A more restrained final debate, but no shortage of salvos, barbs

Washington, October 23

US President Donald Trump and his challenger Joe Biden clashed over Covid-19, immigration, race relations and climate change during their final debate, just ahead of the November 3 presidential election, presenting Americans with sharply divergent views of where they would lead them over the next four years.

The two leaders traded barbs during the debate that lasted just over 90 minutes, attacking each other’s positions on controlling the raging pandemic and curbing the country’s world-leading death toll of over 2,23,000.

The prime-time debate in Nashville, Tennessee, was a less acrimonious and more substantive affair than their previous showdown on September 29, which devolved into insults and name-calling. This prompted the debate organisers to put in place muted microphones during the candidates’ opening statements on each topic to minimise disruption.

The debate, moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker, saw plenty of personal attacks between 74-year-old Trump, a Republican, and his 77-year-old Democratic rival, Biden, whose mutual dislike was quite evident.

Covid dominated the opening minutes of the Trump-Biden face-off with President Trump terming the contagion a “worldwide problem”.

“This has been a worldwide problem, but I’ve been congratulated by many countries on what we’ve been able to do,” he said. Trump once again blamed China for the virus. He said: “We have a vaccine that’s coming, it’s ready,” Trump said. Biden challenged Trump, alleging that his policies have resulted in a large number of deaths in the country.

“We are about to go into a dark winter. He has no clear plan, and there’s no prospect that there’s going to be a vaccine available for a majority of the people before mid-2021,” he said. — PTI

Clash over pandemic handling, racism

• US President Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashed on race relations and handling of the raging pandemic.
• Biden termed Trump “one of the most racist presidents in modern history”, asserting that his rival at his last debate did not condemn white supremacy.
• The President portrayed himself as a champion of black people and reiterated that no president has done more for black Americans than anyone other than Abraham Lincoln.

What’s next?

• President Trump will hold two rallies in the battleground state of Florida, where opinion polls show a tight race. Biden will deliver a speech in his home state of Delaware on his plans for leading a recovery from the pandemic.
• More than 47 million Americans already have cast ballots in person or through the mail — roughly eight times the number of early votes cast in 2016 . Reuters

We value Indian-Americans, says Biden

• New Delhi: Joe Biden, Democratic Party’s nominee for the US presidential elections, did not touch on India during the two debates with contender and President Donald Trump.
• But in an op-ed written for the influential IndiaWest media group, Biden wrote on why he is confident of the Indian-American vote going towards him.
• “As we value the Indian-American diaspora, we’ll continue to value the US-India relationship. For Donald Trump, it’s photo-ops. For me, it’s getting things done,” he said. TNS