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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Biden brings three guests to the debate
Biden's campaign announced his three guests to the debate: Kristin Urquiza, Gurneé Green and James Evanoff Jr.
The public first met Urquiza when she shared her story at the Democratic National Convention. She lost her father to COVID-19, and declared his "only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump -- and for that he paid with his life." Urquiza is an environmental advocate at Mighty Earth and co-founded the awareness campaign "Marked by COVID."
Green is a small business owner from Cleveland Heights who was also highlighted during the Democratic National Convention. He owns the Cleveland Heights fashion boutique Chemistry 11. In addition to being a small business owner, Green is a certified health care information technologies analyst and a mother of two.
Evanoff is a service technician in Cleveland. He has eight years of seniority with United Steel Workers and works at ArcelorMittal, which was recently acquired by Cleveland Cliffs.
ABC News' Molly Nagle and Mary Bruce
Most-watched presidential debates of all time
Trump's first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016 set the record as the most-watched debate in television history, with 84 million viewers, surpassing the previous record of 80.6 million viewers set between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980, according to Nielsen.
Trump's second debate with Clinton back in 2016 ranks as the ninth most-watched presidential debate with 66.5 million viewers.
How Trump’s tax returns could affect the election
On Sunday, a New York Times expose on President Trump’s tax returns revealed decades of tax avoidance and millions of dollars in business losses over the past two decades.
The picture painted by Trump’s returns is sharply at odds with the shrewd, deal-making image the president has tried to fashion as a real estate mogul and TV star on a show built around his business prowess, “The Apprentice.”
Now, five weeks from Election Day, the question is will these new revelations affect the presidential race?
Read the analysis from FiveThirtyEight's Geoffrey Skelley here.
Trump vs. Biden on the issues: Economy
When President Trump rang in 2020, the economy was one of his biggest selling points for reelection. He had inherited a strong economy from the Obama administration, and it continued to grow stronger during his first term. Unemployment was hovering at a 50-year-low, GDP growth was exceeding expectations and Wall Street was riding the longest bull market in its history.
But by spring, all of that came crashing down. While the economy has begun to shakily recoup some of its losses, a full and speedy recovery is anything but assured, making it a top concern for many Americans. According to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation released earlier this month, registered voters ranked the economy as the most important issue in deciding their pick for president, putting it ahead of the ongoing pandemic.
Trump is now trying to convince the country that since he oversaw a robust economy before the outbreak, he’s the best candidate to restore it. His opponent, Joe Biden, argues that Trump’s mishandling of the coronavirus compounded its impact on an economy that was inequitable to begin with and that it should be reimagined rather than rebuilt.
Click here to see how the candidates’ economic plans compare.
-ABC News' Shannon K. Crawford
FACT CHECK: Trump falsely implies Biden supports defunding the police
TRUMP'S CLAIM: “He's talking about defunding the police.”
FACT CHECK: From the debate stage during an exchange on law enforcement, Trump implied that Biden wants to defund the police. Biden has said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to “defund the police.”
"No, I don't support defunding the police," he said in a June interview with CBS News, adding he supports conditions on federal aid based on meeting "basic standards of decency."
Biden has in the past claimed that Trump has proposed cutting police funding by “half a billion dollars.”
The former vice president is referencing a proposed $465.8 million cut to community police efforts through the Office of Justice Programs, which could lose funding under Trump’s proposed 2021 budget, like the COPS Hiring program, which offers grants to local law enforcement agencies to hire officers.
Biden has been at odds with many activists for his role as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee co-writing and pushing the 1994 Crime Bill. Biden has defended his role in the bill’s passage and has supported putting more police officers on the streets in communities. After the killing of George Floyd, Biden has called for reforms like buying body cameras, de-escalation training for officers and adopting a national use-of-force standard.
-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson