Final presidential debate 2020 recap
Going into the second and final presidential debate of 2020, President Trump needed a big victory as his campaign continues to face unfavorable poll numbers both nationally and in many battleground states. For Biden, the task was more straightforward - hold the line and continue to press Trump on his biggest failure as President in the handling of this pandemic.
After the chaos of the first debate marked by incessant interruptions from the President, the Commission on Presidential Debates instituted a policy of muting each candidate’s microphone during the initial two minute response. While many progressives were initially pressing for this change, it seems to have benefited Trump more than Biden. The bar was set so low for the President coming off of the first debate that any restraint from Trump made him look more subdued, mature, and presidential.
Aside from the optics, the relative civility in this debate compared to the first did leave more time for an actual discussion of each candidate’s record and proposals. Here are some of the key takeaways.
Trump and Biden are living in different worlds when it comes to COVID-19. Even after contracting the virus, Trump continues to paint a picture of this pandemic in stark contrast to what public health experts are projecting. According to Trump, the country is on the up-and-up, while Biden is projecting a “dark winter.”
The candidates debate how we got here and where to go next. Biden continued to hammer Trump on his coronavirus response, highlighting that he understood its severity in January, hid it from the American people, and failed to take actions to slow the spread of the virus. Trump repeatedly highlighted his decision to shut down travel from China and falsely claimed that Biden opposed it.
Trump claimed he was the least racist person in the room. Both candidates hurled accusations at each other during a discussion of race in America, with Biden highlighting Trump’s repeated appeasement of white supremacists and Trump harkening back to Biden’s support of the 1994 crime bill. While Biden expressed sympathy for black families, neither candidate delved deeply into actual policy proposals to address institutional racism.
Biden treads lightly when it comes to climate action. Although Biden has the most progressive climate plan of any general election candidate in history, he continues to tiptoe around the issue in debates in an effort to avoid turning off swing voters in Pennsylvania and Texas.
545 children who were separated from their parents at the border have still not been reunited with their families. Biden hammered Trump on family separation and cruel immigration policies. Trump did not deny that there are children who remain apart from their families, instead claiming that they are being “well taken care of.”
With less than two weeks left until election day, this may have been Trump’s last chance to make a splash and change the trajectory of the race. Since more than 50 million people have already cast their ballots and most voters have already made up their mind about the candidates, it is unlikely that this debate will have much of an impact.