US debate live news: Trump, Biden get off to a contentious start

U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in their first 2020 presidential campaign debate held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., September 29, 2020. [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Trump, Biden meet for the first of three presidential debates. Chris Wallace of Fox News moderates the debate from Cleveland, Ohio. The topics Wallace will discuss with the candidates are the Trump and Biden records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in US cities and the integrity of the election. Mike Pence and Kamala Harris will also meet for one debate on October 7. Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of tonight’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This is Steve Chaggaris and I will be joined by William Roberts and presidential debate expert Alan Schroeder. 22:20 ET – Analysis: Trump’s debate style Debate expert Alan Schroeder: “Trump’s style as a debater relies heavily on the repetition of catch-phrases like ‘radical revolution’ that sound ludicrous outside the confines of the right-wing echo chamber.” “This rhetoric is undoubtedly effective with those who already support him, but does it resonate with anybody else?” US President Donald Trump gestures as he participates in the first 2020 presidential campaign debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters] 22:15 ET – Law enforcement and racism Trump accused Biden of not supporting law enforcement. “If he ever got to run this country and they ran it the way he would want to run it … Our suburbs would be gone,” Trump said, noting that law enforcement unions have been endorsing him.Biden pushed backed accusing Trump of racism. “I was raised in the suburbs. This is not the 1950s. All these dog whistles and racism don’t work anymore. The suburbs are by and large integrated,” Biden said. Trump wants to “rile everybody up. He doesn’t want to calm things down. I’m saying let’s get everybody together, figure out how to deal with this. What he’s doing, he just pours gasoline on the fire constantly at every single solitary time,” Biden said. 22:05 ET – Trump, Biden bring the families into it Unsurprisingly, Trump brought up Biden’s son Hunter, whose business dealings in China and Ukraine have been the focus of Republican criticism. Trump mentioned a finding from a recent Senate Republican investigation saying that the mayor of Moscow gave Hunter Biden $3.5m. “What did he do to deserve it,” Trump asked Biden? “Totally discredited,” Biden said. “My son did nothing wrong.” Biden then shot back saying if Trump wanted to drag family into this debate, they could talk about the Trumps “all night.” Trump responded saying what he’s said throughout his presidency: that he and his family have “lost a fortune” with their public service. 22:00 ET – Analysis: Debate moderating isn’t easy The job of moderating a presidential debate has gotten exponentially more difficult in recent cycles, debate expert Alan Schroeder points out. “With Trump in the mix, it has become nearly impossible,” says Schroeder. “Wallace will take a lot of heat for calling out Trump’s interruptions, but it needed to be done.” Debate moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News Channel talks to the audience before the first 2020 presidential campaign debate held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Brian Snyder/Reuters] 21:55 ET – Biden’s false claim about Trump’s coronavirus plan Biden said the Trump administration has no coronavirus plan. Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking group, says that claim is false. “In Sept, the Trump admin announced its most detailed plan to date regarding how it will distribute vaccines,” Politifact explains. “The plan shows that the federal government aims to make the two-dose vaccine free of cost. States will submit their plans to the feds in Oct.” 21:50 ET – Analysis: Biden’s facial expressions Debate expert Alan Schroeder: “Joe Biden’s look of incredulity is getting a real work-out in this debate. Biden has always had a knack for knowing what to do with his facial expressions when his opponent is talking.” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participates in the first 2020 presidential campaign debate with US President Donald Trump, held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Brian Snyder/Reuters] 21:45 ET – Covid and the economy Trump accused Biden of wanting to shut down the country to deal with the pandemic and said states should reopen. “People know what to do, they can social distance they can wear masks they can do whatever they want. We have got to open these states,” Trump said. “This guy will shut down the whole country,” Trump said. “He’s going to be the first president of the United States to leave office having fewer jobs than when he first got elected,” Biden said. “You can’t fix the economy until you fix the COVID crisis,” Biden said. As Trump interrupted Biden shot back: “You’re the worst president the country has ever had.” US President Donald Trump participates in the first 2020 presidential campaign debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Brian Snyder/REUTERS] 21:40 ET – Fact-check: Trump claims he built the ‘greatest economy’ in US history It’s a claim he has said repeatedly throughout his presidency, but as Al Jazeera Digital Senior Business Editor Patricia Sabga points out: “We built the greatest economy in history” before COVID-19 shut it down is a false claim Trump has made again and again. Though the economy was doing well pre-pandemic, with an unemployment rate hovering near a half century low, annual economic growth on his watch was not the strongest stretch on record and well short of the 4 to 6 percent growth he had promised voters he would deliver. 21:35 ET – Analysis: Both candidates start off sharp “If the Fox News crowd was expecting a slobbering, doddering Joe Biden to show up for this debate, they must be disappointed,” says debate expert Alan Schroeder. “Both candidates seem sharp and on top of the exercise, at least in the first half hour.” 21:30 ET – Trump says COVID response would have been worse under Biden Biden cites the stats, slams Trump for saying “It is what is.” “It is what it is because you are who you are. That’s why it is. The president has no plan.” Trump responds: “If we would have listened to you the country would have been left wide open. Millions of people would have died not 200 thousand. One is too many.” Trump continued, “We are weeks away from a vaccine. We are doing therapeutics. Already fewer people are dying when they get sick. Far fewer people are dying. We’ve done a great job.” 21:25 ET – Trump, Biden spar over health care Biden on Trump’s health care policies: “He has no plan for health care. He sends out wishful thinking. He has executive orders that have no power.  