The Republican avoids the anger of the first crossing and tries to extend the shadow of corruption over the Democrat
A sharp Joe Biden with wellprepared retorts came out to attack Donald Trump in the last presidential debate before the November 3 election
The Democratic candidate took advantage of the discussion on the pandemic to hit the president impeccable in form but implacable in the background and jumped to the jugular when the evening entered the mud of accusations of corruption
The Republican more restrained than usual defended himself without fanfare from the blows of the Democratic candidate which improved his image after the chaos of the first meeting and brought him closer to conservatives tired of the tension but also made it clear that without him noise it loses part of its aura
Trump and Biden met at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee 12 days before DDay to fight for the last undecided votes to incite supporters who are not sure whether to go to the polls or demobilize their adversaries
Unlike the first crossing this time the Democrat did not let the Republican escape from the biggest crisis hitting the country the pandemic that has already claimed nearly 223000 lives in the United States
This is the same guy who said this was going to end by Easter but were heading into a dark winter and he doesnt have a plan he said
The president replied that the virus was the responsibility of China the country where the outbreak began and exposed his own contagion for which he was hospitalized to reduce the severity of the health crisis insisting that 99 of the people recover
He assured that the vaccine would be ready in a matter of weeks He says people are learning to live with it no people are learning to die with it many of you have an empty chair in the kitchen Biden replied
The winner or loser of an electoral debate is decided based on expectations In reality the candidates compete against themselves
The 77yearold Biden is not a good debater or a great speaker but this Thursday he struck Trump well spoke with more poise than at the first crossing and made no big mistakes
The Republican 74 a television creature went from less to more throughout the night especially when he began to label Biden disparagingly as a politician of clichés and set himself up as that man outside the rules from Washington who speaks to them with raw frankness the aspect most valued by his followers
Descending from that mechanical bull in which he seems to be raised at times Trump managed to convey his message in a more presidential way something that his advisers had recommended after the virulent spectacle that the September debate became and that may have reconciled him with some scared republican
But in front he also had an improved Biden When he began attacking his rival for his sons business Hunter Biden in Ukraine what was promised the most turbulent chapter of the night he failed to destabilize the contrary
The son of the Democratic candidate was hired by a Ukrainian gas company Burisma on a gold salary at the time his father was vice president of the Obama Administration
The signing aroused suspicions and criticism but neither the Ukrainian justice nor an investigation of the Republicans in Congress found evidence that this deal had influenced the Washington police towards Kiev in any way
Trump has nevertheless found a vein to pull to try to associate Biden with corruption just as he did in 2016 with Hillary Clinton whom he always called Hillary the corrupt
Baseless he accused Biden of collecting from China Russia and Ukraine His son did not have a job in his life and as soon as he is vice president they hire him he criticized
Your brother made millions of dollars your other brother made a fortune all through you Joe And they say that you took a part You live very well in houses everywhere he said without details
Biden then jumped on the presidents neck I have not received a penny from any foreign source in my entire life he said adding You are the one who had a bank account in China data published a few days ago by The New York Times
Second I have submitted all my tax returns for 22 years and you have not submitted a single one What are you hiding Russia pays you a lot China also pays you a lot through its businesses he added referring to the group hotelier of the president managed by his children
Despite the scuffle it was a completely different debate from the first one so bitter that it forced the next one to change the rules
This time in each thematic block the candidates could make their initial presentation lasting two minutes without interruption because the organizers turned off their microphone
But then in the questions and replies there was also an orderly discussion to which the Obamaera vice president seemed to arrive more prepared
As cliché as it may seem if an undisputed winner were to be singled out it would be the moderator Kristen Welker the NBC correspondent in the White House who led the debate to that difficult balance between freshness and serene exchange
Still the evening left phrases for history such as when the Republican said No one has done more for the black community than Donald Trump with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln the president who ended slavery Biden scoffed shortly after
This Abraham Lincoln we have here In immigration he took his hard version the same from 2016 when the moderator asked him about the 545 children separated from their parents at the border they cannot reunite because they cannot find it Trump replied that the coyotes are brought by bad people and denounced the arrival of murderers and rapists Biden for his part promised a reform to regularize 11 million undocumented immigrants
Impossible to measure the effect of tonight there are few undecided voters and 47 million Americans who in fact have already voted early
The only certainty is that tonight in Tennessee land of bourbon and country music the world saw the last presidential debate of Donald Trump Even if he won reelection he could not run for a third term
