Trump town hall: President rages against Savannah Guthrie and protesters arrested as Biden holds rival event
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Donald Trump and Joe Biden took part in dueling town hall appearances on what should have been the night of the second presidential debate.
On the same day that the presidential candidates should have clashed, would-be moderator Steve Scully was suspended by his employer C-Span after seeking advice from an anti-Trump activist and lying about it when confronted.
Instead, Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBC News’s Today show, hosted the Trump town hall in Miami while ABC News' chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos, hosted Biden in Philadelphia.
A combative performance from Trump
Our Washington Bureau Chief John T Bennett reports.
The president did little to appeal to undecided and moderate voters during the Thursday night event in Miami, promising a vague replacement to the 2011 Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare and sticking by his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He risked further alienating women and senior voters as he clashed with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, yelling over her and snapping his rebuttals over and over during the 60-minute event.
Meantime, his Democratic challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, used his own town hall in Philadelphia to take a hard step toward those very voting blocs by distancing himself from a 1990s crime bill he authored, but which led to long prison stays for minor drug abuses – a law that hit the Black community especially hard.
Trump 'doesn't know' if he took test on debate day despite guaranteeing he'd done one
‘After three months of belittling the severity and lethality of the outbreak and touting dubious remedies, the ice under his feet got still thinner,’ veteran pollster says of president and Covid-19
Trump refuses to condemn QAnon conspiracy theorists
President denies any knowledge of group FBI calls domestic terror threat.
Donald Trump refuses to condemn QAnon conspiracy theorists
President denies any knowledge of group FBI calls domestic terror threat
Voters will know Biden Supreme Court plans before election
White House hopeful says electorate has right to know ‘packing’ position.
Joe Biden says voters will know Supreme Court plans before election
White House hopeful says electorate has right to know ‘packing’ position
Duelling versions of future presidents from competing shows
Evening may have been good for television ratings but less so for America’s democracy, writes Andrew Buncombe.
America gets duelling versions of future presidents from competing shows
Evening may have been good for television ratings but less so for America’s democracy, writes Andrew Buncombe
Biden town hall: What you missed while watching Trump
If you couldn’t tear yourself away from the NBC coverage, here’s Alex Woodward with what you missed from Joe Biden on ABC.
Biden talks Covid vaccine, Supreme Court and Black America – what you missed while watching Trump
As US reaches 8 million confirmed infections, Democratic presidential candidate digs into pandemic’s impact, as well as his past failures and policy vision
Final thoughts
As we ponder for the first time what impact duelling broadcasts could have on a presidential election, Justin Vallejo and Alex Woodward list their eight key moments from tonight’s town halls.
And yes, Paulette Dale made the cut.
8 key moments from the dramatic Trump-Biden town halls
Paulette Dale is the Ken Bone that 2020 deserves
That’s all for our rolling coverage today.
Stay tuned to The Independent for all the latest 2020 election news and analysis.
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