Trump, Biden dueling town halls gave voters a different view of the candidates
The dueling town halls featuring President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden could hardly have been more different.
The 60-minute NBC forum in Miami with Trump was highly combative as moderator Savannah Gutherie pressed Trump on issues from the coronavirus pandemic to white supremacy to Obamacare. Guthrie frequently interrupted him to follow up, including when she asked why Trump hadn't affirmatively denounced white supremacy.
By contrast, the 90-minute ABC town hall in Philadelphia was much more low key, prompting allies of Trump to complain that moderator George Stephanopoulos was not being aggressive enough in his questions of Biden.
On Twitter, Trump campaign senior adviser Mercedes Schlapp likened the town hall with Biden to "an episode of Mister Rodgers Neighborhood" – a reference to the preschool television host Fred Rogers. Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, tweeted that the NBC town hall was "an interrogation" of Trump while the ABC forum with the former vice president was a "picnic."
Trump's exchanges with Guthrie became so heated that at one point, the president sarcastically calling the moderator "so cute" and complained that "you always do this." Trump's tone was generally more measured when he was questioned by voters.
But Trump appeared to stumble in the latter half, particularly when he promised to provide additional information about what entities he owes money to – a vow that could haunt him in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Biden said in the ABC town hall he had made a "mistake" in spearheading the 1994 crime bill while he was a senator. He said he'd appeal to governors and mayors to enact mask mandates and tried to distance himself from far left on the environment by reasserting a pledge not to ban fracking or embrace Green New Deal.
When questioned on his view of expanding the size of the Supreme Court, Biden continued to sidestep the issue saying he was "not a fan" of court-packing but that he wouldn't rule out support for an expanded court.
Biden: ‘You will not hear me race baiting’
Biden said he’d be a president who would seek to heal the nation’s wounds when it came to race, making a case he’s made often on the campaign trail.
“Every single solitary generation, the dial has moved closer and closer to inclusion. We are a country of slaves who came here 400 years ago, indigenous people, and everyone else is an immigrant,” he said. “We’re a diverse country. Unless we are able to treat everyone equally, were never going to meet our potential.”
In contrast, he said Trump has worked to divide the country.
“And I tell you one thing if I'm elected president, you will not hear me race baiting you’ll not hear me divide you. You’ll hear me trying to unify and unify with bringing people together,” he said.
Stephanopoulos asked him what it would say about America if he lost the election.
“Well I could say I'm a lousy candidate. And I didn't do a good job,” Biden said. “But I hope that it doesn’t say that we are as racially, ethnically and religiously at odds with each other as it appears the president wants us to be.”
— Ledyard King
Biden on next debate: ‘I expect to be there’
Biden said he expected to debate Trump as scheduled on Oct. 22, but that he also expected the candidates to be tested before the event.
Biden was tested before the town hall on ABC News. But anchor George Stephanopoulos said it wasn’t clear that Trump was tested before the first debate Sept. 29 before he tested positive on Oct. 1.
“It’s just decency to be able to determine whether or not you’re clear,” Biden said of testing. “I believe he will do that.”
Biden said he abide by whatever rules are set by the Commission on Presidential Debates. He was willing to debate Trump remotely, but the president declined, which led to the dueling town halls.
“I expect to be there,” Biden said.
— Bart Jansen
Biden vows to reverse Trump’s anti-transgender policies
Joe Biden said as president he would seek to reverse policies imposed by President Donald Trump that banned transgender people from serving in the military as their desired sex and weakened nondiscrimination health protections.
“I will flat-out just change the law,” Biden said. “Eliminate those executive orders. That’s No. 1.”
Biden received the question from a first-time voter who is the mother of two girls, the youngest who is transgender.
“There should be zero discrimination,” Biden said. He added, “And what’s happening is too many transgender women of color are being murdered.”
He said at least 17 women of color transgender women had been murdered this year. The voter corrected the former vice president, saying there has been even more.
“There is no reason to suggest that there should be any right denied your daughter … that your other daughter has a right to. None. Zero.”
— Joey Garrison
Biden says Trump foreign policy 'incoherent'
Biden praised Trump for negotiating Arab recognition of Israel but slammed the president for his friendliness with totalitarian regimes and aloofness with allies.
