First 2020 presidential debate

President Trump offered a frank defense of himself when questioned about new reporting on the minimal amount in income tax he’s paid: “I don’t want to pay tax.”

It was a defense that amounted to Trump saying the tax loopholes for wealthy Americans are there to exploit — even if, at the same time, he tried to claim he’s paid “millions of dollars” in taxes in the first years of his presidency.

It was a contradictory response, but one that seems to capture how Trump has sought to explain himself since The New York Times first reported details of his tax returns over the weekend.

Trump has simultaneously sought to claim he was doing what everyone else was by avoiding taxes while also insisting he pays millions in taxes, which contradicts the Times reporting that he paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017.

Somewhat surprisingly, Biden did not seem to grasp on to Trump’s answers for long, even though his campaign has made it a major issue over the past several days.

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After a chaotic first half of the debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked President Trump to stop interrupting.

When Trump tried to push back by stating Biden had interrupted him, Wallace added, "Frankly, you've been doing more interrupting than he has."

President Donald Trump defended his large rallies during the coronavirus pandemic, attacking Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s smaller events that largely follow guidelines on gatherings from states and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Asked why he holds big rallies, Trump said, “Because people want to hear what I have to say,” boasting about crowds of “25 — 35,000 people.” 

Since the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic in mid-March, Trump has held 21 campaign rallies, mostly at partially outdoor airplane hangar venues. Three of those rallies — Tulsa, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Arizona, and Henderson, Nevada —were held indoors. Supporters largely do not wear masks and little to no social distancing is observed. 

Biden hit back at Trump, calling him “totally irresponsible” and suggesting the President doesn’t care about spread among his supporters: “He never worried about you. He’s not worried about the people out there breathing.”

Trump later hit back at Biden, saying, “If you could get the crowds, you would have done the same thing. But you can’t, nobody can.”

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More than 200,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 and President Trump is still casting doubt about the effectiveness of wearing a mask – and mocking Democratic nominee Joe Biden for doing so himself.

Biden, when asked about the use of masks, again referenced the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director’s beseeching of Americans to put them on – and reiterated how many lives could be saved in the coming months if people took his advice.

Trump jumped in to argue to that health officials have said “the opposite” – a false claim that he’s repeated when questioned on the matter.

“No serious person has said the opposite,” Biden shot back.

Trump again interrupted to say that Dr. Anthony Fauci had said precisely that, before noting, almost in passing, that Fauci had changed his position from the very early days of the pandemic.

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When the notion of politicizing a coronavirus vaccine arose, President Trump made no attempt to tamp down the notion he’s rushing companies to develop one before November’s election.

“I disagree with both of them,” Trump said when questioned about statements made by health experts in his administration — including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — suggesting it might be next year before a vaccine is widely available.

Trump said he’s talking to drugmakers himself about developing a vaccine and said they can “go faster than that by a lot” — even though the major drugmakers have all pledged to not make a vaccine available until it meets all safety and efficacy standards.

And he fully embraced the idea that developing a vaccine would be influenced by politics.

It was an example of Trump making little attempt to rebut the very thing he was being accused of — making a vaccine a central element of his presidential campaign.

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After the first half hour of a contentious debate, former vice president Joe Biden is leading slightly in speaking time with more than 13 minutes.

Joe Biden turned directly to the camera tonight and asked the American people whether they trust President Trump about coronavirus, noting that the President told journalist Bob Woodward in February that he downplayed the virus.

Biden continued: “He’s on record as saying it. He panicked or he just looked at the stock market, one of the two, because guess what, a lot of people die and a lot more are going to die unless he gets a lot smarter, a lot quicker.”

Trump took issue with the former vice president questioning his intelligence, attacking Biden for graduating from University of Delaware and said he “graduated either the lowest or almost the lowest in your class.”

“Don’t ever use the word smart with me,” Trump said.

The moment highlighted a key difference in the election: Biden has made the virus the most pressing issue of his campaign, while Trump has tried to downplay it on the campaign trail.

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President Trump got into a tense exchange with moderator Chris Wallace at the top of tonight's debate as Wallace attempted to ask the President about his health care plan.

Finally, after a few more interruptions, Wallace was able to ask his question: "What is the Trump health care plan?"

To which Trump responded, "Well first of all, I guess I'm debating you, not him, but that's okay I'm not surprised."

Hear the exchange:

The debate devolved into chaos in the first 20 minutes, as President Trump repeatedly talked over former Vice President Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News.

Trump persistently interrupted nearly every Biden answer on the Supreme Court and the candidates' health care plans, as well as Biden's rebuttals to Trump.

The interruptions turned the early portions into a free-for-all in which there was little room to explore policy differences.

Exasperated, about 18 minutes in, Biden turned to Trump and said, "Will you shut up, man?"

Trump ignored Biden and continued talking over Wallace. "Keep yapping, man," Biden said."

"The people understand, Joe. For 47 years, you've done nothing," Trump shot back.

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