1st presidential debate between Trump and Biden spirals into chaotic clash
Highlights from the first presidential debate held in Cleveland.
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:
FACT CHECK: Trump on forest management
TRUMP'S STATEMENT: "Every year, I get the call, 'California's burning. California's burning.' If that was cleaned, if you have forest management, good forest management, you wouldn't be getting those calls."
FACT CHECK: Trump's repeated comments connecting forest management and wildfires ignores the increasing impact on climate change on how quickly the fires develop and spread.
Trump has focused on forest management when talking about wildfires in western states, often criticizing local leaders who have disagreed with his response to climate change.
While decisions about how to manage forests and wildfires are important, Trump's stance disregards evidence that climate change is playing a significant role in why wildfires have become so destructive in recent years.
During a briefing on wildfires in California earlier this month Trump refuted State Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crawfoot when he described the impact of increasing heat and drought on the conditions that lead to fires. Trump said, "It'll start getting cooler," directly contradicting conclusions by climate scientists who argue temperatures around the world will continue to rise by saying, "I don't think science knows actually."
Increasing heat and droughts are "supercharging" wildfires by creating drier conditions for trees and brush. Warmer temperatures have also decreased moisture from melting snow and allowed bark beetles to travel further north, killing millions of trees, according to the National Climate Assessment published in 2018.
These factors allow fires to spread more quickly.
As the planet continues to warm, those conditions will only get worse, making wildfires more dangerous, climate scientists say.
The majority of land impacted by wildfires in states like California, Washington and Oregon is also managed by the federal government, which proactively removes dead trees and brush and conducts controlled burns to keep forests healthy.
-ABC News' Stephanie Ebbs
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
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
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.
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.