President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden faced off from a social distance in the first presidential debate of 2020 in Cleveland, just five weeks out from Election Day.
The first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic came on the heels of bombshell reporting from The New York Times on two decades of Trump's tax records, ahead of a contentious Supreme Court confirmation process in the Senate and as the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Biden maintains a 10-point edge among both registered and likely voters.
The coronavirus pandemic's impact on the race was also on display as the two candidates didn't partake in a handshake, customary at the top of such events. The size of the audience was also limited and everyone attending the debate had to undergo COVID-19 testing and follow other public health protocols.
The debate’s moderator, Chris Wallace of "Fox News Sunday," selected six topics for Tuesday with each segment expected to get approximately 15 minutes: Trump's and Biden's records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities, and the integrity of the election -- the final topic coming as Trump over the weekend wouldn’t commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
Here's how the debate unfolded. All times Eastern.
Sep 29, 2020, 9:37 AM EDT
Suburban women in key battlegrounds are 'critical' debate audience
When President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden share a debate stage for the first time Tuesday night, a key audience for both candidates will be suburban women voters in a handful of critical election battlegrounds.
Women voters in the suburbs around Minneapolis, Minn., will be critical to deciding the outcome of the presidential race in the state, analysts say.
ABC News
ABC News Live recently met with five women voters from diverse backgrounds and political views in the suburbs around Minneapolis to discuss the 2020 campaign and issues important to mothers, young female professionals and retirees across the state.
They described anxiety over a year of cascading crises for their families, from the pandemic and recession, to protests for racial justice, a spike in violent crime and looting and a sudden vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.
WATCH: Meet suburban women voters in the Twin Cities tonight at 7pm ET and 9pm ET on ABC News Live Prime.
-ABC News' Devin Dwyer
Sep 29, 2020, 9:07 AM EDT
Trump vs. Biden: On the issues
Leading up to Tuesday's debate, ABC News has broken down where each candidate stands on some of the key issues.
Throughout the day, we will be profiling each individual issue here.
Here is ABC News' coverage on some of the key issues:
Trump targets Biden's mental health in debate lead-up, despite aides' efforts to raise expectations
President Donald Trump is set to enter the first presidential debate on Tuesday down in the polls, but coming off the high of nominating his third Supreme Court justice. Some top advisers expect a dominant performance by the president, despite the opposing narratives of attacks on Joe Biden's mental state and the Trump campaign's work to raise expectations for the Democrat ahead of the showdown.
With days to go the debate, Trump has carried out conflicting and confounding strategies both repeatedly targeting Biden's mental acuity, claiming at a recent rally he doesn't know he's alive, while also making passing attempts to boost the former vice president as a seasoned debater who could outshine him.
"This guy doesn't have a clue. He doesn't know where the hell he is," Trump told his supporters in Pittsburgh a week to the day before the first debate. "This guy doesn't know he's alive."
At a campaign rally Saturday night in Pennsylvania, the president both attacked Biden as "dumb" before immediately lauding him as an experienced debater. "He’s a dumb guy. Always known as a dumb guy. But we look forward to seeing him in the debate. He's got a lot more experience. He's got 47 years. I’ve got 3 1/2 years. So we'll see. But he's got 47 years of experience."
This combination of pictures shows Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Sept. 23, 2020, at the Black Economic Summit at Camp North End in Charlotte, N.C., and President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sept. 24, 2020.
Photos by Jim Watson and Brendan Smialowski / AFP
Biden has brushed off Trump's onslaught of attacks on his mental fitness. "Watch me, Mr. President. Watch me. Look at us both, what we say, what we do, what we control, what we know, what kind of shape we're in," the former vice president said when asked by ABC News about the president's attacks on his cognitive ability.
While some advisers tell ABC News they're nervous as the president enters his first debate since his encounters with Hillary Clinton four years ago -- with Biden having participated in nearly a dozen debates leading up to clinching the Democratic nomination -- others are anticipating a knockout performance by the president and expect the debate to help highlight the former vice president's gaffes, sources familiar said.
-ABC News' Will Steakin, Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
Sep 29, 2020, 8:07 AM EDT
Topics for Tuesday's debate
The debate between President Trump and Joe 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, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates, with topics decided by the moderator.
Topics for Tuesday night's debate are:
Trump and Biden records
The Supreme Court
COVID-19
Economy
Race and violence
Integrity of election
Crews prepare the hall for the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden in Cleveland, Sept. 28, 2020.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
ABC News' Kendall Karson contributed to this report
