President Trump and former Vice President Joseph R Biden Jr gathered for a second and final debate, moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News Watch the video here and review our analysis as we go. As you go.You can also view our recap, stay up to date with highlights, and read our fact checks
Kristen Welker was much better at rounding up candidates and emphasizing answers than Chris Wallace
To be honest with Chris, Trump was less aggressive and didn’t try to roll over her like he did the first time around
Trump had a pretty good night’s sleep, thanks to the forced silence of the mute button and perhaps his own self-discipline There was a lot of politics, although Trump offered a lot of distortions and distractions, especially on the threat of the coronavirus Biden effectively presented the race as a chance to elect a new president who will unite a deeply divided country that hurts many Americans
Trip, I have to wonder about these distractions when Trump was speaking about the pandemic Given that the virus is on the rise in much of the country, his comments about turning a corner seemed genuinely muffled
Another element that struck me is how Trump is of a note: just like he did in 2016, Trump presented himself as an outsider and his rival as a corrupt politician But now M Trump is president And the Biden campaign frames this race as a referendum on his leadership
Trump was much more measured and in control of himself after alienating many viewers the last time around, though he had a few moments where he was uniquely Trumpian His attack on Biden as a career pol will resonate with many of his supporters who saw him as a welcome disruptor of the system, and it is difficult for Biden after nearly five decades in politics to present himself as an agent of change But it’s not clear that was enough to change my mind
Peter, that’s true, although I think it’s probably less about changing your mind at this point and more about motivating supporters to vote
Thinking about the different values that each candidate represents, I remember this election is about something beyond the rules Voting has become a reflection of individual morality Before polling day, it is worth thinking about spiritual and philosophical questions that transcend politics
Some news here late in the evening: We counted over 74,000 new cases of coronavirus in the United States today This is the second highest daily total in the entire pandemic
The race has been largely about the pandemic in its final part But Trump’s performance will resonate with some voters with his accusations that Biden is a typical politician
Mike, I’ve heard some pretty horrific estimates of how the pandemic will go in the future.I’ll have more on that tomorrow with a new study, but it doesn’t look good where we’ll be in six months
It was on my mind the whole time I listened to them talk about how they were going to handle the pandemic
It’s quite remarkable to think that we are entering a new wave of cases as we head into the final days of the campaign
Astead makes a great point – however it turned out that night, it wasn’t the last we heard from the two candidates before Election Day
Well, that’s the end of the 2020 debates! Please join us For more coverage of the debate, check out our live briefing:
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