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 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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Hollywood says ‘Trump is a liar’
The second and final presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a less chaotic and frenzied affair than their first clash, but that did not stop Hollywood celebrities from sharing their reaction to the encounter in Nashville.
Avengers star Mark Ruffalo said: “Trump is a liar, Biden is an honourable man who raised his boys on his own after his wife was killed in a car accident,”
Star Trek actor George Takei, also tweeted out his view, and said: “Biden sounds very clear, capable and focused. Trump, sounds like … well, Trump.”
Graeme Massie and Roisin O'Connor report:
From Mark Ruffalo to Kirstie Alley, celebrities react to second and final presidential debate
Famous supporters of Joe Biden and Donald Trump react to clash
Trump Jr rants about FBI, says no Russian election interference
On Thursday night, Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashed on the issue of foreign election interference, following a recent FBI report warning that Russia had targeted dozens of US computer systems in recent days.
Whilst the Democrat said any country that interferes in American elections will pay a price if he's elected, saying, "They are interfering with American sovereignty," Mr Trump declined to condemn Russia’s alleged actions.
Instead, the president insisted that “there's been nobody tougher than me on Russia”, even as voters across the US this week received threatening emails, the FBI believes are connected to Iran.
Speaking after the debate, the president’s eldest son dennounced the FBI’s claims, and said: “Russian disinformation, there’s literally zero evidence that it’s Russian disinformation,”
“It’s clear the FBI have done whatever they could to hurt Donald Trump,” he added, without any basis.
Trump fact check: How many homes does Biden own?
After the second and final US presidential debate on Thursday night, the American people took to google to find the answer to the most burning question of all – how many houses does Joe Biden own.
The spike in Google search interest came after an allegation levelled by Donald Trump that Democratic nominee Joe Biden “has houses all over the place”.
That claim appears to be false.
Stuti Mishra reports:
The question Americans all wanted to know during the final debate
The spike in search comes after Trump’s allegations of Biden owning ‘houses all over the place’
Trump fact check: Coronavirus not ‘going away’
The opening topic of the debate was entirely predictable - but Donald Trump still seemed unable to articulate how he planned to deal with the virus that has killed more than 220,000 Americans, or defend his administration’s response.
"We're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner," Mr Trump claimed, even as cases spike again across the country. "It's going away."
Mr Biden, in turn, said "Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,”
Here’s their exchange:
Social media debates apparent Melania hand push
Although awkward moments between Donald and Melania Trump are not uncommon, Thursday's debate saw an interaction between the couple that was so odd people don't know what to make of it.
Viewers noticed that, when the debate between the president and Joe Biden had ended, and both of their respective partners made their way on to the stage, only for Melania to quickly force her hand away from her husband.
Other users suggested that the president appeared to push her, as they walked off stage.
Greg Evans has the report:
People are arguing over whether Melania pulled her hand away from Trump after the debate
Awkward moments between Donald and Melania Trump are not uncommon, but Thursday's debate saw an interaction between the couple that was so odd people don't know what to make of it. At the end of the final debate between the president and Joe Biden, both of their respective partners made their way on to the stage. While everything seemed rosy between the Bidens, there was a
Four key takeaways from the debate
For those wanting to catch-up on the main points from last night’s spectacle, Griffin Connolly has the four main takeaways, here:
Four key takeaways from Trump and Biden's last presidential debate
Republican and Democratic nominees spar over coronavirus, personal corruption, North Korea, and leadership
Trumps in mask u-turn
It was one of many controversies from the first presidential debate, when the Trump entourage entered the venue without masks amid a pandemic. Within days, the Republican president would announce his diagnosis with coronavirus. alongside family and close aides at the White House.
But on Thursday night, Donald Trump’s family finally bowed to pressure and wore face masks, having faced intense criticism for failing to do so before.
Joe Sommerlad has the report:
Trump family U-turn on face masks after refusing to wear them at first debate
Melania, Ivanka, Tiffany, Lara and Eric all sport coverings after provoking widespread criticism in Ohio
Trump points fingers at Democrats and immigrants
The president, asked why the Republican Senate had refused for months to pass the Covid relief bill passed by the House, known as the Heroes Act, provided multiple answers.
He claimed it includes a "bailout" for so-called irresponsible Democratic states, and that it included funding for immigrants - both groups who the president has done little to assist, let alone win over.
As Noah Berlatsky writes, Mr Trump’s response was telling because “Republicans in general, and Trump in particular, are not motivated by a desire to help people.”
Here’s that analysis:
Opinion: The most telling moment of the final presidential debate
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
Biden will campaign ‘aggressively’ in final stretch, says top aide
Following his convincing performance against Donald Trump on Thursday night, the Democratic presidential nominee is said to be preparing for an intense final 11 days of campaigning.
Speaking to reporters after the debate, Biden campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said the former vice president would be very visible going forward, and that he was “going to campaign aggressively,”
You will see him a lot. He’s going to be campaigning hard these last 11 days,” she was reported to have said, via Fox News.
“He’s going to be all across the country in our battleground states. He’s going to be fighting for every vote. You’re going to see him do in-person events. You’re going to see him do virtual events.”
On Friday, the Democrat is due in Delaware, whilst Mr Trump will continue with his spree of in-person campaign rallies, with an event in Florida - a must win state.
Mr Biden has been repeatedly ridiculed by his Republican opponent for holding smaller in-person events, which his campaign argues have respected coronavirus guidelines.
Biden claims win in snap debate poll
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden did a better job in the final debate on Thursday than his rival Donald Trump, according to a number of snap reaction polls.
CNN’s poll, released shortly after the debate ended on Thursday night, found that 53 per cent of viewers felt Mr Biden had won the debate, compared to 39 per cent who believed Mr Trump had done a better job.
Interestingly, Mr Trump lost all such polls in 2016 when he took part in three debates against his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.
Namita Singh reports:
Biden easily beat Trump in final debate, snap poll shows
53% of participants in CNN survey felt Democratic presidential nominee Biden did a better job than the incumbent
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