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The Guardian - US
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Joan E Greve in Washington and Maanvi Singh in Oakland

Angry Trump clashes with moderator as Biden lays out policies at competing town halls – as it happened

Trump and Biden at their dueling town hall events.
Trump and Biden at their dueling town hall events. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Dueling town halls summary

That’s it from us tonight. The Guardian’s regular US politics liveblog will be back tomorrow morning.

Here are the key takeaways from tonight’s dueling town halls:

  • In a tense, antagonistic town hall, Donald Trump faced a thorough grilling from NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, a former litigator. When a defensive Trump dodged questions, Guthrie asked again – providing live fact-checks as the president responded to questions from her and voters.
  • The president declined to disavow QAnon, a rightwing, racist and antisemitic conspiracy theory movement. This isn’t the first time Trump has demurred when asked to disown QAnon, whose supporters believe Trump is secretly battling a Democratic cabal engaged in pedophilia. The FBI considers QAnon a domestic terrorism threat.
  • Trump more or less agreed with reporting that he owes more than $400m to creditors. In a contentious exchange with Guthrie, Trump was asked about New York Times reporting that revealed he owed money to foreign entities. “When you look at vast properties like I have ... the amount of money, $400 million, is a peanut, it’s extremely underleveraged.” He added: “Not a big deal.”
  • Joe Biden’s town hall was much less eventful, offering a striking contrast to Trump. The Democratic presidential nominee gave detailed answers about his proposals on everything from the coronavirus pandemic to tax reform during his ABC News town hall, which was moderated by George Stephanopoulos.
  • Biden pledged to offer a clearer stance on court-packing before election day. He said his opinion on packing the supreme court would largely depend on whether Senate Republicans confirmed Amy Coney Barrett days before the election, as they currently intend to do. “I’m open to considering what happens from that point on” if Barrett is confirmed, Biden said.
  • Biden said it was a mistake to support the 1994 crime bill that he helped to write. The Democrat argued the bill had some positive aspects, such as the federal assault weapons ban, but he acknowledged it had many negative consequences.

Thanks for following along with our town hall coverage. Remember to tune in next week for the third presidential debate – assuming it happens, that is.

Updated

NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie received widespread praise for her questioning of Trump, after she grilled the president on his past coronavirus test results and his thoughts on the QAnon conspiracy theory, which he refused to denounce.

A noteworthy moment today was that Trump – while evading Guthrie’s direct question – more or less agreed with reporting that he owes hundreds of millions of dollars to creditors.

“When you look at vast properties like I have, and they’re big and they’re beautiful and they’re well-located, when you look at that, the amount of money, $400 million, is a peanut, it’s extremely underleveraged,” Trump said. “Not a big deal.”

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

If you’re looking for funny tweets about tonight’s town halls, it doesn’t get much better than this from Donald Trump’s niece Mary (who also happens to be one of his fiercest critics):

Joe Biden continued to take questions from the town hall audience even after the event concluded.

The town hall ended about 30 minutes ago, and the Democratic nominee appears to still be talking to attendees while wearing his face mask.

ABC News did not filter through the audio from the town hall venue after it ended, so it wasn’t clear what Biden was saying to attendees.

- Joan E Greve

The Trump campaign attacked NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie in a statement released after tonight’s dueling town halls.

“Even though the commission canceled the in-person debate that could have happened tonight, one occurred anyway, and President Trump soundly defeated NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in her role as debate opponent and Joe Biden surrogate,” said Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director.

Guthrie has been widely praised for pressing Trump on his coronavirus testing history and the QAnon conspiracy theory, which the president refused to denounce.

- Joan E Greve

Tonight was not the first time Donald Trump has declined to condemn QAnon, a rightwing conspiracy theory. Adherents of the conspiracy believe, among other things, that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats, celebrities, and global elites engage in pedophilia, human trafficking, and the harvesting of the blood of abused children. They believe that Trump is waging a behind the scenes battle against this cabal and its “deep state” allies.

This summer Trump said QAnon followers, who have been labeled domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, “love our country” and “like me very much”.