Mark Hoffman, who voted for Trump in 2016, said “peace is breaking out all over the world” and asked whether the president deserved credit for his foreign policy.
“A little, but not a whole lot,” Biden said. “We find ourselves in a position where we’re more isolated than we’ve ever been.”
Biden commended Trump for negotiating to have Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel. But Biden said Iran has more nuclear material and North Korea more bombs and missiles, while allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization find the U.S. unreliable.
“We find ourselves less secure than we’ve been,” Biden said. “I do commend the president for the deal with Israel recently.”
But Biden said Trump exchanges “love letters” with the leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un and spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin six times without disclosing the content.
“This president embraces all the thugs in the world,” Biden said. “There is no coherent plan for foreign policy.”
— Bart Jansen
A different Biden in tone and temperament – but still struggling on Supreme Court answer
The temperature at Biden’s town hall was as cool as his debate with Trump had been hot.
Biden was relaxed, polite with moderator George Stephanopoulos and solicitous to the voters asking questions.
That included his response to the voter who threw back at Biden his comment in May that if African Americans “have a problem figure out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
“Besides `You ain't black,” the voter asked, “what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you, as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?”
“Am I worthy of your vote? Can I earn your vote?” Biden said has part of his answer.
While answering a question on how he would change the tone in Washington, Biden stood up to address Andrew Lewis, a self-described “disaffected Republican” who asked how Biden would avoid the temptation to seek partisan “revenge” if he defeats Trump.
“In politics grudges don’t work. They make no sense,” Biden said.
He brought up – and rejected – the charge that he has an old-fashioned view of Capitol Hill and is being naïve in saying he can forge bipartisan consensus. Biden promised that, without Trump, there will be four to eight GOP senators who will be willing to move on issues that have bipartisan consensus
“There are ways to bring us together,” he said.
But he muddied the water on whether he favors expanding the Supreme Court, a question he has struggled to answer. After saying on Monday that he’s “not a fan” of growing the court, he said Thursday he wants to see how Republicans handle the confirmation process of Amy Coney Barrett.
If Republicans vote on Barrett before the Nov. 3 election, Biden said he would be “open to considering what happens from that point on.”
“So you’ll come out with a clear position before election day?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“Yes,” Biden said, “depending on how they handle this.”
— Maureen Groppe
Biden: climate change 'jobs', not 'joke'
Biden once again said he would not ban fracking – a politically sensitive topic in the Keystone State – and, once again, said he opposed the Green New Deal, rejecting the accusations of Republicans who say he supports a radical environmental agenda.
While saying he would not ban fracking, “it has to be managed very, very well.” And he said the country would eventually have to wean itself off fossil fuels in part by ending billions in federal subsidies on oil and gas operations.
Instead, he pitched the virtues of renewable energy, such as wind, solar and electric cars and the millions of jobs he believes it would create. And he criticized Trump for his embrace of fossil fuels and repeated claims that human-caused climate change is a “hoax.”
“The president thinks it’s a joke,” Biden said. “And I think it’s jobs.”
As for the Green New Deal (which Biden kept calling the “New Green Deal”), the former vice president said his more gradual but still aggressive plan to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2035 is doable without wrecking agriculture or the economy.
“You’re going to need to be able to transition to get to the place where we invest in new technologies that allow us to do things that get us to a place where we get to net-zero emissions.”
— Ledyard King
Biden predicts he will have ‘four to eight’ GOP allies in Senate as president
Arguing there are “ways to bring us together,” Joe Biden predicted he would be able to get a handful of Republicans to work with him to pass important pieces of legislation.
Andrew Lewis, a self-described “disaffected Republican” and son of former U.S. Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis, a Ronald Reagan appointment, asked Biden how he would avoid the temptation to seek partisan “revenge” if he defeats Trump.
“We’ve got to change the nature of the way we deal with one another,” Biden said. “You don’t question another man or woman’s motive. You can question their judgement but not their motive.”
He added: “Listen to the other guy. Listen … There’s so many things that we do agree on.”
