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The first debate between President Trump and Joe Biden included a chaotic exchange of shouting and cross talk, while the president continuously made claims that kept political fact checkers busy during the debate on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
"This is not about my family or his family, this is about your family — the American people." Biden said after Trump made claims about Biden's son's recent drug addiction.
Moderator Chris Wallace struggled to keep control as he asked the candidates questions about the coronavirus pandemic, race relations, and the supreme court. He repeatedly asked President Trump to stop speaking over Joe Biden during the debate that turned chaotic once the questions rolled out.
Here are some key moments from the debate on the coronavirus and racial justice.
When it came to the coronavirus, one of the most pressing issues facing the country, Trump made the claim that the death toll in the US, which is currently more than 200,000, would be 10 times higher if Biden had been president. He continued with blaming China for the virus.
"It's China's fault, it should have never happened," Mr. Trump said, adding that he had received praise from governors as doing a "phenomenal job."
Biden stated that if he were president, he would ensure that hospitals receive proper tools to treat patients. Biden added he would make sure health care workers are protected.
"The president had no plan. He hasn't laid out anything. He knew all the way back in
February how serious this crisis was."
President Trump talked over Biden, "It's just fake news. They give you good press, and give me bad press,"
"Will you shut up, man," Biden said to President Trump annoyed about repeatedly being cut off by the President while he was trying to speak about his look at the pandemic.
Meanwhile, when the question of crime came up - both candidates stated that in their term of office crime went down, and both candidates disagreed with defunding the police.
“The fact of the matter is violent crime went down 17 percent, 15 percent, in our administration,” Biden said. Trump cut Biden off by saying: "He wants to defund the police!"
Overall, the number of violent crimes fell roughly 10 percent from 2008, the year before Biden took office as vice president, to 2016, his last full year in the office, according to data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting programme.
However, the number of violent crimes was spiking again during Obama and Biden’s final two years in office, increasing by 8 percent from 2014 to 2016.
"I'm totally opposed to defunding the police officers," Biden said. "They need more assistance."
Biden continued by stating that he has not talked to the Mayor of Portland, despite all of the protests that have been taking place there for months.
Trump on the other hand, denounced the militia group: antifa. But, declined to denounce white supremacist supporters.
“Who would you like me to condemn? The Proud Boys? Stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s gotta do something about antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem,” Trump said.
Each candidate had different narratives of what will and did happen in the past and future. It will be interesting to see what President Trump and Former VP Joe Biden have to say at the next debate, and whether the format will change to limit interruptions.