My colleague Julia Carrie Wong explains the conspiracy theory and its impact:

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

Perhaps because he was so directly, insistently asked to answer for his own record – Trump barely even mentioned his opponent Biden.

He tried to deflect to Biden when Guthrie asked him about his hesitance to denounce white supremacists.

Trump: You didn’t ask Joe Biden whether or not he denounces Antifa. I watched him on the same basic show with Lester Holt, and he was asking questions like Biden was a child.

Guthrie: Well – so, this is a little bit of a dodge.

Trump: Are you listening? I denounce white supremacy.

Guthrie: OK.

Trump has long struggled to find an effective line of attack against Biden. He’s recently settled on ridiculing Biden’s age, but it’s unclear how effective that is considering that Trump is about the same age, and many of his supporters are themselves, senior citizens.

– Maanvi Singh

In a standout moment of both town halls tonight, the mother of a trans child asked Biden a question on her daughter’s rights.

As many have pointed out, a discussion on LGBTQ+ rights in general has been notably absent in the 2020 campaign so far, but many have praised Biden for his response to the question:

Updated

Biden town hall concludes

Anchor George Stephanopoulos closed the town hall with Joe Biden by asking the Democratic nominee about whether Trump would take a coronavirus test before the next debate.

Biden said he would demand that the president receive a negative test result before the two nominees debate again, noting he has been taking daily tests since Trump announced his coronavirus diagnosis.

“It’s just decency,” Biden said. “I’m less concerned about me than the guys with the cameras.”

When asked whether he planned to attend the debate scheduled for next Thursday, Biden said, “I expect to be there.”

- Joan E Greve

Updated

Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Joe Biden what it would say about the country if he lost to Trump next month.

“It could say that I’m a lousy candidate and I didn’t do a good job,” Biden joked.

But the Democratic nominee emphasized he would not want his loss to be read as a sign that the country is embracing divisiveness.

“I hope that it doesn’t say that we are as racially, ethnically and religiously at odds with one another as it appears, as the president wants us to be,” Biden said.

- Joan E Greve

A town hall attendee with a transgender daughter asked Joe Biden what he would do to protect the rights of transgender Americans.

“I will flat out just change the law,” Biden said, pledging to reverse Trump’s executive orders on the issue, such as the president’s ban on transgender people from serving in the US military.

“There should be zero discrimination,” Biden said. He added, “And what’s happening is, too many transgender women of color are being murdered.”

- Joan E Greve

Moments ago, Joe Biden was asked about the Green New Deal, which his campaign website describes as a “crucial framework” for climate policy.

“My deal is a crucial framework but not the New Green Deal,” Biden said, mispronouncing the name of the progressive plan.

Here’s what Biden’s campaign website says: “Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face.”

- Joan E Greve

FBI is examining claims made in New York Post article

While the Trump town hall aired on its network, NBC broke the news that federal investigators are examining whether emails that Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani claims to have found on a laptop at a computer repair shop incriminate Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The FBI has seized the laptop, NBC reports.

The Post, a conservative tabloid, implicated Joe Biden in connection with his son Hunter’s business with a Ukrainian energy company Burisma and was headlined: “Smoking-gun email reveals how Hunter Biden introduced Ukrainian businessman to VP dad.”

Both Bidens have said no such meeting was offered, and none took place.

US intelligence agencies reportedly warned the White House last year that Giuliani was the target of a Russian influence operation.

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

A woman sitting just behind Trump has garnered fans on the right after nodding continuously and enthusiastically – and even giving a thumbs up while he spoke during tonight’s town hall:

A town hall attendee asked Joe Biden if Trump deserved credit for creating peace through his foreign policy agenda.

Biden said Trump might deserve “a little” credit but not much because the country has never been more isolated than it is now.

Trump has reportedly considered delivering a major foreign policy speech on withdrawing more troops from Afghanistan before election day.

- Joan E Greve

Joe Biden reiterated his opposition to banning fracking, a crucial issue for voters in Pennsylvania, where his town hall is taking place.

Biden reiterated he did not support banning fracking, but he emphasized that fracking must be handled safely.

Anchor George Stephanopoulos told Biden: “Not everyone buys your denial” on a fracking ban.

