WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2020) US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden opened their final debate sparring over the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic with the president saying a vaccine would be announced within weeks.
Trump opened the debate defending his record against the pandemic, saying that his administration would announce a vaccine within weeks. Trump also said that Americans are learning to live with COVID-19 and the US needs to open schools. Trump again blamed China for US woes due to the virus.
Biden in response said Trump still has no comprehensive plan to fight COVID-19. The former vice presient called Trump's approach "tragic"
Their second televised showdown got under way in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday shortly after 9:00 p.m. EST (1:00 a.m. GMT Friday), moderated by NBC news correspondent Kristen Welker. The debate rules have changed, as the moderator will be allowed to cut-off microphones given the candidates interrupted each other repeatedly in the previous debate.
Biden is ahead by an average of 8 percent nationally in the most recent eleven surveys posted on poll aggregator Realclearpolitics.com (RCP). Meanwhile, Trump is behind in polling in 8 of the top 12 battleground states, but nearly all within a typical margin of error, and most have tightened in the past week. Over 47 million early votes have been cast as of Thursday, outpacing 2016 by nearly a factor of eight, with 70% received by mail ahead of the November 3 election.