Biden, who has campaigned on being a president for "All Americans," not just Democrats, predicted with the “vindictiveness” of Trump out of the way, bipartisanship will occur again
“There’s going to be, I promise you, between four and eight Republican senators who are willing to move on things when there’s bipartisan consensus.”
— Joey Garrison
Trump: 'Ballgame changed' over shifting GOP senators' view on SCOTUS nomination
A voter in the audience pointed out that four years ago Republican senators said it was inappropriate to push through a nominee in an election year but now are fast-tracking Trump's nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The man asked Trump what he would say to voters who see that as a hypocritical move and how they can take Republicans for their word.
The president defended his party's decision by attempting to quote the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and saying: "The president is put there for four years not for three years."
Ginsberg actually said: "The president is elected for four years not three year,s so the power he has in a year continues into year four."
Trump said that if Democrats were put in this position, they would also rush to push through a nominee to the high court.
Savannah Guthrie pointed out that Trump was asked on a morning show in 2016 about whether his predecessor President Barack Obama should nominate Judge Merrick Garland to the court. Trump said that the Senate should wait until after the election and let the next president decide, even though it was eight months until Election Day.
"You have changed your position on that," Guthrie said.
"The whole ballgame changed when I saw the way they treated Justice Kavanaugh," Trump said of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who he nominated and was confirmed to the top court in 2018.
— Courtney Subramanian
Trump: 'Perhaps nothing will happen' on Roe v. Wade
On the subject of abortion, Trump was asked what protections should remain in place to protect the life of a mother during high-risk pregnancies if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
“I think that perhaps it could get sent down to the states, and the states would decide,” Trump said. “I also think perhaps nothing will happen.”
Asked if he would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned, Trump said he’d like for the issue to be decided by the courts. But he said never discussed abortion with his two appointments to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, or with his current nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
— Michael Collins
Biden vague, but 'not a fan' of expanding Supreme Court
Biden declined again Thursday to give a clear answer about whether he would support expanding the Supreme Court because of the way Republicans are rushing the confirmation of a Trump nominee this month.
“I’m not a fan,” Biden told ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos. “It depends how this turns out, not how he wins, but how it’s handled.”
Trump nominated Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill a seat vacated by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Senate is expected to vote during October to confirm Barrett. Nathan Osburn, a Democrat from Philadelphia, asked Biden about his concerns.
Biden has said Republicans shouldn’t proceed after early voting has begun in the presidential contest. When pressed by the anchor, Biden said he wanted to see how confirmation plays out before proposing changes.
“No matter what I answer I gave you, that’s the headline tomorrow,” Biden said. “It won’t be about what’s going on now, the improper way they’re proceeding.”
Republicans including Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have attacked Biden for trying to hide his intention to expand the higher court and dilute the power of conservatives.
Biden said he would make his position clear before the Nov. 3 end of voting.
“I’m open to considering what happens from that point on,” Biden told Stephanopoulos.
— Bart Jansen
Biden wants more cops doing community policing, not ‘jump squads’
Biden said he still believes what he said 26 years ago that “more cops mean less crime,” a point he made when leading passage of the crime bill in 1994 that stiffened penalties for minor drug offenses and added 100,000 police on America’s streets.
With a caveat.
“Yes, if in fact they're involved in community policing not jump squads,” he said.
Biden’s call for more police runs counter to Trump’s charge that the former vice president agrees with far left calls to defund the police but he said he wants to increase the number of cops who walk a beat and interact with their neighborhoods.
“Community policing doesn't mean more people coming in up-armored Humvees and swarming,” he said.
Biden said as president he would convene a “national study group made up of cops, social workers, as well as made up of the black community and the brown community” to develop significant reforms that both communities and police buy into.
“You can ban chokeholds but beyond that you need to teach people how to de-escalate circumstances,” he said. “So instead of anybody coming at you and the first thing you do is shoot to kill, shoot him in the leg. You and have to do more background checks in terms of whether or not the person coming in (the police force) passes a certain psychological test.”
— Ledyard King
Trump: 'I will let you know who I owe'
In an extended discussion about his taxes, President Donald Trump repeatedly declined to deny that he owed entities $400 million and also said twice he would tell Americans who he owes that money to.
“I will not mind at all saying who it is,” Trump said, denying that he owed money to Russian interests but weaving around a question on whether he owed other foreign entities.