Trump has consistently said Biden would ban fracking, and the Democratic nominee has offered numerous denials of that.

- Joan E Greve

Updated

In what could be one of the biggest scheduling clashes of any election cycle, keener viewers have had to flip between the two dueling town halls, or choose one and catch up on the other later.

Although some seem to be doing both, somehow:

Meanwhile, the split screen between Trump and Biden has led many viewers and pundits to draw sharp contrasts between the two events:

Trump town hall ends

Donald Trump received a thorough grilling tonight.

Guthrie’s final question on behalf of voters: why should they give him a second chance?

“Because I’ve done a great job,” he said.

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

“You’re so handsome when you smile,” a voter named Paulette told Trump. He dodged her question about whether he would cut the Daca program.

“We’re going to take care of Daca,” Trump told the voter, who said she was an immigrant from Russia.

Trump’s efforts to kill the Daca program, which grants some immigrants who came to the US as children without papers to get reprieve from deportation and become eligible to work, were defeated by the supreme court.

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

While discussing court-packing, Joe Biden also criticized Amy Coney Barrett’s performance before the Senate judiciary committee this week.

“My reading online – what the judge said was, she didn’t answer very many questions at all,” Biden said of the supreme court nominee.

Barrett repeatedly dodged questions from judiciary committee members by arguing it would be inappropriate for her to offer her personal opinions on major past cases, such as Roe v Wade, before joining the supreme court.

- Joan E Greve

Updated

NBC host Savannah Guthrie is commanding this Trump town hall in a way that we have rarely seen a moderator or interviewer do with the president over the last four years.

After the spectacle of the first debate, when Trump made over 100 interruptions by some counts, it’s been a breath of fresh air for many viewers:

Meanwhile, not everyone on the right is happy with Guthrie’s grilling of Trump:

Trump dodged a direct question about whether he wants to see Roe v Wade overturned. This shouldn’t be a tough question for Trump to answer. Guthrie pressed, “You are running as a pro-life Republican. Most pro-life Republicans would like to see Roe v Wade overturned and abortion banned.”

“I am telling you I don’t want to do anything to influence anything,” he said, reiterating that he has not spoken to Amy Coney Barrett about it.

– Maanvi Singh

Updated

Biden: 'I have not been a fan of court-packing'

George Stephanopoulos grilled Joe Biden on court-packing, an issue where the Democratic nominee has been somewhat evasive in recent days.

“I have not been a fan of court-packing,” Biden said, echoing his other recent comments.

But the Democratic nominee added that his opinion on the matter would be determined by how Republicans handle the confirmation of supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

Senate Republicans are currently on track to confirm Barrett just days before the presidential election. The Senate judiciary committee concluded Barrett’s nomination hearings today.

Biden said that, if Barrett is confirmed before the election, “I’m open to considering what happens from that point on.”

Biden also flat-out acknowledged that he was hesitant to offer an unequivocal opinion on court-packing because he worried it would take media attention away from other issues, such as the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic nominee committed to offering a clear position on court-packing before election day.

- Joan E Greve

  • Guthrie is now grilling Trump on the New York Times investigation that revealed Trump owns a $421m debt.

  • “Who do you owe $421 million to?” she asks.

  • The president dodged the question, insisting the number is “all wrong”. Vaguely, he agreed he “probably” owes money to a foreign entity.

  • “No, I don’t owe Russia money,” he said, adding, besides, “it’s a tiny percentage of the worth”, before trying to shift the conversation to unsubstantiated claims about Hillary Clinton.

  • He said he wouldn’t release his tax returns because of “common sense” and added, “If they have my tax returns, as you know, they have to go to jail.”

  • It’s not that Trump is telling us anything unexpected, or substantial here – but it sure is satisfying to watch an interview where Trump – who most often sticks to friendly Fox News – be challenged and fact-checked live.

  • – Maanvi Singh

    • Updated

    Biden says supporting the 1994 crime bill was a mistake

    A town hall attendee asked Joe Biden about the 1994 crime bill that he helped write, which has attracted widespread criticism in the years since it was passed.

    The town hall questioner pressed Biden on what he now thought of the bill given that it “showed prejudice against minorities.”

