Trump never responded.
8. Racial Tension: The moderator asked both candidates to explain what they would do to deal with racial issues. Biden responded, "It's about equity and equality. It's about decency. It's about the constitution. And we have never walked away from trying to require equity for everyone, equality for the whole of America. But we've never accomplished it, but we've never walked away from it like [Trump] has done." Trump did not respond directly. Biden commented, "He's the racist."
The moderator asked Trump: "[A]re you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia group and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha and as we've seen in Portland." Trump responded, "What do you want to call them? Give me a name, give me a name, go ahead who do you want me to condemn." Biden suggested, "Proud boys." Trump said, "Proud Boys, stand back and stand by."
Trump's response was widely condemned; he later tried to back away from it.
9. Climate Change: The moderator asked Trump, "What do you believe about the science of climate change and what will you do in the next four years to confront it?" Trump refused to answer directly.
10. Election Integrity: the moderator asked, "How confident should we be that this will be a fair election, and what are you prepared to do over the next five plus weeks? Because it will not only be to election day, but also counting some mail-in ballots after election day. What are you prepared to do to reassure the American people that the next president will be the legitimate winner of this election." Donald Trump responded, "It's a rigged election." He went on to rail against mail-in ballots.
The moderator asked, "Will you urge your supporters to stay calm during this extended period, not to engage in any civil unrest?" Trump responded, "I'm urging my supporters to go in to the polls and watch very carefully, because that's what has to happen." Biden responded, "The fact is, I will accept it, and he will too. You know why? Because once the winner is declared after all the ballots are counted, all the votes are counted, that'll be the end of it. That'll be the end of it. And if it's me, in fact, fine. If it's not me, I'll support the outcome."
Debate bottom line: Trump had an opportunity to gain support, but did not take advantage of this. At the end, he seemed to be saying that he expected to lose and would vigorously contest the fairness of the election.
What happens next: Given Trump's reckless personal behavior, it's not surprising that he contracted COVID-19. Now he will go into quarantine. At the least, this suggests that he will cancel campaign events and probably his participation in the October 15th second debate. Hopefully, Trump's illness will encourage his supporters to take the pandemic seriously: to wear masks and practice social distancing.
A tumultuous presidential contest just got weirder. Hold on!
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