“Not that I know of,” Trump said.
Trump’s decision to not release his taxes dogged him in the 2016 campaign as well because it broke with decades of practice for presidential candidates. The president has said he would release those documents but has not and instead points to less detailed annual financial summaries required by law.
Trump was pressed on the issue during the NBC town hall following a New York Times report last month about his taxes that showed his real estate company suffered chronic losses. Trump said the New York Times got the numbers “all wrong,” but did not offer specific details about what the report got wrong.
Instead, he sought to minimize the significance of the $400 million debt.
“The amount of money -- $400 million, is a peanut,” Trump said, arguing that his company is underleveraged.
— John Fritze
Republican analysts: Trump made his town hall too much about himself – not Biden
Some Republicans are saying that Trump is spending too much time talking about himself – and not enough about Biden, who is leading him by big margins in pre-election polls.
"Trump is behind, which means he has to take down Biden," Republican strategist Doug Heye said. "He's not doing that. At all."
Another Republican strategist, Alex Conant, tweeted during the town hall that Trump has "one mission" at this point in the election: "Disqualify Biden."
"So far he’s refused to denounce QAnon, criticized his own FBI, said election won’t be fair, raised doubts about face masks, not known when he last tested negative," Conant tweeted. "Choose your own headline – it’s not about Biden."
Republican analyst Scott Jennings said Trump "is not attacking Biden and drawing the contrast enough," except for his opposition to tax hikes. He said Trump "needs to frame every question as a choice and he's not doing that."
On the other hand, he added, Trump is "full of piss and vinegar, and he sounds pretty damn good for a dude who had COVID the other day."
— David Jackson
Biden says it was a mistake to support crime bill
Joe Biden said it was a mistake to support the 1994 federal crime bill, legislation that he was critical in helping push through as a U.S. senator.
“Yes, it was,” Biden said. “But here’s where the mistake came. The mistake came in terms of what the states did locally.”
Critics say the crime bill, a signature proposal from President Bill Clinton, led to an influx of Black Americans sentenced to prison for minor drug charges.
Biden said Congress tried to establish the principle of “same time for the same crime” because white people were getting shorter sentences than Black people for the same crimes.
He said the federal government set up a sentencing commission that reduced maximum penalties for offenses.
— Joey Garrison
What happened in the first 30 minutes
The coronavirus dominated the first 30 minutes of the two town halls, with Trump and Biden pressed on their approach to the pandemic.
Trump got asked when he last tested negative for COVID-19 and was questioned about the Rose Garden ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that Dr. Anthony Fauci said was a superspreader event.
Biden was asked about the comment from his running mate, Kamala Harris, who said she wouldn’t take Trump’s word that a vaccine is safe.
On other topics, Biden got questioned about his proposal to repeal some of Trump’s tax breaks, his support for the 1994 crime bill while he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and what he would say to young, Black voters “who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them.”
Trump was pressed on why he did not directly denounce white supremacy at the first presidential debate last month and asked about his habit of tweeting disinformation.
— Maureen Groppe
Trump dodges question on wearing a mask
Asked about whether contracting the virus changed his opinion about wearing a mask to curb the spread of COVID-19, the president said: "No, I was good with it but I've heard many different stories of masks."
Trump has repeatedly flouted his own health experts by refusing to wear a mask in public. After he left Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was hospitalized for COVID-19, the president ripped off his mask upon his return to the White House last week. He continues to insist that wearing a mask is a personal choice even as health officials have said it's a critical safety protocol to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Guthrie pressed Trump on the issue, noting that his task force cites the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which says that if everyone wore a mask it could cut the death rate in half. More than 215,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 so far.
"You have other places that say lots of other things,' Trump said, before conceding: "I'm fine with it. I have no problem."
— Courtney Subramanian
Trump defends coronavirus response
Trump defended his early response to the coronavirus pandemic in response to a question from a woman in the studio audience.
The woman, who described herself as an independent voter, noted that journalist Bob Woodward reported in his new book “Rage” that Trump said he knew in February that the virus was airborne and deadlier than the flu. If true, she asked, why didn’t he do more than order a ban on travel from China?