    The Democratic presidential nominee said the country has changed “drastically” since 1994, noting that many African American lawmakers supported the legislation.

    Biden argued there were many provisions in the bill that “turned out to be both bad and good”. He cited the assault weapons ban as a positive aspect of the law.

    When asked by George Stephanopoulos whether it was a mistake to support the bill, Biden said, “Yes, it was.”

    - Joan E Greve

    Updated

    “Always ... We will protect people with pre-existing conditions,” Trump said, in response to a voter question about healthcare, promising a replacement for Obamacare.

    Guthrie pushed back. “You’ve been in office for almost four years - you had both houses of Congress – Senate and House – in Republican hands, and there is not a replacement yet.”

    Trump glibly repeated: “We’re going to have new healthcare, much better and much less expensive,” Trump said.

    Trump has long promised and has yet to present his own version of a healthcare plan. His administration is currently seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act in the supreme court.

    Updated

    Joe Biden was pressed on why young African Americans should vote for him when many of them have serious reservations about the Democrat’s record.

    A town hall attendee asked, “Besides ‘you ain’t black,’ what do you have to say to young black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continuously fails to protect them?”

    Biden said of undecided black voters back in May, “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

    In response to the question, Biden emphasized that young African Americans have the ability to determine the outcome of the presidential election.

    The Democratic nominee cited his stances on criminal justice reform and the racial wealth gap as areas where he considered himself to be clearly superior to Trump.

    - Joan E Greve

    Here’s an exchange that may not impress those “suburban women” Trump has appealed to for support:

    – Maanvi Singh

    Meanwhile no tantrums on display at the Biden town hall, where the former vice-president is drawing some plaudits for his measured, coherent responses to questions on how he would handle the pandemic.

    Updated

    Twenty minutes into the debate, an agitated Trump has finally started taking questions.

    The first bit of this town hall has been taken up by quickfire, sharp question from Guthrie – giving Trump a thorough grilling. Even as he answers questions from voters about coronavirus and the economy, Guthrie has not been afraid to step in with live fact checks.

    Responding to a question about why he didn’t do more to stop coronavirus from spreading through the US, Trump once again touted his travel “ban”.

    In fact, the administration’s travel policies did not ban travel. Although non-US citizens were prohibited from entering the country if they had traveled to China within the previous two weeks, American citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members were exempt. Tens of thousands flew in from China into the US even after the restrictions took effect. Similarly, Trump’s European travel restrictions exempted citizens, residents and their families. And initially, the restrictions didn’t apply to the UK and Ireland, as well as most eastern European countries.

    Epidemiologists have told the Guardian that these policies probably had little impact, as they were enacted after the virus was already spreading within the US. “Unfortunately, travel bans sound good,” noted Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, at the time that Trump announced European restrictions. “But we’re way past the point where simply restricting travel is a reasonable response.”

    – Maanvi Singh

    Updated

    While Trump was denying knowledge of the QAnon conspiracy theory, Biden was reading off a notecard to provide a voter with specific numbers on his tax proposals.

    The notable differences between the two presidential nominees are on full display tonight.

    - Joan E Greve

    Trump defends QAnon supporters

    NBC’s Guthrie is prodding Trump on QAnon and asking him to denounce the conspiracy theory.

    Trump is resistant. “I do know they are very much against pedophilia,” he said. “They fight it very hard.”

    Trump: “I just don’t know about QAnon.”

    Guthrie: “You do know!”

    Trump: “No, I don’t know!”

    Asked about why he retweeted the conspiracy theory, Trump tries to hide behind the classic “a retweet is not an endorsement” defense.

    “I don’t get that – you’re the president, not someone’s crazy uncle,” Guthrie responded.

    – Maanvi Singh

    Updated

    Over on NBC, Donald Trump has been getting grilled by the moderator Savannah Guthrie before they open the floor to questions from voters.

    It’s already thrown up some compelling moments with the president being held to account over the timeline of his coronavirus diagnosis, his repeated refusal to wear a mask and his failure to denounce white supremacy in the first debate. Here’s how some viewers have been responding on Twitter:

    This comes after Trump mocked Guthrie and NBC in a rally earlier today, which he may now be starting to regret:

    Joe Biden answered more questions on coronavirus, and one undecided voter asked him about a potential coronavirus vaccine.

    The Democratic presidential nominee said he doesn’t trust what Trump says about vaccine candidates because he says “crazy stuff”.

    But Biden emphasized that he would take a vaccine if public heath experts endorsed it, and he said he would encourage every American to do so as well, although he acknowledged it would be difficult to mandate vaccinations.

    Biden also stressed that the usage of masks would be key to allowing the economy to remain open in the months to come.

    “You don’t have to lock down if you’re wearing a mask,” Biden said.

    - Joan E Greve

    Updated

    Trump falsely claimed that the CDC found that “85% of people who wear a mask catch it”.

    Guthrie, rightly, pushed back with a live fact check – that’s not what the study said.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that Trump is citing (and has done before) found that 85% of a small group (about 150) of Covid-19 patients surveyed said they had often or always worn a mask in days before their diagnoses.

    – Maanvi Singh

    Updated

    Local attorney Nick Feden kicked off Joe Biden’s town hall by asking the Democratic presidential nominee how he would handle the coronavirus pandemic.

    Biden noted that Trump acknowledged to journalist Bob Woodward back in February that coronavirus was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”

    “The president was informed how dangerous this virus was,” Biden said.

    Biden said he called for a more robust response to the virus even though he didn’t have the same alarming information that Trump did.

    - Joan E Greve

    Updated

    NBC’s Savannah Guthrie has been pressing Trump on whether he was tested before the first presidential debate.

    When Trump didn’t directly respond to her question, she pressed repeatedly. “I probably did, and I took a test the day before,” he said. The president very recently admitted that he’s not tested every day.

    Guthrie, a trained lawyer and former litigator, has not been afraid to interrupt and press the president. She asked whether he had pneumonia, what his symptoms were, why he’s so resistant to masks.

    – Maanvi Singh

    Updated

    Donald Trump on stage for his NBC town hall in Miami.

    Follow along for live coverage and fact-checks.

    – Maanvi Singh

    Updated

    Biden and Trump town halls begin

    It is 8 pm ET, and Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s dueling town halls are now under way.

    I will be watching Biden’s town hall, and Maanvi Singh will be watching Trump’s, so stay tuned for more updates and analysis of both events.

    - Joan E Greve

    Updated

    White House was warned Giuliani was target of Russian influence operation - report

    The town halls are just 10 minutes away, but there is breaking news about Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

    The White House was reportedly warned by US intelligence agencies last year that Giuliani was the target of a Russian influence operation.

    The Washington Post reports:

    The warnings were based on multiple sources, including intercepted communications, that showed Giuliani was interacting with people tied to Russian intelligence during a December 2019 trip to Ukraine, where he was gathering information that he thought would expose corrupt acts by former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

    The intelligence raised concerns that Giuliani was being used to feed Russian misinformation to the president, the former officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and conversations.

    The warnings to the White House, which have not been previously reported, led national security adviser Robert O’Brien to caution Trump in a private conversation that any information Giuliani brought back from Ukraine should be considered contaminated by Russia, one of the former officials said.

    The message was, ‘Do what you want to do, but your friend Rudy has been worked by Russian assets in Ukraine,’ this person said. Officials wanted ‘to protect the president from coming out and saying something stupid,’ particularly since he was facing impeachment over his own efforts to strong-arm Ukraine’s president into investigating the Bidens.

    But O’Brien emerged from the meeting uncertain whether he had gotten through to the president. Trump had ‘shrugged his shoulders’ at O’Brien’s warning, the former official said, and dismissed concern about his lawyer’s activities by saying, ‘That’s Rudy.’

    The US intelligence community has concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s chances of victory, and the IC has warned Russia is again trying to influence the election this year.

    - Joan E Greve

    Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and Trump ally who has been convalescing from Covid-19, said he was “wrong” to not wear a mask while he attended an event at the White House and while spending time with Trump.

    Christie attended the Rose Garden event honoring supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett that has been linked to several infections in an outbreak at the White House. He also helped Trump prepare for the first presidential debate.

