Amid questioning about democracy and the Trump mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, Biden took a shot at Trump's historic conviction in the hush money case.

"The only convicted felon is the guy standing on the stage with me now," Biden said.

Trump then quickly brought up Hunter Biden's recent conviction on federal gun charges.

Trump largely avoiding taking on a question about what he would say to Americans who believe he violated his oath on Jan. 6, 2021, and are worried he would do it again.

Instead, he pivoted to the border and to criticizing Biden's record.

Moderator Jake Tapper pressed him again, saying there was 80 seconds remaining to answer the question. Trump went on to attack former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.<

In a heated moment in response to Trump's claim that the president "doesn't care about our veterans," Biden referenced a 2020 Atlantic article in which Trump was reported to have called Americans killed as "suckers" while on a trip to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France in 2018.

On the subsequently canceled visit, the Atlantic reported that Trump told senior staff members, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers."

Referring to his late son Beau during the debate, Biden said to Trump, "My son was not a loser, was not a sucker. You're the sucker, you're the loser."

Trump responded by saying it was in a "third-rate magazine" and the source had "made it up."

During the debate, Trump claimed that Democrats "support abortion up to and even beyond the ninth month," and contended that some Democratic states have had such a stance.

Democrats have never advocated for killing a baby after it is born as this would be murder, which is illegal in every state. Nine states have no abortion restrictions in place; however, it should be noted that late-term abortions are exceedingly rare, representing 1%, according to KFF.

Heading into tonight's event, Biden and Trump are locked in a close contest. 538's presidential election forecast rates the race as a dead heat, with both Biden and Trump having about a 1 in 2 shot of winning the election. This falls in line with our national polling average, which has the two candidates just about tied at 41%, with Kennedy polling at 9%.

But as readers know, U.S. presidential elections aren't decided by the national popular vote. Instead, they're decided by the Electoral College, where the results in individual states determine who wins each state's electoral votes, with a majority of 270 out of 538 in total necessary to claim victory. Currently, the forecast shows an extremely tight race in each of the most pivotal states.

For instance, Biden's path to victory may rest primarily on winning the Frost Belt battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that he carried in 2020. While the forecast shows him with small leads in each of those states, Biden's advantage is well inside the range of potential outcomes, meaning Trump could easily carry them once we get to November. Meanwhile, Trump holds a narrow edge in the Sun Belt swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, but similarly his leads are far from secure.

Still, with nearly four months to go until Election Day, there's a great deal of uncertainty around where public opinion will stand when voters cast their ballots. 538's forecast utilizes a combination of polling information and campaign fundamentals, such as the economic situation and each state's partisan leanings. Together, those indicators show a toss-up race that could go in either direction.

Now, tonight's debate could move the contest: Historically, the margin in presidential races has shifted by an average of about 2 points in the two weeks following the first general election debate in cycles dating back to 1976. In what could be bad news for Biden, that movement has more often than not gone against the incumbent president or party. Yet we're still sailing in uncharted waters. After all, this election involves both a sitting and former president, an unprecedented matchup in modern times. The debate is history-making, too: It's nearly three months earlier than any past general election face-off.

-538's Geoffrey Skelley