Trump, Biden fight over the raging virus, climate and race

Nashville

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden fought over how to tame the raging coronavirus during the campaign’s closing debate.

They largely shelved the rancor that overshadowed their previous face-off in favor of a more substantive exchange that highlighted their vastly different approaches to the major domestic and foreign challenges facing the nation.

After a first debate defined by angry interruptions, the Thursday event featured a mostly milder tone and featured a surprising amount of substantive policy debate as the two broke sharply on the environment, foreign policy, immigration, and racial justice.

When Trump repeatedly asked Biden if he would “close down the oil industry,” the Democratic standard-bearer said he “would transition from the oil industry, yes,” and that he would replace it with renewable energy “over time.”

Trump, making a direct appeal to voters in energy-producing states like Texas and the vital battleground of Pennsylvania, seized upon the remark as “a big statement.”

 As the debate swept to climate change, Trump explained his decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord negotiated in 2015, declaring it was an unfair pact that would have cost the country trillions of dollars and hurt businesses.