Pandemic Again The Main Issue in Final Presidential Debate

The final presidential debate of the 2020 election was a much more calmer affair than the first, but the way Trump has handled the coronavirus pandemic and how the country can move on from it going forwards remained the main sticking points.

With more than 45 million Americans already making the decision to vote early, time is running out for each candidate to earn the votes that will ultimately win them the presidency. Biden went heavy on coronavirus early, while President Trump continued to downplay the pandemic and instead again insisted that a vaccine is just around the corner, despite many experts suggesting that it will take until next summer for a widespread vaccine to be available.

“220,000 Americans dead. You hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this. Anyone who is responsible for not taking control. In fact, not saying I take no responsibility initially,” Biden said with his first remarks in the debate. “Anyone is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America.”

“We’re in a situation where there are a thousand deaths a day now. A thousand deaths a day. And there are over 70,000 new cases per day. Compared to what’s going on in Europe as the New England Medical Journal said, they’re starting from a very low rate. We’re starting from a very high rate.”

In response, Trump reiterated that a vaccine would be available by the end of the year.

Moderator Kristen Walker pressed the president on the issue, letting him know that even those in Trump’s own staff insisted that a vaccine would not be readily available until well into 2021 and that the country would still be wearing masks and socially distancing into 2022.

“No, I think my timeline is going to be more accurate. I don’t know that they’re counting on the military the way I do, but we have our generals lined up, one in particular that’s the head of logistics and this is a very easy distribution for him,” Trump said. “He’s ready to go. As soon as we have the vaccine and we expect to have a 100 million vials. As soon as we have the vaccine, he’s ready to go.”

“Johnson & Johnson is doing very well. Moderna is doing very well. Pfizer is doing very well and we have numerous others. Then we also have others that we’re working on very closely with other countries, in particular Europe.”

The second and final iteration of the 2020 presidential debates was a much calmer and more civil affair than the first. At times, the first debate devolved into a series of interruptions and insults that detracted from the credibility of both candidates. New rules for the second debate included muting the candidate’s microphone when the other was talking, a move that came under fire from Trump but ultimately helped portray him in a better light.

At times, however, the candidates did bring out the insults and got personal with each other.

Former vice president Biden criticized Trump’s policy on health care, the economy and immigration, but at one point also referred to his opposition as “one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history.”

“My response is he is xenophobic, but not because he shutdown access from China. And he did it late after 40 countries had already done that,” Biden said when asked by the moderator to respond to Trump’s comments.

“In addition to that, what he did, he made sure that we had 44 people that were in there in China trying to get to Wuhan to determine what exactly the source was. What did the president say in January? He said, ” No.” He said, “He’s being transparent. The president of China is being transparent. We owe him a debt of gratitude. We have to thank him.””

“It’s not my fault that it came here. It’s China’s fault. And you know what?” Trump said in response. “It’s not Joe’s fault that it came here either. It’s China’s fault. They kept it from going into the rest of China for the most part, but they didn’t keep it from coming out to the world, including Europe and ourselves.

“I want to open the schools. The transmittal rate to the teachers is very small. But I want to open the schools. We have to open our country. We’re not going to have a country. You can’t do this. We can’t keep this country closed,” Trump continued.

“This is a massive country with a massive economy. People are losing their jobs. They’re committing suicide. There’s depression, alcohol, drugs at a level that nobody’s ever seen before. There’s abuse, tremendous abuse. We have to open our country. I’ve said it often, the cure cannot be worse than the problem itself, and that’s what’s happening. And he wants to close down. He’ll close down the country if one person in our massive bureaucracy says we should close it down.”