    In a statement to the New York Times, he said:

    I believed, when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I was wrong not to wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the president and the rest of the team.

    I hope that my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others.

    Christie spent time in an intensive care unit, and was especially vulnerable to complications from the infection due to his asthma. While he has at times been critical of the president, Christie has on the whole been a loyal ally of the president – who has said it was “a blessing from God” that he caught the virus and has continued to draw maskless supporters to campaign rallies across the country.

    In an interview with the New York Times, Christie did not directly blame Trump for his infection.

    Updated

    NBC has said Trump agreed to take a coronavirus test before tonight’s town hall, which comes two weeks after the president announced he had tested positive for the virus.

    The test was conducted by the National Institutes of Health, and the results were reviewed by Dr Anthony Fauci and NIH clinical director Dr Clifford Lane.

    After analyzing the test results and Trump’s medical records, Fauci and Lane concluded with a “high degree of confidence” that the president was not shedding infectious virus.

    The Committee on Presidential Debates canceled the second presidential debate, which was scheduled for tonight, because Trump would not agree to a virtual event to eliminate any concern about spreading coronavirus.

    The president is now en route to the town hall venue in Miami from Trump National Doral, according to the White House press pool.

    Trump’s town hall will be held at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, the city where the second presidential debate was supposed to take place.

    NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie will moderate the town hall, which is scheduled to run for 60 minutes. The president was previewing the event this afternoon by attacking NBC.

    Joe Biden’s campaign said he was tested for coronavirus today, and the test came back negative.

    The Biden campaign announced earlier today that both Biden and Kamala Harris had recently flown on planes with people who had since tested positive for coronavirus.

    One of Harris’ top aides and a flight attendant on her campaign plane tested positive, as did an aviation company administrator on Biden’s plane.

    The Biden campaign said neither Biden nor Harris had close contact to any of the three people who tested positive, so they do not need to quarantine. But Harris canceled her in-person campaigning through Sunday out of an abundance of caution.

    Joe Biden is en route to Philadelphia from Wilmington, according to the Democratic nominee’s press pool.

    Biden’s ABC News town hall tonight will take place at the National Constitution Center, where Barack Obama delivered his speech during the Democratic convention in August.

    Biden’s town hall will be moderated by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, and it will air between 8 and 9.30pm ET.

    Updated

    During tonight’s town halls, Trump and Biden will likely both be asked about the coronavirus relief negotiations, which have hit yet another roadblock.

    House speaker Nancy Pelosi and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin have been trying to reach an agreement on a relief package in recent days, and the two had another conversation today.

    According to Pelosi’s spokesperson, Mnuchin said today that he would accept the Democrats’ language in the bill on establishing a national testing strategy, which had been one of the major sticking points between the two.

    But Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said today that he would not support another massive relief bill.

    Instead, McConnell suggested that Republicans would only support a package with a cost of no more than $500 billion, which is far less than what Pelosi has called for.

    Pelosi’s spokesperson said the speaker raised McConnell’s comments with Mnuchin, and the treasury secretary “indicated that the President would weigh in with Leader McConnell should an agreement be reached.”

    Trump has indicated his own support for a massive relief bill, instructing lawmakers to “go big or go home.”

    Trump and Biden hold dueling town halls in place of debate

    Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

    Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be participating in dueling town halls tonight, in place of the second presidential debate.

    Donald Trump and Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.
    Donald Trump and Joe Biden participate in the first presidential debate at Case Western University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio. Photograph: Reuters

    The debate was canceled after Trump objected to the Commission on Presidential Debates’ proposal to hold a virtual event due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus after the president tested positive for the virus.

    Instead, Biden will be addressing voters from an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia, and Trump will be making his pitch in an NBC News town hall in Miami.

    The two events both start at 8 pm ET, forcing Americans to choose which town hall to watch. The dueling events have become a visceral representation of the country’s divided politics.

    The blog will have both events covered, with me watching Biden’s town hall and my colleague, Maanvi Singh, tuning into Trump’s town hall.

    Maanvi and I will have updates and analysis of both town halls once they get underway in a little over an hour, so stay tuned.

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