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 06:05 · Justin Vallejo]

Biden has perfect response to Trump repeatedly claiming he is least racist person in the room

Former vice president Joe Biden had a perfect response to Donald Trump’s claims about his record on race, when the president said he was the least racist person in the room at the final presidential debate.

Mr Trump said: “Nobody has doen more for the Black community than Donald Trump … with the exception of Abraham Lincoln – the possible exception – but the exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done what I’ve done.”

The Democratic candidate mocked his opponent in his response: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire — every single one.”

He also said: "This guy is a dog whistle as big as a fog horn.”

Oliver O'Connell reports.

[23 October 2020 06:51 · Adam Withnall]

AOC snaps back

During a section on climate change in the debate, Trump repeatedly brought up Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying Biden is pursuing a $100trn plan penned by “AOC plus 3” - the president’s moniker for the group of young congresswomen better known as The Squad.

Here’s how Ms Ocasio-Cortez has responded tonight:

[23 October 2020 07:33 · Gino Spocchia]

The best lines on the night

A more structured approach to the second debate allowed both candidates to reel out their favoured lines from the campaign trail.

Delivering their greatest hits - and some new material along the way - both Mr Biden and Mr Trump took viewers through the  policy journey they didn’t receive last time around. 

Oliver O’Connell has the round-up of the best lines of the night, here: 

[23 October 2020 08:09 · Gino Spocchia]

Environmentalists: ‘Trump is in an alternate universe’

Two-thirds of Americans think the US government should do more on climate change, according to analysis.

So on Thursday night, both Mr Biden and Mr Trump provided some idea on how their administrations could deal with the crisis, which the Democrat labelled an “existential crisis”, and the Republican president downplayed.

Surprisingly, the environment had not featured in a presidential debate for 20 years, until this moment. 

Louise Boyle reports:

[23 October 2020 08:21 · Gino Spocchia]

Biden calls Proud Boys ‘Poor Boys’

In a slip of the tongue, Joe Biden accused the president of lifting up racist ideals and groups like the far-right “Poor Boys”, when he meant to name the Proud Boys. 

This moment, though small, was quickly embraced by people on social media, with MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes writing: “The poor boys thing ruled,”

Mr Biden had been referencing the moment during the first presidential debate when President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” which raised concern he was asking the far-right group to take up arms for him.

Danielle Zoellner reports: 

[23 October 2020 08:37 · Gino Spocchia]

Will Donald Trump accept the inevitable?

As Holly Baxter writes,  the last 2020 presidential debate was not a great showing for Mr Trump, who was already trailing his Democratic opponent in the polls. 

While less chaotic than the last time around, Mr Trump did have some real controversial moments, telling NBC’s Kristen Walker, the Black woman moderating, that “I’m the least racist person in this room,”

And as Mr Biden grew in confidence throughout the hour and a half, Mr Trump fell apart.

[23 October 2020 09:03 · Gino Spocchia]

Biden attacks Trump’s ‘dog whistle’ racism

Joe Biden had a perfect response to Donald Trump’s claims about his record on race, when the president said he was the least racist person in the room at the final presidential debate.

“Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire — every single one," mocked Mr Biden. "This guy is a dog whistle as big as a fog horn.”

Oliver O’Connell has the report:

[23 October 2020 09:12 · Gino Spocchia]

Biden tweets about Trump racism

The Democrat posted at least half a dozen tweets on Thursday night, attacking his opponent’s “dog whistle” comments and apparent blindness to the country’s racial injustices. 

Mr Biden, incredulous at Mr Trump’s claim to be the least racist person in the room, had called his rival a "racist" who "pours fuel on every single racist fire."

…a similar message soon appeared on Mr Biden’s Twitter. 

[23 October 2020 09:22 · Gino Spocchia]

Trump retweets support, says he won

On Thursday night, Donald Trump shared almost two dozen Twitter posts claiming he won last nights debate with Joe Biden. 

That’s some 21 retweets, from our counting. 

(Reminder: most other polls showed the Republican president having lost to Mr Biden during their last debate, and were not conducted among Twitter users)

[23 October 2020 09:38 · Gino Spocchia]

Fox News anchor ‘jealous’ about less chaotic debate

Chris Wallace admitted that he was “jealous” of NBC’s Kristen Welker, who was able to moderate a more civilised presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Thursday night. 

"Well, first of all, I'm jealous," the Fox News anchor said. "I would have liked to have been able to moderate that debate."

The veteran television journalist, who moderated the first 2020 presidential debate, described last night’s spectacle as "a real exchange of views rather than hundreds of interruptions.”

Here’s the clip: