Biden's ABC town hall: Former VP lays out vision in stark contrast to Trump's

Trump seized on the announcement from C-SPAN earlier that it has indefinitely suspended its political editor Steve Scully after Scully admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked when confronted about a tweet to former Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

Scully was the surprise pick to moderate the town-hall debate that was supposed to happen Thursday evening, until Trump rejected a virtual format and Biden signed on to the ABC News Town Hall instead. 

Moments after the Associated Press published an apology from Scully, Trump tweeted he was "right again!" and claimed Scully's lie showed the debate was "rigged" and that his campaign was "not treated fairly by the 'Commission.'" 

A week ago, after Trump called Scully a "never-Trumper," Scully tagged Scaramucci's Twitter account in a tweet -- in what looked like a direct message gone wrong -- and asked, "should I respond to Trump."

Scaramucci, a fierce critic of the president, tweeted back his advice: "Ignore. He is having a hard enough time. Some more bad stuff about to go down."

Scully said once he saw the controversy the exchange had created, he falsely claimed his Twitter account had been hacked.

"These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible for," Scully said. "I apologize."

Early voting has already begun in 48 states plus Washington, D.C., with data continuing to hit record numbers across the country. 

In the states reporting data, at least 17.8 million votes have been cast in the 2020 general election and at least 80.7 million ballots have been requested in early voting states.

The large early voting numbers are due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as an increase in voter interest.

However, though millions of ballots have been requested, it's unclear how many might sit at home unmarked. 

Seven states -- California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington -- have an all-mail ballot election, meaning every registered voter is automatically sent a ballot. 

By Friday, all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., will have some form of early voting underway.

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Biden has tested negative for COVID-19, according to a new statement Thursday evening, following their announcement earlier in the day that Biden had tested negative Wednesday night. 

"Vice President Biden underwent PCR testing for COVID-19 today and COVID-19 was not detected," the campaign said in the Thursday evening statement. 

This test comes after the campaign announced an aviation staffer who flew with Biden Monday and Tuesday of this week, but had no passing or close contact to Biden, tested positive for COVID-19.

With President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden holding separate town halls on the same night, “The View” co-hosts discuss which candidate will benefit most.

10:13

Are dueling town halls a disservice to voters?

With President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden holding separate town halls on the same night, “The View” co-hosts discuss which candidate will benefit most.

ABCNews.com