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.
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Trump Jr. defends his father’s tax record by attacking Biden
Donald Trump Jr., who is a part of his father's re-election campaign, pointed to some of his father's accomplishments -- a great economy before COVID-19 and getting closer to achieving peace in the Middle East -- before moving onto his father's opponent.
When pressed by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos about his father's tax record and debt, which was first reported by the New York Times, Trump Jr. went on the attack.
"If people have a problem with the tax code, talk to Joe Biden," Trump Jr. said. "He's the guy that's been legislating these things or 47 years."
Protesters gather outside the debate hall
Outside the debate site in Cleveland on Tuesday, protesters were seen wearing costumes -- appearing to criticize Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett -- and holding signs in support of Black Lives Matter.
One photographer captured a Trump supporter in a red "Make America Great Again" hat and a counter protester in a shirt reading "racism is a public health issue" arguing ahead of the debate.
Harris watching the debate from Howard University
Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris will be watching the debate from Howard University with her husband Doug Emhoff and members of her staff, according to an aide. Harris earned bachelor's degrees in political science and economics at the university in Washington, D.C.
--ABC News’ Averi Harper
Martha Raddatz only journalist to moderate debates with both Biden, Trump
ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Raddatz said Trump is combative when he debates, saying "dealing with Donald Trump is more like being a lion tamer than a debate moderator. You really have to keep him on time. He'll go after the moderator."
Biden, Raddatz said, often uses humor when he debates.
At least 1.1 million voters already cast their ballots in the 2020 election ahead of 1st presidential debate, according to election expert's analysis
Ahead of tonight's presidential debate, a first opportunity to see former Vice President Joe Biden and President Trump spar over a range of critical issues, some voters already decided who they are voting for.
At least 1.1 million ballots have already been cast in the 2020 election, according to data compiled by Michael McDonald, an elections expert and professor of political science at the University of Florida.
Across the 14 state reporting data -- Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia, South Carolina, Montana, South Dakota and New Jersey -- voters cast a total of 1,144,059 ballots, as of the most recent reports.
McDonald cautions that the total number is likely higher because he does not "have complete reports for all states."
On Sunday, when the vote total was just under 1 million, McDonald wrote in his analysis that the volume of early voters "this far in advance of an election has never occurred in any American election. Period."
"Around this time in 2016, I noted only 9,525 people had voted," he wrote. "There literally is no comparison since at this comparable point in time in 2016, so few people had cast early votes that states did not bother to release any data."
-ABC News' Kendall Karson