Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off in final presidential debate

23 October 2020, 03:24

Election 2020 Debate
Election 2020 Debate. Picture: PA

President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are facing off in Nashville, Tennessee.

The second and final presidential debate of the 2020 US election has begun.

President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are facing off in Nashville, Tennessee, more than three weeks after their first debate.

A representative of the Commission on Presidential Debates has a mute button to ensure each candidate has two full minutes uninterrupted to deliver opening answers on six major topics.

They opened the debate by sparring over the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Trump insisted he had done a good job with the worldwide pandemic and said the country needs to “learn to live with it”.

Mr Biden shot back: “People are learning to die with it.”

Responding to unfounded allegations from Mr Trump that he has received funds from Russian sources, Mr Biden noted that he has released 22 years of taxes, which he says show “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life”.

Pointing his finger at Mr Trump, Mr Biden asked: “What are you hiding?”

The two candidates took questions on how they would deter foreign interference in American elections.

US officials have reported that Russian hackers have targeted the networks of dozens of state and local governments in the United States in recent days, stealing data from at least two servers.

The president said that nobody has been tougher on Russia through sanctions and pushing for increased military spending by NATO than him.

Mr Biden said his son did nothing inappropriate while working for a company in Ukraine while noting the president was the one who got impeached for dealings with that country.

Mr Trump said Mr Biden’s son Hunter drew a large salary from a Ukrainian firm.

Mr Biden responded that the accusation had been investigated repeatedly and did not link him to any wrongdoing.

He also noted that the president was impeached for attempting to pressure the president of Ukraine to find potentially damaging information on his family.

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Activists help migrants to pack their belongings in a makeshift camp in Paris

Police clear migrant camp in central Paris in pre-Olympics sweep, say aid groups

The embassy of China in Berlin

German EU politician’s aide arrested on suspicion of spying for China

Donald Trump

‘Catch and kill’ to be described to jurors in Trump’s hush money trial

Bosnian police arrest a suspect

Bosnia police arrest 23 suspected of being part of drug kingpin’s ‘inner circle’

People look at fragments of the television tower which was hit by a Russian missile in Kharkiv

Russian strike on Kharkiv TV tower part of intimidation campaign, says Zelensky

Malaysia Helicopter Crash

Two Malaysian military helicopters collide and crash, killing 10 people on board

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi

Modi accused of hate speech for calling Muslims ‘infiltrators’ at election rally

Ten people were killed after the crash

Ten people killed after two Malaysian helicopters collide mid-air during rehearsal for military parade

Elon Musk

Elon Musk accuses Australia of censorship after court bans stab attack video

China Floods

Heavy rainstorms kill four people in southern China

Several hundred students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at Yale University campus

Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses after arrests at Columbia

North Korea

North Korean leader leads rocket drills that simulate nuclear counterattack

Rebel Wilson claims a British royal invited her to a drug-fuelled orgy in her upcoming memoir.

Rebel Wilson claims member of the Royal family 'invited her to drug-fuelled orgy' in upcoming bombshell memoir

Donald Trump accused of orchestrating 'criminal scheme to corrupt 2016 election' on first day of hush money trial

Donald Trump accused of orchestrating 'criminal scheme to corrupt 2016 election' on first day of hush money trial

Volodymyr Zelensky

Biden will send Ukraine weapons once Senate approves aid package, says Zelensky

Trump Hush Money

Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ 2016 election, prosecution alleges