“I appreciate the question and respect the question,” Trump said, arguing that he acted responsibly by imposing the travel ban even before experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci thought it was necessary.
Trump said he didn’t sound the alarm about the virus because “I don’t want to panic this country.”
“I don’t want to go out and say, ‘Everybody’s going to die!’” he said.
— Michael Collins
Trump varies response for Guthrie vs voters
President Trump is having a confrontational evening with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie.
Trump has argued that “you always do this” when confronted with a tough question on white supremacy. Trump at one point sarcastically called Guthrie “so cute.”
But his tone for voters? Far different.
“I appreciate the question and respect the question,” Trump said at one point to one of the early audience questions.
“Thank you, great question,” he said later.
— John Fritze
Biden would encourage state, cities to mandate masks
Biden said he wouldn’t – and couldn’t – issue a national mandate that everyone must wear a mask or face a fine.
“But you can go to every governor and get them all in a room, all 50 of them, as president, and say ‘ask people to wear the mask.’ Everybody knows (they work).”
“And if they don’t?” Stephanopoulos asked him.
“Then I’d go to every mayor. I’d go to every council,” he said. “And I’d go to every local official and say ‘mandate the mask. Say this is what you have to do when you're out. Make sure you encourage it being done’.”
Biden said Trump’s dismissal of masks is being taken seriously by too many people.
“The words of a president matter. Absolutely no matter whether they're good, bad or indifferent they matter,” he said. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time. Then you know people say well, it mustn’t be that important.”
— Ledyard King
Biden tries to bridge the distance in near-empty hall
The coronavirus hampers the top feature of a town hall, the chance for the candidate to interact with voters.
A camera pan of the audience at the beginning of the ABC event showed many empty seats.
Biden did his best to reach across the distance and connect with those asking questions.
“Don’t jump,” Biden said when a Democrat from Pennsylvania rose from the back of the hall to ask his question. “You look like you’re way up there.”
When Anthony, a Republican from Pennsylvania, asked Biden about his plan to reverse some of Trump’s tax cuts, Biden turned in his chair, his arm draped over the back, to talk to the voter.
As Biden argued that the economic recovery would be stronger under his plan, he said taxpayers in the middle and on the bottom are losing income under Trump.
“Your income is coming down. You're not getting a raise,” Biden said, before interrupting himself. “I don’t know what you do. I hope you get a raise. Hope you're a billionaire.”
— Maureen Groppe
Biden defends tax hikes to grow economy
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden defended his proposal to overturn President Donald Trump’s tax cuts for corporations and wealthier Americans because the funding would generate more economic activity.
Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and overturn the individual tax cuts from 2017 for all Americans earning more than $400,000. A Republican voter named Anthony asked why that wouldn’t hurt the economy, after 30 million workers have already filed for unemployment during the recession.
But Biden said Moody’s, which analyzes economic plans, projected his proposals to spend on manufacturing, infrastructure and clean energy would create 18.6 million new jobs, which would be 7 million more than projected under Trump.
“When you allow people to get back in the game and have a job, everything moves,” Biden said.
— Bart Jansen
Guthrie: 'You're not someone's crazy uncle'
Savannah Guthrie pressed the president on his penchant for tweets that spread disinformation, including one post in which he retweeted a conspiracy theory that Joe Biden orchestrated a cover-up that included the Navy SEAL Team Six faking the death of terrorist Osama Bin Laden.
"That was a retweet, and I do a lot of retweets," Trump said in defending his tweet.
Guthrie shot back that he is the president and "not like someone's crazy uncle."
— Courtney Subramanian
Biden would explore vaccine mandate but questions enforcement
Democratic nominee Joe Biden said he would look at making a vaccine to treat the coronavirus mandatory but acknowledged there’s no way to force people to take it once one is available.
“It depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine, when it comes out and how it’s being distributed,” Biden said. “But I think we should think about making it mandatory.”
Moderator George Stephanopoulos asked how he could enforce that.
“Well, you couldn’t. That’s the problem," Biden said.
Biden compared the situation to not being able to mandate facemasks but that a president can ask governors and mayors to encourage their residents to wear masks.
A voter asked Biden whether, like vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris, he would decline on taking a vaccine pushed by Trump.
