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.

MORE: Trump blames media after DNC tops RNC in TV ratings


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


Trump and Biden spar over the Supreme Court vacancy 

Wallace's first question to both candidates was on the Supreme Court. He asked why Trump believes he is right in confirming a justice before the election and why Biden believes he is right in saying the decision should wait until after Election Day.

"I will tell you very simply, we won the election. Elections have consequences," Trump said. "We have the Senate, we have the White House and we have a phenomenal nominee respected by all top top academic good in every way, good in every way."

"And by the way, the Democrats, they wouldn't even think about not doing it if they have -- the only difference is to try and do it faster. There's no way they would give it up. They had Merrick Garland, but the problem is they didn't have the election so they were stopped."

When the question was given to Biden, he said that the American people have a right to say who the Supreme Court nominee should be and that that nomination should wait until the November election concludes as Americans have already begun voting.

"It's just not appropriate to do this before this election," Biden said. "Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act could both be struck down by a conservative Supreme Court."

Multiple Senate Democrats are refusing to meet with Trump's nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, citing the impending election, and have expressed mounting concern with her stance on health care as the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the fate of the Affordable Care Act one week after the election.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are moving ahead with the nomination despite claims they made in 2016 about not confirming Garland during an election year.