- After last month’s chaotic debate, President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, will take the stage again on Thursday night.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Senate floor.
- More than 45 million Americans have already voted in early ballots, according to the United States Elections Project tracker.
Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the US elections 12 days before November 3. This is Jihan Abdalla.
Trump tests negative for COVID-19
Trump tested negative for COVID19 on a plane ride to Nashville for tonight’s debate, his Chief of Staff said.
“We tested him on the way here (on the plane) and he tested negative,” Mark Meadows told pool reporters traveling with the president.
Biden: ‘Hopefully he’ll play by the rules’
Biden, wearing a face mask and aviators, spoke briefly about debate later tonight.
His wife Jill Biden was with him.
“Hopefully he’ll play by the rules,” alluding to the last election, when Trump repeatedly disrupted him.
Biden also said that he hopes everyone attending has tested negative for COVID-19. Trump announced that he had contracted the virus shortly after the last debate.
Earlier on Thursday Biden said that he had tested negative for the virus.
“We’re looking forward to this,” he said.
Spokesman says Trump plans to vote early on Saturday in Florida
Trump plans to cast an early vote in the election while visiting Florida this weekend, White House spokesman Judd Deere said, adding that the president would vote in West Palm Beach, Florida, where his Mar-a-Lago estate is located, on Saturday.
Poll roundup: Voters sour on incumbents
A majority of US voters say Trump does not deserve reelection, according to a new Gallup poll.
But he fares better than Congress, as significantly more voters say “most members of Congress” deserve to be ousted on Election Day.
Fifty-six percent of registered voters say Trump doesn’t deserve reelection on Election Day. In January, prior to the pandemic, only 50 percent said that about Trump.As for Congress, only 29 percent say “most members” deserve to be reelected, as Americans’ view of Congress in general continues to sink.
In typical fashion, however, when asked about their specific member of the House of Representatives, voters’ views are flipped: 60 percent said their representative deserves to be sent back to Washington.
A slew of state-level presidential polls reveal what the key battlegrounds are in the final 12 days of the campaign. Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas are statistical ties between Trump and Biden, according to Morning Consult polls of likely voters. Biden leads in Florida (+7), Michigan (+8), Minnesota (+9), Pennsylvania (+9) and Wisconsin (+12).
Biden’s lead in Morning Consult’s Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are larger than the average of polls in those states. They could be outliers or they could be signaling more voter movement toward Biden. Polling in the coming days will shed more light on which of those scenarios is most accurate.
Trump posts full ’60 Minutes’ interview
Trump posted his full interview with “60 Minutes” ahead of its scheduled air time, in what seemed as a move to undercut the CBS news programme during which he walked out on the interview.
The president posted the nearly 40-minute sit down with CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl, to his Facebook page with the caption: “Look at the bias, hatred and rudeness on behalf of 60 Minutes and CBS.”
In the wide-encompassing interview, Trump railed against the media, “you have discredited yourself,” he said, accusing Stahl of not covering Biden and his son’s alleged links with Ukraine.
“I think it’s one of the biggest scandals I’ve ever seen,” Trump said.
“If I didn’t have social media I’d have no way of getting out my voice.”
Biden says COVID-19 test negative before debate
Biden said he has tested negative for COVID-19 ahead of his debate with Trump on Thursday night.
Biden made the comments to reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, before flying to Nashville, Tennessee, where he is scheduled to participate in the second debate with Trump, the final scheduled meeting of the two candidates before the election.
Dutch security researcher says he hacked Trump’s Twitter
Victor Gevers, a security expert, said he gained access to Trump’s direct messages, could post tweets in his name and change his profile, according to Dutch publication de Volkskrant.
Gevers says he guessed Trump’s password: maga2020! a popular slogan for Trump’s re-election campaign – Gevers’ fifth attempt.
“I expected to be blocked after four failed attempts. Or at least would be asked to provide additional information,” Gevers told de Volkskrant.