Biden said that if scientists agree that a vaccine is ready then he would take it “and I would encourage everybody to take it.” He added what’s most important now is to have a plan to distribute a vaccine.
— Joey Garrison
Trump on white supremacy: ‘You always do this’
Trump delivered a scathing and combative response to a question on whether he would denounce white supremacy.
“You always do this,” Trump told moderator Savannah Guthrie. “I denounce white supremacy. What’s your next question?”
Guthrie pressed the question after Trump did not directly denounce white supremacy at the first presidential debate last month. She also asked Trump about the conspiracy theory group QAnon, some members of which Trump has retweeted.
“I know nothing about it,” Trump said, pivoting to violence among groups on the left. “I know about Antifa and I know about the radical left…I know how they’re burning down cities.”
— John Fritze
The Donald Trump-Joe Biden town halls: What else is on TV?
Donald Trump and Joe Biden aren't just competing against each other for television ratings – they're also facing other regular television programming.
While NBC broadcasts the Trump town hall and ABC carries the Biden town hall, CBS features episodes of "Big Brother" and "Sheldon;" Fox has a baseball playoff game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cable channels are carrying a smattering of movies, sporting events, news programs, and old television shows. Viewers also have streaming services as options to the Trump and Biden political talk.
It will be interesting to see whether the presidential candidates outdraw regular TV programming – and who wins their head-to-head match-up in terms of ratings.
— David Jackson
Stephanopoulos being an active moderator
Although the questions are coming from audience members, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos is not sitting idly by.
In the first question alone, Stephanopoulos followed up twice. When Biden started describing what he’d said about the coronavirus from the beginning, Stephanopoulos pointed out Biden hadn’t called for social distancing from the start. Biden agreed, saying that came later, when the science became clearer about how the virus spreads. At that point, Biden said, he stopped doing big meetings and wore a mask.
Stephanopoulos also pressed Biden on his statement that he would follow the scientists, saying scientists don’t always agree among themselves – and they may also clash with economists.
“You can contain the pandemic by being rational,” Biden said. “You could open businesses and schools if in fact you provide them the guidance that they need as well as the money to be able to do it.”
— Maureen Groppe
Biden: Americans don’t panic. He panicked
The first question to Democratic nominee Joe Biden at his town hall on ABC News asked what he would have done differently from President Donald Trump in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and what would he do if elected.
Biden said Trump denied the seriousness of the virus for months, but that he urged greater precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“Americans don’t panic,” said Biden, who was seated in a white chair at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, in response to a question from Nick Feden, a Democrat. “He panicked.”
Biden said schools and businesses could have reopened if Trump had created a national policy for testing and tracing the infected, and providing protective equipment to schools and funding for businesses.
“It is the presidential responsibility to lead,” Biden said.
— Bart Jansen
Trump: ‘I can’t be in a basement’
Trump dodged a question on whether he should have known better than to hold a Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett without wearing a mask.
Trump said he’s tested often and that he has no problem with wearing a mask. But, “I’m president,” he said. “I have to see people. I can’t be in a basement … I have to be out.”
Thirteen people at that Rose Garden event have tested positive for coronavirus. But Trump questioned if that is where he contacted the virus.
— Michael Collins
Trump says he doesn't remember if he tested day of the debate
When pressed about when he last tested negative for COVID-19, which the White House has refused to say, Trump, said he didn't remember because he's "tested all the time."
"I test quite a bit," he told Gutherie.
Trump refused to say if he tested the day of the debate but said he was tested the day before and was "in great shape."
When asked again whether he tested on the day of the debate, Trump said: "Possibly, I did. Possibly, I didn’t."
The president also said he is not tested for the coronavirus daily.
— Courtney Subramanian
COVID comes up immediately
On one network, President Trump was being questioned about how much he was tested for COVID in the time he eventually tested positive. On another network, Biden was offering his opinion on how Trump responded to the pandemic.
The town halls got underway Thursday night with each candidate making their case on how to respond to the pandemic Trump said he, as president, can't hide from people. Biden said Trump lied about the dangers of the virus.
Trump, Biden town halls underway
President Donald Trump's town hall on NBC is underway.
