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

BIDEN'S CLAIM: Responding to a question about rights for LGBTQ people, Biden referenced the number of transgender people killed this year, saying it was at least 17.

FACT CHECK: After the mother of an 8-year-old transgender daughter asked Biden how he would restore rights to the LGBTQ community that had been eroded under the Trump administration, Biden acknowledged that the number of transgender people killed might be higher than he knows. And he was right.

"There should be zero discrimination, and what's happening is too many transgender women of color are being murdered," Biden said. "I think it's up to now 17 -- don't hold me to that number, but it's -- it’s higher now? And that's just this year. So I promise you, there is no reason to suggest that there should be any right denied your daughter."

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 33 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been fatally shot or killed by other means this year.

The organization, a progressive LGBTQ advocacy group, began tracking this data in 2013 and has never reported such a high number at this point in the year, according to its website.

It has tracked at least 126 deaths of transgender people since 2016 due to fatal violence, with most victims being black transgender women, but the organization said the violence is hard to track due to misgendering and transphobia. The actual number of killings could be much higher.

“Six transgender woman have been killed over the last 23 days — which is just over three weeks — in this country,” Tori Cooper, HRC's director of community engagement for its Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a statement Thursday.

“We have already seen more trans and gender non-conforming people killed this year since we began tracking these deaths in 2013, and the numbers continue to climb, even during a pandemic," Cooper said. "We must all ask ourselves what each of us is doing to work to bring this violence to an end."

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

ABC News Political contributor and Democracy for America CEO Yvette Simpson said that Thursday night's town hall was the best she'd seen Biden.

"I think he did a great job not just directly answering questions, talking about specific policies," she said. "I think he took that very hard stance of acknowledging that he was wrong about the 1994 crime bill, which I think was a great position for him to take, so I think it was a great night for him."

Simpson added that Biden is "walking a tightrope."

"If you're the leader of a party you have to take everybody's opinions to bear. We have not seen that with Donald Trump he's not listening to most Republicans or most people," she said. "And I actually do respect Joe Biden for, I think, having a broader perspective, listening to all sides, and actually being willing to adjust his own thinking to the realities of the day."

"World News Tonight" anchor David Muir asked ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who watched the dueling town halls, if the separate appearances moved the needle for people who were undecided.

Karl said that there are so few Americans who are undecided at this point.

"This is such a strange campaign. We have heard very little from either of these two men on about what they would actually do over the next four years," Karl said

Karl noted that after dodging questions on his stance on expanding the Supreme Court, Biden answered Thursday night after being pushed by Stephanopoulos.

"We have what appears to be a commitment that after the Amy Coney Barrett vote, he will tell the American people. He said voters have the right to know where he stands," Karl said.

During Trump's town hall, the president didn't answer a question from a voter on his plan for rising health care costs, something Karl said the president had four years to come up with.

"It was abundantly clear that he has absolutely no plan. This is something he's had four years, nearly four years in office, to come up with," Karl said. 

"He basically said that what he has done is he's done away with the individual mandate with Obamacare, and then talked a little more about Obamacare is not a good thing, and we need something better, but absolutely nothing about what he'd actually do on health care," he added.

BIDEN'S CLAIM: "My deal is a crucial framework, but not the New Green Deal."

FACT CHECK: In addition to misstating the name of the Green New Deal, Biden was incorrect in how he laid out his view of the plan compared to how it is stated on his own campaign website.

"Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face," his website reads.

While Biden has said he does not support major aspects of the Green New Deal, his own plan calls for moving the nation's power system to net-zero emissions by 2035, a more ambitious timeline than his original climate plan laid out, which has been praised by progressive activists.

The Green New Deal was a resolution that laid out a broad framework for climate action but would not have changed any policies if it had passed.”

In one major distinction from that framework, Biden said he does not think it would be possible to completely eliminate fossil fuels by 2030, saying the country will need to be able to transition to more investments in renewable energy while improving sources that can release greenhouse gas emissions like natural gas.-ABC News' John Verhovek and Stephanie Ebbs