Was it US President Donald Trump or former VP and Democratic nominee Joe Biden? Some said it was the latter.
Topics for the debate centered on COVID-19, health care, foreign interference in the elections, family relations, relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, New York state’s response to the pandemic, and whether to shut down the economy or not, again in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Practically the same as the first debate, some observers noted.
Trump reiterated that the coronavirus is something that people have learned to live with and will definitely go away, but Biden retorted, “people are learning to die with it.”
Biden mentioned the American people deserve affordable health care through his “Bidencare” proposal. Trump, on the other hand, had long said a healthcare plan that will protect those that have pre-existing conditions is needed, though many believe this one still remains to be seen.
Biden likewise promised that those who interfere or are already interfering with the upcoming US elections will be dealt with severely. As for Trump, he believes the interference issue, which he claimed were perpetrated by Iran and Russia and meant to undermine his candidacy, which he said he knew all along.
As regards his relationship with the volatile and reclusive North Korean leader, Trump said they have a very good but different kind of relationship, Biden, though, didn’t sound too friendly about Kim Jong Un, whom he calls a “thug” and would not in any way meet with him unless North Korea “draws down” its nuclear capability.
When asked about the children who were separated from their parents at the border, Trump claimed rather obnoxiously that the children were brought to the US by “coyotes and lots of bad people and cartels used them to get into the country.” Biden found this “coyote and cartel” claims by his opponent as absurd, and felt sorry for those children who were simply snatched from their parents’ arms and are now alone “with nowhere to go.”
Trump also branded New York City as a ghost town already and its dying businesses, practically blaming the Democrats that lead the city. But Biden was quick to counter by praising New York for its efforts in “turning the curve down” in order to avoid increasing the number of fatalities, while mocking Trump’s divisive views on the matter
Finally, Trump said he cannot “close the nation” and lock itself up in the basement just like Joe Biden, while Biden called for more efforts to “shut down the virus, not the country.”
So who do you think won? An instant post-debate poll done by CNN on debate watchers showed 53 percent of them believed Biden won, though 39 percent said Trump emerged victorious.
But bear in mind that this is just a sample poll and does not clearly represent Americans’ overall sentiments. Trump, however, led the debate in terms of speaking time, where he spoke for 41 minutes compared to Biden’s almost 38 minutes of talk time, according to CNN.
(Photo credit: bloomberg.com)