President Donald Trump and Joe Biden
Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, and incumbent President Donald Trump, have exchanged blows over corruption, race, Coronavirus and climate change.
The two candidates for the November 3, 2020 election faced off in the final US Presidential Debate for this year around 1:00am on Friday, October 23, 2020.
During the debate monitored by DGN Online from start till finish, Mr Trump accused Mr Biden and his family of being corrupt.
The US President alleged that “Joe got $3.5 million dollars from Russia that came through [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin because he was friendly with the Mayor of Moscow. I never got any money from Russia.”
He went on to cite a portion of an investigation from Senate Republicans that portrayed Hunter Biden’s work at Burisma as “problematic.”
Mr Biden dismissed the allegations, noting that he has never “taken a penny from any foreign country whatsoever.”
Many Bank Accounts
Mr. Biden then fired at Mr Trump, saying the latter has a secret bank account in China.
Mr Biden, a former Vice President during the Obama’s administration,made reference to a recent report by the New York Times that the US President had a bank account in China and paid $188,561 in taxes from 2013-15 to China compared with $750 he paid in US federal taxes.
But Mr. Trump says in response: “I have many bank accounts and they are listed and they are all over the place. I mean, I was a businessman doing business.”
Racism
Mr Trump denied allegations that he was a racist President or person.
In a section on race, Mr Trump noted that with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done more for the Black Community in America than he has done.
“Nobody has done more for the Black Community than Donald Trump,” according to Mr Trump.
“With the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln, nobody has done more than I have done,” he stressed.
In a back-and-forth on issues of race, Trump noted that “I am the least racist person in this room.”
The US President then made a trip down the memory-lane, digging out the 1994 Crime Bill that Mr Biden is believed to have helped draft.
The Black Lives Matter Movement has blamed the Bill for the mass incarceration of African Americans.
Mr Trump says around the period the Bill was being drafted, Mr Biden called Blacks super-predators.
“…and he called them super-predators, and he said that, he said it, super-predators and they can never live that down,” says Trump.
Debate Scene
The 90-minute debate was moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker. Unlike the first debate, the final debate was substantive, controlled and devoid of interruptions and insults.
President Trump appeared relatively calm and had a hold of his temper while Mr Biden took control of his desire to rain insults as he did in the first debate.
But that notwithstanding, there were some personal attacks between the candidates during the debate which took place around 1:00am on Friday, October 23, 2020 at Curb Event Centre in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Mr Biden blamed Trump for the 220,000-plus US coronavirus deaths, calling for the President to be voted out of power.
“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain President of the United States of America,” Mr Biden said.
On the other hand, Mr Trump stated that the coronavirus was “going away.”
He gave the assurance that a coronavirus vaccine would be ready by the end of 2020. He said it was China’s fault that coronavirus spread to the US and the rest of the world.
Mr Trump said the situation was getting under control, saying “we’re learning to live with it (coronavirus).”
However, Mr Biden countered Trump on that, saying “Come on. We are learning to die with it.”
Climate Change
On climate change, Trump says he was in for crystal clean air and water.
On his part, Mr. Biden says he will transition from the oil and gas industry to clean energy.
By Melvin Tarlue