"This is not how things were supposed to go tonight," TODAY host Savannah Guthrie started off her remarks.
Trump's first question: Any lingering symptoms from his bout with COVID-19?
"Nothing whatsoever," Trump said.
— John Fritze
Biden town hall to last 30 minutes longer than Trump's
President Donald Trump boasted today at a campaign rally in North Carolina that he agreed to tonight’s town hall because it amounted to a “free hour on television."
But that’s 30 minutes less of free television than his opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden will get.
Trump’s town hall on ABC from Miami and Biden’s town hall on NBC from Philadelphia begins at the same time, 8 p.m. EDT. But the Trump town hall is slated to end after 60 minutes, while the Biden town hall goes for 90 minutes.
That should be enough time for Trump to find a television to check in on the Democratic nominee if he chooses.
— Joey Garrison
Town halls a warm-up for next debate
Consider Thursday’s dueling town halls a warm-up -- not just for viewers but also the candidates.
President Donald Trump has taken only one on-the-record question from a non-conservative personality since receiving his COVID-19 diagnosis on Oct. 2 – a question about tariffs. Biden hasn’t held a formal press conference since early September, though he often takes questions on the trail.
The last time either Trump or Biden took a series of probing questions in a highly viewed setting was at their last debate, on Sept. 29. Since then Trump fell ill and recovered from coronavirus, his Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett has worked through her confirmation hearings, an apparent new surge of virus cases has started plaguing several states and talks with Capitol Hill over an economic stimulus have appeared promising and then died too many times to count.
Not only does that add weight to Thursday’s town halls, it also means both candidates will be able to road test messages new and old before the main event: Next week’s final presidential debate in Nashville.
— John Fritze
Trump and Biden offer up their own event tonight
Their face-to-face debate canceled, President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will instead hold dueling town halls Thursday on competing television networks.
NBC announced Wednesday it will host a Trump town hall at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday – the same time at which ABC will be hosting a similar event with Biden in Philadelphia.
The Trump event will be in Miami, which was supposed to be the site of a second debate between the two candidates. That showdown was canceled after Trump refused to participate once it was moved to a virtual format because of his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Election updates: Trump deemed 'safe' to return to public engagements, won't say if he's tested negative
Trump works the refs ahead of town hall
President Donald Trump began ripping into the NBC town hall he will take part in Thursday hours before he arrived to field his first question.
“I’m being set up tonight,” Trump told supporters at a rally in North Carolina.
Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will participate in dueling network town halls Thursday, with the former vice president appearing on ABC. Both kick-off at 8 p.m. EDT. The appearances are happening in lieu of a scheduled debate that was canceled after Trump balked at switching to a virtual format.
After slamming NBC and its parent company as “the worst,” Trump went after the event’s moderator, "TODAY" anchor Savannah Guthrie.
“She’s always lovely, isn’t she?” Trump said.
In airing his grievances, Trump was hitting on a theme he has frequently sounded on the trail: That he gets tougher questions from reporters than Biden. Never raised in his analysis is the notion that he faces additional scrutiny because he is the president.
Trump described the event as a setup to his supporters but then offered a clue about why he would agree to appear. Down in battleground state polling and fundraising, Trump signaled that the NBC event may be more valuable for his campaign than not.
“We get a free hour on television,” he said.
— John Fritze
Trump applauds ‘flawless’ Barrett
Trump praised Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s performance at her confirmation hearing this week, telling supporters in North Carolina on Thursday that she was “flawless.
During an airport campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump lauded Barrett as “a great intellect” and boasted that she was “toying” with Democrats who grilled her during her hearing.
Trump’s rally in North Carolina – a key battleground in the Nov. 3 election – is his first stop on a two-day campaign swing that also will take him to Ocala, Florida, and Macon, Georgia.
It was also Trump’s fourth rally in as many days as he tries to close the gap with Biden. Biden has consistently maintained an edge over Trump in national polls and in some key battleground states, including North Carolina.
Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 3 percentage points in North Carolina in 2016, but polls show a close race in the state this year. Biden holds a 3.3 percentage point lead over Trump in the Tar Heel State in the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
– Michael Collins
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Town halls live: Biden and Trump face questions in dueling TV events
