10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News

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US election: Trump and Biden deflect key

questions in TV grilling
4 hours ago

US election 2020

The rivals in the US presidential race took part in separate events

US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have
batted away key questions during separate meet-the-voter TV events.

Mr Trump, a Republican, declined to disavow a bizarre online conspiracy, while

Mr Biden, a Democrat, would not divulge plans for the Supreme Court.

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10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News

Both candidates were on the defensive at times on their records, Mr Trump for
a range of issues and Mr Biden on race.

Opinion polls indicate Mr Biden has a solid lead over Mr Trump.

However, polling is still very close in several key states which could decide the
election.

More than 18 million people have already voted in person or by post for the 3
November vote.

Thursday night's town halls, as TV voter question-and-answer events are

known in the US, replaced a cancelled second presidential debate. Mr Trump
had refused to join that showdown virtually, following the recent Covid-19
diagnosis from which he now appears fully recovered.

Who is ahead - Trump or Biden?

A really simple guide to the US election

Fact-checking Trump and Biden on the campaign trail

What were the key moments for Trump?

During his primetime event hosted by TV network NBC in Miami, Florida, the
president was asked about the QAnon conspiracy theory, whose adherents
believe that Mr Trump is battling a clandestine network of elites, oen
involving Satanic plots and child trafficking.

When moderator Savannah Guthrie asked Mr Trump whether he would reject

them, he replied: "I know nothing about QAnon."

REUTERS
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10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News
REUTERS

Mr Trump spent much of the broadcast arguing with the moderator

Ms Guthrie said she had just told him about the group, which has been
labelled a potential terrorist threat by the FBI.

The president said: "I know nothing about it, I do know they are very much
against paedophilia, they fight it very hard."

Mr Trump instead turned his fire on antifa, a loose-knit movement of mainly

far-le activists blamed by the US Department of Justice for civil disorder in
American cities during racial justice protests over the last few months.

YouTube cracks down on QAnon conspiracy theory

For the first time, the president said he would accept a peaceful transfer of
power if he lost next month's election, even as he expressed fears for the
integrity of the vote. Federal election officials say there has been no evidence
of widespread ballot fraud.

"And then they talk, 'will you accept a peaceful transfer,'" Mr Trump said. "And
the answer is, 'Yes, I will.' But I want it to be an honest election, and so does
everybody else."

Mr Trump deflected other questions about healthcare and tax returns and
whether he took a coronavirus test on the day of his last debate with Mr Biden,
saying: "Possibly I did, possibly I didn't."

The president spent much of the town hall arguing with the moderator, who
disputed many of his statements.

But he beamed when one female voter prefaced her question by saying:
"You're so handsome when you smile!"

Very different tones

While the candidate events had the same format, that's where the similarities
ended.

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10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News

President Trump's evening was contentious. Moderator Savannah Guthrie

peppered him follow-ups when he seemed evasive. The president was quicker
on his feet and more congenial than during the first debate, but there's no
question he was once again playing defence.

Flip channels to the Biden town hall, and the tenor was subdued. Moderator
George Stephanopoulos allowed the former vice-president to give long,
sometimes circuitous answers. It had the feel of a public-interest talk show,
complete with solemn readings from the US Constitution before commercial
breaks.

Mr Trump's forum made for more entertaining television - and almost

certainly will have attracted more viewers. But that could be a blessing and a
curse if what American voters want in November is something a little more,
well, boring.

What were the key moments for Biden?

The Democrat demurred when asked during the ABC TV network's town hall
in Philadelphia whether he supported court packing, which would entail
adding seats to the US Supreme Court and appointing justices to influence the
ideological balance of its rulings.

REUTERS

Mr Biden didn't commit to making a Covid-19 vaccine mandatory

Mr Biden has recently been ducking questions on the issue, leading

conservatives to argue he is planning to tamper with the judiciary, which is the
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10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News

third branch of US government.

The former vice-president, who served under Barack Obama, gave conflicting
answers again on Thursday night, at first saying: "I have not been a fan of court
packing. I'm not a fan."

Are older Trump voters sticking with him?

Joe Biden article reignites social media bias claims

But then moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Mr Biden whether he

would be open to expanding the number of justices if Republicans confirmed
Mr Trump's current nominee for an existing vacancy on the nine-seat Supreme
Court.

"I'm open to considering what happens from that point on," he said, though he
declined to reveal his stance on the issue. 

"Depending on how they handle this," he added, apparently referring to the

expected Republican confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

REUTERS

There was controversy over NBC's decision to hold the meeting with Mr Trump at the same time as the
Biden event

Mr Biden deflected again when asked whether his role in helping dra the
1994 crime bill, which the Black Lives Matter movement has blamed for mass
incarceration of African Americans, was a mistake.

"Yes it was," he said. "But here's where the mistake came: the mistake came in
terms of what the states did locally."

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10/16/2020 US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling - BBC News

"It [the bill] had a lot of other things in it that turned out to be both bad and
good," he added.

Mr Biden hedged on whether he would make a future coronavirus vaccine

mandatory.

"It depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine, when it comes out, how
it's distributed," he said.

Another presidential debate on 22 October is still scheduled to take place,

though it is unclear in what format. The first debate last month descended
into insults between the two candidates.

Why we might have to wait for the US election results

Where does Donald Trump stand on key issues?

What Joe Biden wants to do

What questions do you have about the US election?

In just three weeks, Americans head to the polls to cast their vote for Donald
Trump or Joe Biden. What questions do you have for American voters? Submit
your questions here and we'll put them to our voter panel.

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