1st presidential debate between Trump and Biden spirals into chaotic clash

Highlights from the first presidential debate held in Cleveland.

ByLibby Cathey, Lauren Lantry, and Matt Zarrell
Last Updated: January 6, 2022, 3:01 PM EST

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the debate unfolded. All times Eastern.
Sep 29, 2020, 11:11 PM EDT

FACT CHECK: Biden claims Trump 'hasn't lowered drug costs for anybody'

BIDEN'S STATEMENT: "He (Trump) has executive orders that have no power. He hasn't lowered drug costs for anybody."

FACT CHECK: Trump signed an executive order in September aimed at lowering drug costs by trying to reduce the prices Medicare pays for prescription drugs, but experts have said it is unclear what authority the president has to carry it out.

His orders, if enacted, would lower drug prices by directing drugmakers to offer their medicines to Medicare at the same prices they do in other countries. However, the process is likely to take months, and court challenges should be expected.

Trump has promised several versions of this idea for nearly two years, and Department of Health and Human Services has never proposed rules for how this would work. 

Also, in an analysis released earlier this month, GoodRx found drug prices are surging faster than any other medical service or good, increasing by 33% since 2014.

-ABC News' Elizabeth Thomas

President Donald Trump participates in the first presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University, Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Sep 29, 2020, 11:09 PM EDT

Final candidate speaking times

At the end of the first presidential debate, which lasted 98 minutes, ABC News calculated the candidate's approximate speaking times:

Trump: 37:16
Biden: 35:22

Here's the time spent on each individual topic including moderator speaking time:

Trump and Biden records: 16:23
The Supreme Court: 14:56 
COVID-19: 15:24 
The Economy: 14:42, with 2:38 spent on Trump's taxes
Race and violence in our cities: 17:07 
The integrity of the election: 11:35

PHOTO: People watch the first presidential debate at a Walter's Sports Bar, Sept. 29, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
People watch the first presidential debate at a Walter's Sports Bar, Sept. 29, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Americans across the country tuned in to the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held in Cleveland.
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Sep 29, 2020, 11:08 PM EDT

Will the candidates urge their supporters to stay calm, civil while ballots are counted?

When asked by Wallace if he would urge his supporters to stay calm during the extended period after the election when ballots are still being counted, Trump did not give a definitive answer. 

"I'm urging my supporters to go into the polls," Trump said. 

"I am urging my people -- I hope it's going to be a fair election, if it's a fair election," the president continued.

"You're urging them what," Wallace interrupted.

"I am 100% on board, but if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can't go along with that."

"What does that mean?" Wallace pressed. 

President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate, Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland.
Olivier Douliery/Pool via AP

The president did not clarify. Trump has previously falsely claimed mail-in ballot fraud.

When Biden was asked the same question, he responded with a definitive, "yes."

"Here's the deal," Biden added. "The fact is I will accept it, and he will too. You know why? Once when the winner is declared after all the -- after all the ballots are counted -- all the votes are counted, that'll be the end of it."

Biden finished by saying he will "support the outcome" either way.

Sep 29, 2020, 10:55 PM EDT

FACT CHECK: Trump accuses Hunter Biden of making a fortune overseas

TRUMP'S STATEMENT: "Once you became vice president, (Hunter Biden) made a fortune in Ukraine and China and Moscow and various other places. He made a fortune, and he didn't have a job."

FACT CHECK: While the exact sum of Hunter Biden's foreign business ventures is unclear, ethics experts have broadly taken issue with them -- particularly those in places like Ukraine and China, at a time when his father was fronting U.S. policy there.

Robert Weissman, the president of progressive watchdog group Public Citizen, told ABC News last year, "at absolute minimum there's a huge appearance of conflict … (Joe Biden) should have encouraged his son to not take these positions."

Still, Weissman called Hunter Biden's business activity "orders of magnitude" less troubling than how the Trump family has operated its businesses during the Trump administration.

In an interview with ABC News last year, Hunter Biden said he exercised "poor judgment," but maintained that he made no "ethical lapses."

"I gave a hook to some very unethical people to act in illegal ways to try to do some harm to my father. That's where I made the mistake," he said. "So I take full responsibility for that. Did I do anything improper? No, not in any way. Not in any way whatsoever."

"Did I make a mistake? Well, maybe in the grand scheme of things, yeah," he continued. "But did I make a mistake based upon some ethical lapse? Absolutely not."

In their 87-page report released last week, Senate Republicans concluded that Hunter Biden's overseas endeavors were "awkward" and at times "problematic," but stopped short of identifying any criminal activity on Hunter Biden's part or any wrongdoing on Joe Biden's part. 

--ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman