The second and final debate between Joe Biden and Pres. Trump ended Thu. with little of the chaos that defined the first.
For starters, new CPD debate rules mandated a mute button on the candidates' microphones — so, that helped.
Many credited moderator Kristen Welker for keeping the presidential candidates in line during the debate.
With less than two weeks until Election Day, Thu.'s debate was the candidates' last chance to appeal to undecided voters.
Trump opened the night with a lesson he learned from his COVID-19 diagnosis: "We're learning to live with it."
Coronavirus in the US, by the numbers (NYT): • 8.4M+ cases • 223K+ deaths • average 62K+ new cases per day
Biden: "[There are folks] who have an empty chair at the kitchen table this morning...Come on. We're dying with it."
Trump also addressed his comments in April suggesting light therapy and disinfectants to treat COVID-19. He said:
Biden criticized Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani for peddling Russian disinformation: "He's being used as a...pawn."
Biden also called for Trump to release his tax returns, which Trump promised to release as president in 2016. (CNN)
The New York Times reported in Oct. that Trump only paid $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017. He said:
Trump, on aid to Ukraine: "While he was selling pillows and sheets, I sold tank-busters to Ukraine."
Trump also continued his ongoing crusade against wind turbines during the debate: "It kills all the birds."
Trump: "Nobody has done more for the Black community than Donald Trump...with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln."
So, who won the debate? Well, according to a CNN/SSRSS poll, 53% of debate watchers said Biden won the debate.