Gevers, who previously managed to log into Trump’s account in 2016, said Trump’s account lacked basic security measures like two-step verification.
‘A kinder, gentler President Trump’? He says says he hopes so
Trump was asked by Jason Whitlock of the conservative sports website Outkick if we’ll see “a kinder, gentler President Trump” if he wins re-election.
“I think the answer is yes, I want the answer to be yes,” Trump said during the interview Wednesday at the White House.
“But when I first came here, there was so much to do. I didn’t have time to be totally politically correct,” Trump continued.
“I hope the answer is yes, but a lot of it is time. You gotta get going, you don’t have much time. Being politically correct takes time, you understand. And sometimes we don’t have time,” Trump said.
“The answer is yes, and I’d certainly like to.”
US Senate committee approves sending subpoenas to Facebook and Twitter CEOs
The US Senate Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena the chief executives of Twitter and Facebook after the social media platforms decided to block stories from the New York Post that made claims about Biden’s son.
The vote passed along party lines with 12 Republicans approving the motion. The 10 Democrats on the committee were not present for the session.
The CEOs of Facebook and Twitter will testify on allegations of anti-conservative bias at a yet-to-be-determined date. The companies have come under heavy criticism from conservatives over their decision to flag the two New York Post stories as spreading disinformation and their attempts to clamp down on distribution of the stories.
Gallup: Trump and Biden favourabilty ratings up, but still low
Biden leads Trump 54 to 47 percent in Gallup’s historical “scalometer” measure of candidate favourability.
Trump’s 2020 rating on the zero to 10 scale is better than the all-time low 36 percent he received in 2016, and Biden’s rating exceeds Hillary Clinton’s 47 percent that year.
But the 2020 ratings are among the lowest in Gallup’s trends since 1956, most presidential candidates from the 1950s to the 1970s, according toGallup, enjoyed 70 precent or better favorable ratings on this measure, with several at 80 percent or higher.
Trump national security adviser says president will respect election results
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s national security adviser, said Trump would accept the results of the election if he loses.
“If he loses the election, I’m certain the president will transfer power over, but we’ve got to make sure there’s no fraud in the election and we need to make sure it’s a free and fair election,” he said in an interview with POLITICO.
“Just like we demand of other countries overseas, we need to make the demand of ourselves,” O’Brien added.
Joe Biden says he will study issue regarding adding members to Supreme Court
In an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he will rely on the advice of scholars before making a decision.
“If elected, what I will do is I’ll put together a national commission of – bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative. And I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack,” Biden told CBS News in an interview to air on the 60 Minutes programme.
On the court system, Biden says: “The way in which it’s being handled and it’s not about court packing. There’s a number of other things that our constitutional scholars have debated and I’ve looked to see what recommendations that commission might make.”
Committee votes to send Barrett’s nomination to full Senate; Democrats boycott
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Senate floor.
It was unanimous since no Democrats actually showed up for the vote, boycotting it in opposition. Despite the Democrats’ absence, committee chairman Lindsey Graham pressed forward with the vote and praised Barrett as “incredibly qualified”.
Following the vote, which saw all 12 Republicans on the committee vote for Barrett, Republican Senator John Cornyn called the Democrats’ boycott “theatre”.
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer slammed Trump and Republicans complaining they were rushing Barrett’s nomination through and saying it “has been a sham process from the beginning”.
The full Senate is scheduled to vote on Barrett’s nomination on Monday where she is expected to have enough votes for confirmation.
Final debate
US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden are set to square off in their final debate.
It is one of the last high-profile opportunities for the candidates to showcase their policies.
In an effort to curtail interruptions, Trump and Biden will each have his microphone cut off while his rival delivers an opening two-minute answer to each of the six debate topics.
All eyes will be on Donald Trump’s behaviour, debate analyst Alan Schroeder writes.
Read yesterday’s (October 21) updates here.
