to do so for years.

During a segment on climate change, Biden said his environmental plan would “transition from the oil industry” in favor of renewable energy sources, prompting Trump to go on the attack.

Relatively few voters have yet to make up their minds, and Trump’s window to influence the outcome may be closing. The contentious first debate, when the two men traded insults, was watched by at least 73 million viewers. Trump passed up another planned debate last week after it was switched to a virtual format following his COVID-19 diagnosis.