Trump news: President calls out ‘Barack Hussain Obama’ as supporter at Florida rally appears to make ‘white power’ symbol

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Donald Trump calls India's air "filthy"

Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Friday with a rally targeting senior voters at The Villages retirement community in Florida.

Trump made eyebrow-raising claims like Biden taking away seniors' air conditioning and remembering Barack Hussain Obama, as a member of the crowd appeared to make the so-called "white power" dog whistle in the background.

Biden, meanwhile, returned to his home state of Delaware to outline his coronavirus pandemic plan a day after the US hit a record for the number of new Covid-19 cases, announcing a mask mandate on all interstate transportation and in all federal buildings.

The candidates were coming off their final in-person debate, which turned out to be a remarkably civil affair with lower ratings than their previous encounter.

Trump was also back to work in the White House to announce an historic peace deal between Israel and Sudan, with five more - including Saudi Arabia - expected to be announced after the dam broke with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in recent weeks.

Trump tried to get Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Biden on a phone call in front of reporters. Bibi did not take the bait, with commentators noting that he is probably keeping a keen eye on the current polling numbers.

Veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz said that Trump may have won the battle of the last debate, but Biden has won the war. He says it's "impossible" for the president turning around voter sentiment this late in the election cycle.

Trump is also up against a campaign that has broken all records for its spend on television and digital advertising in a presidential election, with still more than a week to go before polls close.  

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Key Points

• Trump’s video montage of Biden’s fracking ban comments viewed 11 million times
• Trump claims if Biden wins election US seniors will have no AC during the summer or heat in winter
• Biden outlines plans to beat Covid-19
• Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignores Trump's push to attack Biden during historic Sudan peace announcement
• Bidens claims debate win in snap polling
• Four key takeaways from the final face-off between the candidates

[23 October 2020 04:15 · Justin Vallejo]

Who won the presidential debate?

Who  does The Independent’s team covering the final debate think won?

Biden in a sweep. Find out why.

[23 October 2020 04:24 · Justin Vallejo]

Four key takeaways from the last Trump v Biden showdown

1. Biden and Trump offer diametrically opposed visions on coronavirus

2. Shallow on policy, deep on family conspiracy

3. Trump doubles down on buddy-buddy relationship with Kim Jong-un

4. Trump, as president, continues pitching himself as swashbuckling outsider

The Independent’s Griffin Connolly breaks down the four key takeaways from the final debate.

[23 October 2020 04:26 · Justin Vallejo]

[23 October 2020 04:31 · Justin Vallejo]

Trump praises moderator Kristen Welker after debate

At least according to armchair lipreaders, who seem to agree Trump told Welker something approximating “fantastic job, very professional”.

He also paused mid-debate to give the host praise.

[23 October 2020 04:36 · Justin Vallejo]

GOP pollster Frank Luntz is bringing in the debate receipts

Returns from average American voters are coming in after the debate via the veteran analyst, who caused a stir this week by calling the Trump campaign “political malpractics” and the worst campaign he had ever seen.

His focus group’s words to describe Trump:

• “Controlled”

• “Reserved”

• “Poised”

• “Con artist”

• “Surprisingly presidential”

Words to describe Biden:

• “Vague”

• “Unspecific”

• “Elusive”

• “Defensive”

• “Grandfatherly”

[23 October 2020 04:38 · Justin Vallejo]

The final presidential debate didn’t go well for Trump — and it looks like he knows it

As Biden pointed out, the president seemed confused about who he was actually supposed to be debating, writes Holly Baxter for Independent Voices.

[23 October 2020 04:45 · Justin Vallejo]

‘Poor boys’: stand back and stand by for memes

Blink and you may have missed Biden talking about the Poor Boys, which we can only assume was a rebranding of the Proud Boys, which he raised during the first debate.

The internet didn’t miss it.

[23 October 2020 04:51 · Justin Vallejo]

Off the debate stage onto Twitter

Biden and Trump wasted no time in the modern-day spin room to capitalize on the unexpected debate performances.

“Folks, I just stepped off the debate stage, and I’ve never been more fired up and ready to win this election,” says Biden.

[23 October 2020 05:20 · Justin Vallejo]

The most telling part of the debate was when Trump described how he really thinks of Democratic voters

When answering a question about the Heroes Act, the president said he didn’t want to give money to ‘bail out’ blue states and immigrants, writes Noah Berlatsky for Independent Voices.

[23 October 2020 05:45 · Justin Vallejo]

‘Beware the fumes from scary windmills!’ Trump mocked for ludicrous climate change remarks in debate

Donald Trump made a bizarre series of statements during the climate change segment of the final face-to-face presidential debate with Joe Biden on Thursday.  

In the final minutes of the 90-minute long showdown, moderator Kristen Welker turned to climate change and asked each candidate how they planned to tackle the crisis.

“He thinks wind causes cancer. Windmills,” Mr Biden noted.

"I know more about wind than you do," Mr Trump replied, before going on to say windmills are extremely expensive, “kill all the birds” and “the fumes coming up, if you’re a believer in carbon emission … for these massive windmills is more than anything we’re talking about with natural gas which is very clean”.

The Independent’s Louise Boyle reports.