In a sign of the animosity between the two candidates, both men walked slowly to their respective podiums as they arrived on stage, but did not shake hands.
This rematch between the 45th president and his successor marks at least a few firsts: never before have two White House candidates faced off at such advanced ages, and never before has CNN hosted a presidential debate for a general election.
The debate focused in particular on access to abortion.
Highlight Mr. Trump’s connection to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and his impact on pregnant women across the United States has become a cornerstone of Joe Biden’s campaign.
The sitting president has notably blamed his opponent for the deluge of state abortion restrictions since the fall of Roe v. Wade. As president, Mr. Trump appointed three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped form the majority that struck down the constitutional right to abortion — and he took credit for it during his campaign.
Mr Biden also warned that a second term for Mr Trump could lead to nationwide restrictions on abortion.
Mr. Trump, for his part, affirmed that he believed in exceptions to the ban on abortion “for rape, incest and the life of the mother”.
Those exceptions are at the heart of a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Under Idaho’s abortion ban, women cannot have an abortion in a medical emergency because the state only has an exception to save the mother’s life — not to save your health.
Catch-all answer
Donald Trump also reiterated his catch-all states’ rights response when abortion rights were raised, saying he had deferred the issue of abortion to individual states after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Although Trump has repeatedly claimed that “the people” now decide abortion access, that’s not true everywhere. Voters don’t have a direct say in the matter thanks to citizen ballot measures in about half the states.
In those that allow such measures, abortion rights coalitions in several states have faced intense efforts this year by anti-abortion groups to thwart citizen initiatives in favor of reproductive rights.
Voters in seven states, including conservative states like Kentucky, Montana and Ohio, have either protected abortion rights or thwarted attempts to restrict them in statewide votes over the past two years.
Inaccuracies about the economy
Earlier, Donald Trump opened the debate by boasting about the state of the economy while he was in power as well as his handling of the pandemic.
He also said the U.S. economy was ready to start paying down its national debt before the pandemic, which is false. Budget deficits have increased under Mr. Trump because his 2017 tax cuts have not paid off as he promised.
Donald Trump inherited a budget deficit of $585 billion and it ballooned to $984 billion in 2019, only to exceed $3 trillion in 2020 after the start of the pandemic, according to the Office of Management and of the White House budget.
President Joe Biden, for his part, spoke of the American economy as being “in free fall”. He started with a gaffe, claiming he had created 15,000 jobs. The correct figure is more than 15 million, a figure dramatically underestimated by someone trying to renew voters’ confidence in his economic leadership.
Mr. Biden also lost his train of thought while trying to make his point on tax rates and the number of billionaires in America. The president paused and looked down before muttering about COVID and saying something like “we finally beat Medicare.”
When he attempted to return to finish his speech, moderator Jake Tapper interrupted him because his time was up.
Mr. Trump quickly interjected: “He’s right, he beat Medicare. He beat him to death.”
