First Trump-Biden meeting marked by constant interruptions by Trump

In the final moments of Tuesday’s debate, President Trump repeated his baseless claim that mail balloting will invite widespread fraud and declined to commit to accepting the results of the election.

Trump said he “can’t go along” with an election result based on millions of mailed ballots, particularly if many of those ballots are received and counted after Election Day.

“This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen,” he said.

Trump claimed that ballots with his name on them have been found in a creek and in a wastebasket. It’s unclear what the creek reference alluded to, but his mention of the wastebasket referred to nine ballots that an election official in Luzerne County, Pa., found discarded earlier this month.

The matter remains under investigation, and the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has announced that seven of the nine ballots had been cast for Trump. A contract worker in the elections office who discarded the ballots has been fired. It is unknown why the worker discarded the ballots.

Biden said Trump’s claims are “all about trying to dissuade people from voting, because he’s trying to scare people into thinking it’s not going to be legitimate.”

Wallace ended Tuesday’s debate by asking each candidate whether he would pledge to urge calm among his supporters and promise not to make a preemptive claim of victory while votes were still being counted.

Biden said yes, while Trump pointedly refused.

“I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully,” the president said, repeating misleading claims about mail voting — a process of which he has availed himself and which more Americans are using this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump warned ominously, and without evidence, of “bad things” in Philadelphia. “If I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can’t go along with that,” he added.

It marked the latest instance in which the Republican incumbent has refused to commit to accepting the results of the election.

Trump said he expects the Supreme Court, including his not-yet-confirmed nominee Amy Coney Barrett, to settle any disputes that arise over mail-in ballots in the November election.

Noting that early voting has begun in many states, Wallace asked Trump: “Now that millions of mail-in ballots have gone out, what are you going to do about it? And are you counting on the Supreme Court, including a Justice Barrett, to settle in any dispute?”

Trump answered: “I’m counting on them to look at the ballots, definitely. I don’t think we’ll — I hope we don’t need them in terms of the election itself. But for the ballots, I think so.”

In a segment about race, Trump was asked by Wallace if he would condemn white supremacists. The president said he would do so but then didn’t.

“I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right, but what are you saying? I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace,” Trump said.

“Then do it, sir,” Wallace said.

“What do you want to call them? Give me a name,” Trump asked. Wallace offered white supremacists, Proud Boys, right-wing militias.

“Proud Boys? Stand back and stand by,” Trump said before going into an extended attack on antifa.

An online platform for the Proud Boys cheered the president’s answer, a Washington Post reporter tweeted, as other white supremacy groups have in past instances when Trump hasn’t fully condemned them.

Trump continued to make unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud and issues with mailed-in ballots, saying, “We might not know for months” what the outcome of the election is and who wins.

While Trump has left open the question of whether he would accept the results of the election if he loses, Biden sough to stake out a different position.

“If I win, that will be accepted, if I lose that will be accepted,” said Biden. He encouraged voters to cast ballots by mail or in person. “Vote whatever way is best for you,” he said.

Responding to Trump raising doubts about the vote, Biden said: “He’s just afraid of counting the votes."

Trump pointedly declined to pledge to plead with his supporters to stay calm during an extended vote count. Biden said he would urge calm and refrain from declaring a premature victory.

Trump strained to respond to a question about climate change, saying he believed “to an extent” that human pollution and greenhouse gas emissions contribute to the warming of the planet.

“I think a lot of things do, but I think, to an extent, yes,” the president said, maintaining that his aim was to have “crystal-clean water and air. I want beautiful, clean air.” He did not offer a plan to achieve that environmental ideal — or to respond to raging forest fires in the American West.

On his move to roll back fuel-efficiency standards, the president said the difference was “tiny,” while “the car is much less expensive, and it’s a much safer car.”

Biden said he would rejoin the Paris climate accords and rally other nations around environmental standards. He also said it was possible to create jobs and save money while converting to clean energy.

“We spend billions of dollars now on floods, hurricanes, rising seas,” Biden said. “We’re in real trouble.”

In an emotional moment, Biden brought up the allegation that Trump called soldiers “losers,” which the president has denied.

Biden referenced his late son, Beau, who served in Iraq. “My son was in Iraq. He spent a year there,” Biden said. “He got the Bronze Star. … He was not a loser, he was a patriot.”

Hearing “son,” Trump chimed in: “Are you talking about Hunter?”

“No, I’m talking about my son, Beau Biden,” Biden said.

Trump still took it as another opening to attack Hunter and his struggles.

“My son, my son, my son,” Biden said, “like a lot of people we know at home, had a drug problem. He’s overtaken it. He’s fixed it. He’s worked on it. And I’m proud of him.”

“I’m the one that brought back football, by the way. I brought back Big Ten football. It was me and I’m very happy to do it.”

— Trump

Trump opposed the game suspensions, but that’s about it. He and other White House officials indicated federal resources were made available to the Big Ten, but one person familiar with the process told The Washington Post that the conference hasn’t been given, nor has it requested, federal assistance.

“President Trump had nothing to do with our decision and did not impact the deliberations,” an unidentified Big Ten university president told NBC. “In fact, when his name came up it was a negative because no one wanted this to be political.”