He hasn’t lowered drug costs for anybody.” “The fact is this man doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Biden then responds to Trump interrupting him: “Will you shut up man.” 21:20 ET – Analysis: Biden reactions mirror his 2012 VP debate “In his 2012 vice presidential debate with Paul Ryan, Biden deployed an arsenal of smiles, chuckles and guffaws as lethal weapons. We are seeing that again, and I expect we’ll see it all evening long,” says presidential debate expert Alan Schroeder. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participates in the first 2020 presidential campaign debate with US President Donald Trump, held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Brian Snyder/REUTERS] 21:15 ET – Analysis: Moderators are sticklers for the rules Presidential debate expert Alan Schroeder: “Moderators get too hung up on the rules. Who cares if we have ‘now moved into open discussion?’ Just let the candidates have a normal, organically flowing conversation, then move on to the next topic when it feels right.” 21:13 ET – Wallace stands up to Trump As Trump attempted to cut off the debate’s moderator, Chris Wallace, Wallace said: “I am the moderator of this debate and I would like to ask my question.” Trump shot back, “I guess I’m debating you not him.” US President Donald Trump participates in the first 2020 presidential campaign debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, held on the campus of the Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, September 29, 2020. [Morry Gash/Pool via REUTERS] 21:10 ET – The candidates’ Supreme Court arguments Trump said he’s the president and he has the authority to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Biden brought the Democrats’ strategy to the stage regarding Barrett’s nomination: focus on the Affordable Care Act and make the argument that it will be in peril under a conservative court. 21:04 ET – The debate is underway Following his explanation of the debate’s ground rules and introductions of the candidates, moderator Chris Wallace posed the first questions to both about Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett: “Why are you right” and the other wrong regarding her nomination and “Where do you think a Justice Barrett would take the court?” 20:50 ET – Social distancing on stage Because of the need to distance for COVID-19, the debaters’ lecterns will be spaced further apart than normal, presidential debate expert Alan Schroeder points out. This means the director may find it difficult to take a 2-shot that shows both candidates inside the same frame. As a result, look for more split-screens with the debaters appearing in separate boxes. Preparations take place for the first Presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio. [Patrick Semansky/AP Photo] 20:30 ET – Trump and Biden’s invited guests Because of coronavirus precautions, the in-person audience will be small at tonight’s debate – around 80 people total. Aside from campaign staff, family and a few journalists, the campaigns have each invited a few guests. Among Trump’s guests are Alice Marie Johnson, an advocate for criminal justice reform that Trump pardoned last month; UFC fighter Colby Covington and Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Biden’s guests include Kristin Urquiza, who lost her father to COVID-19 in June and criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention last month; Ohio clothing shop owner Gurnee Green and Ohio union steelworker James Evanoff Jr. 20:15 ET – Social media debate disinformation debunked FactCheck.org, a non-partisan project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, dug into claims made about Biden on Facebook and Twitter leading up to tonight’s debate. They concluded that claims that Joe Biden “got tonight’s debate questions in advance” and that he will be wearing an earpiece are baseless. 20:10 ET – Pre-debate handshake, or not? As a COVID-19 safety measure, Trump and Biden have agreed not to shake hands at the start of tonight’s debate in Cleveland. Presidential debate expert Alan Schroeder points out that back in 1980, also in Cleveland, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter agreed in advance to dispense with an opening handshake at their debate, but Reagan violated the agreement, marched up to Carter’s lectern and shook his hand anyway, hoping to throw Carter off his game. Could a similar move be attempted tonight? President Jimmy Carter, left, and Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan, shake hands in Cleveland, Ohio, before debating before a nationwide television audience, October 28, 1980 [File: AP Photo] 20:05 ET – Large majority of voters plan to watch tonight: Poll About three in four US voters (74 percent) plan to watch the first presidential debate live, according to a Monmouth University Poll released this week. The twist? Only 13 percent say that they are very or somewhat likely to hear something that will affect their decision for whom to vote, while 87 percent say that is not likely. Before the first debate in September 2016, 75 percent of voters planned to watch and 12 percent said it would likely or somewhat likely affect their vote. “These results underscore the fact that the audience for these debates are voters who already have a rooting interest in one side or the other,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “The spin and media framing after the fact is more important for potentially moving the small group of persuadable voters who remain.” Watch Al Jazeera’s live debate coverage here. An employee vacuums a rug near the stage ahead of the first presidential debate at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio [Julio Cortez/AP Photo] 20:00 ET – What to watch for during tonight’s debate Our debate expert Alan Schroeder points out the extreme contrasts both Trump and Biden will display during their first debate meeting: “One candidate who plays by the rules, another who does not. One candidate who has spent weeks preparing, another who has not. One candidate with fresh debate experience, another whose most recent debate took place four years ago.” Read Alan’s full analysis here.