With less than three weeks to Election Day, Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden faced voters directly in an ABC News Town Hall from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
The live special edition of "20/20" -- titled "The Vice President and the People" -- was moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The primetime event followed a fiery back-and-forth on the fate of the second presidential debate, which was originally scheduled for Thursday in Miami but ultimately canceled last Friday.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates changed its format to be virtual following President Donald Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis, to which Trump took issue, saying he wouldn't "waste" time in a virtual debate. With Trump's rejection of the event, Biden then agreed to participate in the town hall with ABC News.
Voters had the opportunity to ask the former vice president the questions most important to them
The event was held in accordance with state and local government health and safety regulations, as well as guidelines set forward by health officials.
Trump, at the same time Thursday, participated in a town hall from Miami with NBC News. The president participated in an ABC News town hall in September.
Here's how the news is developed. All times Eastern.
Oct 15, 2020, 6:24 PM EDT
Biden tests negative for COVID-19
The Biden campaign announced earlier in the day that the former vice president tested negative for COVID-19 Wednesday night -- the eighth publicly announced Biden coronavirus test result.
"As part of our regular routine of testing, Vice President Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 last night and COVID-19 was not detected," the campaign said in a statement.
It came on the heels of another announcement that a top aide to Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Biden's running mate, tested positive for COVID-19, prompting Harris to suspend travel "out of an abundance of caution" through Monday.
Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, both tested negative for COVID-19 Thursday, the campaign said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle and Averi Harper
Oct 15, 2020, 5:54 PM EDT
Biden, DNC announce $432 million cash on hand
Heading into the town hall, Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced they raised a whopping $383 million in the month of September -- outpacing their August total of $364.5 million.
"That's more money than I've ever raised in my whole life!" Biden said in a video posted to Twitter late Wednesday, noting that the average donation was "something like $44 dollars -- it was under $50."
Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon added to the announcement, announcing that the campaign has $432 million cash on hand.
"Our success has been driven by our grassroots supporters. $203 million came from online donors. We had 1.1 million new donors last month -- bringing the total to 5.5 million donors throughout this campaign. And as a result, we have $432 million in the bank," O'Malley Dillon tweeted.
Supporters for Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden show their support before the vice presidential debate outside Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah, Oct. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City.
George Frey/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have not yet released September fundraising numbers. In August, they reported raising $210 million along with joint fundraising committees.
Oct 15, 2020, 5:23 PM EDT
What happened to the second presidential debate?
The second presidential debate, taking a town-hall format, was originally scheduled for Thursday. Now Biden and Trump are participating in separate town halls.
Six days later, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced the second debate in Miami would be virtual. It would maintain its town hall format, but unlike the first debate, the candidates would participate remotely from separate locations.
Democratic Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden (R) speaks during the first presidential debate against US President Donald Trump at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Sept. 29, 2020.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Biden agreed. Trump did not, telling Fox News moments after the announcement, “I’m not going to waste my time” on a virtual format.
With the president out, the Biden campaign signed on to an ABC News Town Hall.
The Trump campaign, hours after saying Trump would host a rally on Oct. 15 instead of debating, then said it would participate in the second debate if it was pushed back a week and the final scheduled debate also was pushed back a week.
But the Biden campaign quickly shot down the idea of rearranging the dates, saying they were agreed to back in June.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media before boardin his campaign plane at New Castle Airport, in New Castle, Del., Oct. 13, 2020, en route to Florida.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
So Trump made plans to appear in a NBC town hall in Miami, taking place at the same time as Biden's ABC News town hall.
Amid the back-and-forth between the campaigns, the Commission on Presidential Debates officially canceled the second debate in a statement last Thursday saying, “It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15.”
A half-hour post-event show featuring the ABC News political team for more context and analysis will follow the town hall portion and is also available on streaming.
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives at New Castle Airport in New Castle, Del., Oct. 7, 2020, after speaking at Gettysburg, Pa.
