U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the third and final presidential debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., October 22, 2020. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/Pool
NASHVILLE 鈥� U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered sharply contrasting views on the still-raging coronavirus pandemic at Thursday鈥檚 final presidential debate, seeking to persuade the few remaining undecided voters 12 days before the Nov. 3 election.
Trump, a Republican, adopted a more restrained tone than he did during the chaotic first presidential debate in September, when he repeatedly interrupted Biden. But Thursday鈥檚 clash still featured plenty of personal attacks between two men who evince little respect for each other, and Trump kept fact-checkers busy by leveling unfounded corruption accusations at Biden and his family.
The televised encounter in Nashville, Tennessee, represented one of Trump鈥檚 last remaining opportunities to reshape a campaign dominated by a pandemic that has killed more than 221,000 people in the United States. Trump has trailed Biden in opinion polls for months, though the contest is tighter in some battleground states likely to decide the election.
鈥淎nyone who鈥檚 responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,鈥� Biden said.
Trump defended his approach to the outbreak and said the country could not afford to close businesses again, even amid fresh surges.
鈥淲e鈥檙e learning to live with it,鈥� said Trump, who has played down the virus for months. 鈥淲e have no choice.鈥�
鈥淟earning to live with it?鈥� Biden retorted. 鈥淐ome on. We鈥檙e dying with it.鈥�
Trump asserted that a vaccine was potentially 鈥渨eeks鈥� away. Most experts, including administration officials, have said a vaccine is unlikely to be widely available until mid-2021.
Several U.S. states, including the election swing state of Ohio, reported record single-day increases in COVID-19 infections on Thursday, evidence the pandemic is accelerating anew.
Trump, whose instinct remains to run as an outsider, portrayed Biden as a career politician whose nearly 50-year record was insubstantial. But Biden returned again and again to Trump鈥檚 nearly four years as president, pointing to the economic damage the virus has done to people鈥檚 lives.
After an opening segment on the pandemic, Thursday鈥檚 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.
Trump鈥檚 effort to uncover dirt on Hunter Biden鈥檚 Ukraine business ties led to the president鈥檚 impeachment. The president and his children have been accused of conflicts of interest of their own since he entered the White House in 2017, most involving the family鈥檚 international real estate and hotel businesses.
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Biden defended his family and said unequivocally that he had never made 鈥渁 single penny鈥� from a foreign country, before pivoting to accuse Trump of trying to distract Americans.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why he鈥檚 bringing up all this malarkey,鈥� Biden said, looking directly into the camera. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about his family and my family. It鈥檚 about your family, and your family鈥檚 hurting badly.鈥�
He accused Trump of avoiding paying taxes, citing a New York Times investigation that reported Trump鈥檚 tax returns show he paid almost no federal income tax over more than 20 years.
鈥淩elease your tax returns or stop talking about corruption,鈥� Biden said.
Trump, who has broken with decades of precedent in refusing to release his tax returns, said he had paid 鈥渕illions.鈥� He again said he would release his returns only once a longstanding audit was completed.
The candidates clashed over healthcare, China policy and 鈥� after months of anti-racism protests 鈥� race relations, with Biden saying Trump was 鈥渙ne of the most racist presidents鈥� in history.
鈥淗e pours fuel on every single racist fire,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淭his guy has a dog whistle as big as a foghorn.鈥�
Trump responded by criticizing Biden鈥檚 authorship of a 1994 crime bill that increased incarceration of minority defendants while asserting that he had done more for Black Americans than any president with the 鈥減ossible鈥� exception of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s.
At odds over healthcare
Biden criticized Trump鈥檚 effort to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the sweeping healthcare reform passed when Biden was vice president in President Barack Obama鈥檚 administration.
鈥淧eople deserve to have affordable healthcare, period,鈥� Biden said, noting that the law prevented insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
Trump said he wanted to replace the ACA with something 鈥渕uch better鈥� 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 鈥渢ransition from the oil industry鈥� in favor of renewable energy sources, prompting Trump to go on the attack.
鈥淗e is going to destroy the oil industry,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淲ill you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania?鈥�
Relatively few voters have yet to make up their minds, and Trump鈥檚 window to influence the outcome may be closing. A record 47 million Americans already have cast ballots, eclipsing total early voting from the 2016 election.
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.