Q1 Covid: to T. How will you handle it going forward? T: vaccine due in weeks. Better therapeutics. Making 1000s of ventilators. B: 200k dead … masks, testing, national standards, open schools. I will end this. I will make sure we have a plan.
K: asks which co have vaccine coming up. T: J&J, and several others I missed.will have 100m vials ready to go. B: need to make sure it’s fully tested. Says T has no clear plan. T: says we know a lot more about the disease. Hammers B re H1N1. B: he closed down China late (!)
(So far so good on no interruptions …).
T: won’t be over soon, but we’re learning to live with it. Can’t stay in a basement and handle it. (!). 99% of people recover. K: says CDC says young pp can get it (irrelevant). Gives B another go. Who hammers T for saying it would be over by Easter. Says we’re learning to die with it.
T: when I closed he said I shouldn’t have closed (true). B: says he didn’t say T was xenophobic re Covid closure (he did).
T: says Shutdown states are dying and all run by Democrats. We have to open the country. Cure can’t be worse than the disease. B: says can open and protect at same time. Come on! T: says NY is dead.
K: asks T re Fauci (who T had called an idiot). T: Fauci is a good man, made some mistakes. B: think about what T was told in January re the danger of Covid.
Q2: National security and vote security. B: any country tries to interfere will pay the price. T: says B got $3.5 m from Russia, via Moscow mayor. I got no money from Russia. No one tougher than me on Russia. Sanctions etc…B: I’ve never taken any money from a foreign government. Accuses T of taking money from China. Onto T tax returns. T: says no money from China or Russia. Accuses B of taking Russian and Chinese money. B: says show us your taxes. T: I’ve prepaid tens of millions.
Q3: Ukraine and China: any issue there mr B? B: all sorts of people said I did my job impeccably. T: Hunter got 183k per month from Burisma. B: no one said he did anything wrong. (K is shifting the debate, wants to move on. Now cuts it short).
Q4 China: how would you handle? B: would make it abide by international rules. Says all T does is cozy up to them and NK. T: I’ve already made China pay. B: to camera, it’s not about his family or my family, it’s about your family. K cuts off T again, I’m guessing a bit more than B.
DPRK: T: Obama said we’d be at war. There’s no war. B repeats Obama policy. C’mon!
Q5 Healthcare: ACB nomination is all about Obamacare. T: Preexisting conditions will always be protected. Just got rid of the individual mandate. B: my plan will be Obamacare with a public option. Bidencare. K: to B what o you say to people who say your plan is a move to socialism (why it’s almost as if they’d pre-agreed the questions).
C’mon!
(K is definitely giving more time in follow ups to B than T)
Q6 Unemployment. T Pelosi is stopping the aid bill. B: says recovery act has been sitting there since summer.
(Overall, much better experience with the mute button … not that she’s used it, it just the threat of it seems to work).
K to B: is now the right time for increase in minimum wage? B yes. They need help. T it should be a state issue. Each state is different. K cuts T off again. Gives B another go (does she know she’s so biased?)*
Q7 Children of illegal immigrants. Separated from parents. T cages were built by Obama. We’re trying to reunite. B they came with parents, were separated at border. Talk of cayotes. T they did it, we changed it.
Immigration reform q to Biden: B: ast time we took too long to get it right. We will have pathway to citizenship for 11 million. Dreamers too. Won’t send them back. T he had 8 years to fix it. Did nothing but build cages. K again gives B chance to respond. T catch and release is a very bad system. B gets another chance : says when released they do come back for trial.
Q8: Race. The talk. B: I understand why they fear for their children. B repeats the narrative of police violence against blacks. My kids didn’t need The Talk (actually they should get it). T I understand why they fear for their children. He had 47 years to do something. Did nothing except the 1994 Crime Bill made them Superpredators. I did the First Step Act. Had to twist a lot of arms. Prison and criminal justice reform. I’ve done it, Joe did nothing. Also helped HBCUs.
BLM, q to T are you contributing to racial hatred.T I have good rels with all pp, I’m the least racial person you know. B: C’mon! Hates Mexicans, banned Muslims, etc
Q9 Crime bill q to B. B it was a mistake. We schouldn’t put pp in jail for drug problems, should be going into treatment. T why didn’t you get it done in the 8 years with Obama. You’re all the same you politicians, all talk no action! B gets final word .. blames Republican Congress.
Q10 climate change.T trillion trees program.i love clean air and water.we have lowest carbon numbers in 30 years. Look at China amd Russia. Filthy! Paris Accord treated us badly. Won’t sacrifice jobs. B: existential threat. We will not thresholds. Great opportunity. Specifics: 50,000 charging stations, insulating building, green energy will create 18.6 m jobs. T 6.5 k will be cost to each person of the GND. It’s a crazy plan (but gives no alternative). B talks to camera: my plan is supported by localities, individuals. T wind is very expensive. Kills birds. I love solar! B I never said I oppose fracking. We need to capture the emissions. Need to become zero carbon by 2025 (really?)
K chops at off, gives B a final word, again
Final question: What will you say at inauguration to those who didn’t vote for you. One minute. T: Success will bring us together. Low taxes. Strong economy. Blah blah (Not a good final answer from T )
B I’ll say I’m an American president. We choose science over fiction, we can grow the economy deal with systemic racism, make clean energy. What is on the ballot: decency, honour, respect. I make sure you get that. (Better finish for B than T)
Wrapping up.
Biden did fine, no gaffes and good presentations. Trump behaved himself and was pretty coherent. Supporters of both will be happy, is my guess. Biden has more specific plans. Trump made more of how he’s not a “politician”. “These politicians are all the same, all talk no action”. And why didn’t B do all these things in the 47 years he’s been in government.
*24 to 2 is the count of Kristen interrupting Trump vs the times she interrupted Biden. So my impression was right.
ADDED: Biden got away with the Hunter Biden corruption allegations. Denial is not debunking.
