Biden's ABC town hall: Former VP lays out vision in stark contrast to Trump's
Highlights from Biden's town hall with voters in Philadelphia.
With less than three weeks to Election Day, Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden faced voters directly in an ABC News Town Hall from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
The live special edition of "20/20" -- titled "The Vice President and the People" -- was moderated by ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The primetime event followed a fiery back-and-forth on the fate of the second presidential debate, which was originally scheduled for Thursday in Miami but ultimately canceled last Friday.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates changed its format to be virtual following President Donald Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis, to which Trump took issue, saying he wouldn't "waste" time in a virtual debate. With Trump's rejection of the event, Biden then agreed to participate in the town hall with ABC News.
Voters had the opportunity to ask the former vice president the questions most important to them
The event was held in accordance with state and local government health and safety regulations, as well as guidelines set forward by health officials.
Trump, at the same time Thursday, participated in a town hall from Miami with NBC News. The president participated in an ABC News town hall in September.
Latest headlines:
Biden, DNC announce $432 million cash on hand
Heading into the town hall, Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced they raised a whopping $383 million in the month of September -- outpacing their August total of $364.5 million.
"That's more money than I've ever raised in my whole life!" Biden said in a video posted to Twitter late Wednesday, noting that the average donation was "something like $44 dollars -- it was under $50."
Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon added to the announcement, announcing that the campaign has $432 million cash on hand.
"Our success has been driven by our grassroots supporters. $203 million came from online donors. We had 1.1 million new donors last month -- bringing the total to 5.5 million donors throughout this campaign. And as a result, we have $432 million in the bank," O'Malley Dillon tweeted.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have not yet released September fundraising numbers. In August, they reported raising $210 million along with joint fundraising committees.
What happened to the second presidential debate?
The second presidential debate, taking a town-hall format, was originally scheduled for Thursday. Now Biden and Trump are participating in separate town halls.
So what happened?
Trump disclosed on Twitter on Oct. 2 that he tested positive for COVID-19.
Six days later, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced the second debate in Miami would be virtual. It would maintain its town hall format, but unlike the first debate, the candidates would participate remotely from separate locations.
Biden agreed. Trump did not, telling Fox News moments after the announcement, “I’m not going to waste my time” on a virtual format.
With the president out, the Biden campaign signed on to an ABC News Town Hall.
The Trump campaign, hours after saying Trump would host a rally on Oct. 15 instead of debating, then said it would participate in the second debate if it was pushed back a week and the final scheduled debate also was pushed back a week.
But the Biden campaign quickly shot down the idea of rearranging the dates, saying they were agreed to back in June.
So Trump made plans to appear in a NBC town hall in Miami, taking place at the same time as Biden's ABC News town hall.
Amid the back-and-forth between the campaigns, the Commission on Presidential Debates officially canceled the second debate in a statement last Thursday saying, “It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15.”
Both candidates have agreed to participate in the third and final debate, which is scheduled for Oct. 22.
How to watch ABC News' Biden town hall
The live, 90-minute special airs on ABC Television Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
For those looking for other ways to watch, it will also stream simultaneously on ABC News Live, which is available on Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, Amazon Fire tablets and TV stick, Xumo, Sling TV, Facebook, Twitter, and the ABC News and ABC mobile apps.
A half-hour post-event show featuring the ABC News political team for more context and analysis will follow the town hall portion and is also available on streaming.
Town-hall time arrives as voting turnout smashes records
Biden and Trump will both face voters -- albeit not in the way envisioned by the debate commission or really any actual voters.
But however the collective audience sorts through an unusual evening, with Biden at an 8 p.m. ET ABC News forum in Philadelphia, and Trump at a competing event in Miami on NBC, voters are voting -- lots of them.
Records for this far out from Election Day are being set virtually by the hour and in virtually every state. Nationwide, more than 16 million ballots have already been cast, nearly five times the number logged at a similar point in 2016, according to records compiled by the most prominent authority on early voting, Michael McDonald of the University of Florida.
In Georgia, more than 537,000 mail ballots have already been accepted and returned, compared to some 200,000 in all of 2016. The start of in-person voting there brought hours-long lines this week; there have been similar scenes in Texas, where more than half a million voters showed up on the first day available to vote.
Nine states are already above 20% of their total 2016 turnout -- Election Day votes included -- with nearly three weeks left to vote. In-person voting starts in another key battleground -- North Carolina -- on Thursday.
It's too soon to extrapolate particular outcomes out of the interest in voters casting ballots early. Polls indicate a huge pre-Election-Day edge for Biden, and a sizeable Trump advantage among those who plan to vote on Nov. 3 itself.
Regardless, for all the noise around election integrity and distaste for politics generally, votes are pouring in. Biden and Trump are engaging with voters who have not only mostly made up their minds, but are acting on it every minute of the next 19 days.
-ABC News Political Director Rick Klein
Thursday's town halls focused on the candidates' plans and lack thereof
"World News Tonight" anchor David Muir asked ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who watched the dueling town halls, if the separate appearances moved the needle for people who were undecided.
Karl said that there are so few Americans who are undecided at this point.
"This is such a strange campaign. We have heard very little from either of these two men on about what they would actually do over the next four years," Karl said
Karl noted that after dodging questions on his stance on expanding the Supreme Court, Biden answered Thursday night after being pushed by Stephanopoulos.
"We have what appears to be a commitment that after the Amy Coney Barrett vote, he will tell the American people. He said voters have the right to know where he stands," Karl said.
During Trump's town hall, the president didn't answer a question from a voter on his plan for rising health care costs, something Karl said the president had four years to come up with.
"It was abundantly clear that he has absolutely no plan. This is something he's had four years, nearly four years in office, to come up with," Karl said.
"He basically said that what he has done is he's done away with the individual mandate with Obamacare, and then talked a little more about Obamacare is not a good thing, and we need something better, but absolutely nothing about what he'd actually do on health care," he added.