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Trump, Biden clash in final debate on COVID-19 response, health care, race

Highlights from the final presidential debate before Election Day.

ByLibby Cathey, Adia Robinson, and Lauren King
Last Updated: October 22, 2020, 6:39 PM EDT

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, faced off in the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle from Belmont University in Nashville on Thursday night, marking the candidates’ last chance to pitch themselves to tens of millions of voters in primetime before Nov. 3.

The stakes were high: Trump needed to make his case as polls show him trailing nationally and in several battleground states key to his reelection hopes. At the same time, Biden had a platform to solidify his lead and avoid any major mistakes with Election Day just 12 days away.

Biden spent the week hunkered down in Wilmington, Delaware, to prepare -- what he's done before other debates -- while Trump had seemingly done less to prepare, telling reporters on Wednesday, "I do prep, I do prep," without elaborating. Earlier this week Trump said that answering journalists' questions is the best kind of preparation.

Thursday's debate was supposed to be the candidates' third matchup but is instead the second of only two presidential debates this election. Trump refused to participate in the second debate when it was moved to a virtual format following his COVID-19 diagnosis. The candidates ultimately participated in dueling town halls instead.

Top headlines:

Here's how the evening unfolded. All times Eastern.
Oct 22, 2020, 6:39 PM EDT

Previewing the debate topics

The debate between Trump and Biden will run from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. with no breaks for commercials.

The program will be divided into six segments of 15 minutes each with topics decided by the moderator, NBC News White House Correspondent Kristen Welker.

Topics for Thursday’s debate are:

  • Fighting COVID-19
  • American families
  • Race in America
  • Climate change
  • National security
  • Leadership

The Trump campaign made an 11th-hour demand that the debate focus on foreign policy, as opposed to the topics chosen by the moderator, though the campaigns agreed months ago to allowing the moderator to choose the topics.

PHOTO: Audience seating is spaced six feet apart to reduce the risk posed by the coronavirus as crews prepare for the second presidential debate at the Curb Event Center on the campus of Belmont University, Oct. 21, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn.
Audience seating is spaced six feet apart to reduce the risk posed by the coronavirus as crews prepare for the second presidential debate at the Curb Event Center on the campus of Belmont University, Oct. 21, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are scheduled to square off for the final debate, 12 days before election day.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Oct 22, 2020, 6:23 PM EDT

Plexiglass removed from debate stage

The debate commission has removed the two plexiglass barriers that were positioned between the candidates' lecterns.

Peter Eyre, senior advisor with the Commission on Presidential Debates, said that circumstances on the ground have changed and it's unlikely that the plexiglass partitions will be put back up, according to a pool report.

The news follows both candidates reporting testing negative for COVID-19. It's unclear if those who accompanied them to travel to Nashville were also tested.

-ABC News' Drew Millhorn

Oct 22, 2020, 6:13 PM EDT

Trump to early vote in Florida on Saturday

The White House announced Trump will vote early in Florida on Saturday. 

"President Trump plans to early vote on Saturday in West Palm Beach, Florida," spokesman Judd Deere said.

It had been expected that the president would vote absentee, because even as he has railed against mail-in voting, he has also justified his own practice of voting absentee in the past.

-ABC News' Jordyn Phelps

Oct 22, 2020, 5:55 PM EDT

Trump vs. Biden: On the issues

ABC News has broken down where each candidate stands on some of the key issues:

Election security and integrity

Racial justice

Health

Economy

Climate change and the environment

Foreign policy