Paula lugones
10/22/2020 11:52 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 10/23/2020 12:02 AM
With only
12 days to go until the elections in the United States
, Donald Trump and Joe Biden were twisted last night in the last presidential debate on the fight against the coronavirus and corruption, but in a much more moderate tone than in the chaotic first meeting of principles of month.
While the president performed well, the Democrat, who
ranks
first in the polls,
successfully got around his last major hurdle
before the election.
The debate was moderated by journalist
Kristen Welker, the White House correspondent for the NBC network
, on which all eyes fell to see if she could manage to keep the candidates under control, after a tremendously chaotic first meeting with beginning of the month in which they
were constantly interrupted
.
It can be said that he succeeded.
He was helped by the fact that this time the candidates' microphones were turned off at the beginning of each stage to prevent them from being interrupted.
But Trump and Biden, who had intense exchanges,
looked much more civilized than in the first face-to-face
, full of insults and furious crossovers.
The first topic that was addressed was the coronavirus.
With crosses and chicanes, Trump defended his management and said that the US had a lower death rate than expected.
Quick Biden counterattacked:
"220 thousand people died. If there is any person responsible for not controlling the situation, it is Trump
and he should not remain as president. There are a thousand deaths a day. He has no comprehensive plan. I do have."
Donald Trump, during the debate, made permanent gestures.
(AFP)
“This man has no idea. We cannot have the country closed, ”Trump shot
.
And he said that people lose their jobs, get sick, commit suicide.
"The cure cannot be worse than the problem."
Biden replied, "We can open safely."
Trump said that the virus was going away and on the possibilities of obtaining a vaccine he pointed out that local laboratories are moving very fast and that they would have it before the end of the year.
But Biden interrupted him: "This man said that the pandemic would end at Easter,
we are going to enter a very dark winter and he has no plan,
" he insisted.
In another spicy stretch, Trump accused Biden of corruption
: "Joe got 3.5 million dollars from Russia
.
"
The Democrat defended himself with an attack: "I never received a coin from Russia or any country. I spread 22 years of tax returns. You none, what are you hiding? "
Joe Biden hugs his wife at the end of the debate (AFP)
Perhaps Trump's best moment is when he
mentioned Hunter Biden's business in China
.
Biden said that what matters is not his family but American families and their problems.
Trump sneeringly replied that his rival dodges the China issue to talk about the family table.
"Typical politician, come on Joe."
When the president insisted on painting Biden as corrupt, the Democrat snapped at him: “You know him, you know me.
Character matters, it is at stake in the vote ”
.
On the environment, a subject that had not been touched in the previous debate, Trump said that
"I am not going to sacrifice millions of jobs and companies
.
"
"We have the lowest carbon emission rates in years," he said.
He speaks to the workers of the "rust belt" who do not want regulations.
Biden: "We have a moral obligation. We don't have time," he said. And he promised a balance between clean energy and job creation.
On the immigration issue, Biden said Trump called Mexicans rapists.
He said that
the more than 500 Latin American boys who were separated from their parents at the border "are being well cared for
."
This is the last chance they had for a personal duel.
Trump desperately needed this debate to recover in the polls, after the second meeting that was scheduled for October 15 was canceled because he refused to do it virtually because he had tested positive for coronavirus.
According to the average of
RealClearPolitics
polls
,
Biden leads Trump by 7.9 percentage points nationally
but the gap narrows to 4% in the key states, which range for Democrats or Republicans depending on the election.
But although the former vice president is a considerable distance in the numbers, in his campaign he hovers over the ghost of the 2016 elections, when Trump was lagging behind in the polls and ended up winning Hillary Clinton (although he lost in the popular vote), by a handful of votes in those states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Trump had one last chance to try to hit hard, to regain momentum and twist wills at the last minute, in prime time on American television with millions of people watching.
He performed well.
By moderating the tone, he added presidential style, one of his weakest points
.
As he marches comfortably ahead in the polls, the 77-year-old Biden just needed not to make gross mistakes and be vigorous, to counter the image with which his rival paints him, who accuses him of being senile and lacking energy.
It did not happen that way.
A
Biden was so hard and emphatic answers
.
He didn't make big mistakes.
One of the last questions was: What would you say in your inauguration speech to those who did not vote for you?
"Success is going to unite us," Trump said.
And Biden responded: “I'll say that I represent all of you, those who elected me or not.
I will give you hope ”.
And he ended with a message to voters: "
What this is the character of the country, decency, honor, respect
."