By Adam Shaw | Fox News
The final presidential debate will be moderated by NBC’s Kristen Welker.
Fox News Democracy 2020: Presidential Debate
President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are facing off Thursday night in the final presidential debate before the election.
The new format for the Nashville, Tenn., event is a reaction to the first presidential debate, Sept. 29 in Cleveland, which saw repeated clashes between the two candidates.
The final presidential debate will be moderated by NBC News’ Kristen Welker.
Follow below for updates:
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER President Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden clashed over alleged foreign financial entanglements in the final presidential debate on Thursday, with Trump telling Biden “you owe an explanation to the American people” about son Hunter Biden’s past business dealings as the former vice president empathetically denied anything “unethical” took place. The two candidates also clashed over a number of issues, from race relations to minimum wage to climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, all while moderator Kristen Welker proceeded over a largely orderly affair. The Hunter Biden debate exchange followed the recent news reports of past communications between Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and his business partners that have raised questions about what Joe Biden knew about these foreign business dealings. Biden’s campaign has denied involvement or making money off these dealings, but the president pressed his rival over the reports during the debate.
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shocked viewers on Thursday with a bizarre reference to Adolf Hitler during the final presidential debate. Trump said he has a civil “We’re not in a war, we have a good relationship,” Trump said of his relationship with North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER The Trump campaign has issued a statement: “President Trump completely unmasked Joe Biden as a Washington politician who is all talk and no action. The President systematically dismantled Biden’s record and laid out the clear case that he has accomplished more in 47 months than Biden has in 47 years. This was the businessman versus the career politician, the outsider versus the Washington insider, the reformer against the swamp. Most shockingly, Biden declared his intention to end the oil industry, which would kill millions of jobs and cripple our economy.” “The President showed that he’s the champion of workers, farmers, and Main Street, while Joe Biden had no excuse for being the pawn of Wall Street. Time and time again, the President showed he has gotten tough on our foreign adversaries, while Joe Biden’s family has been profiting by selling access to his own power. President Trump won this debate in a blowout and it’s little wonder why Biden doesn’t want to do any more.”
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER And that’s the debate. A much more polite affair than the first one, although it certainly had its fiery moments on racism, the “laptop from hell” and immigration. Who do you think won?
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER Trump asked what he would say on inauguration day to those people who did not vote for him. Trump says before “the plague” that he had great unemployment numbers and there was unity. “Success is going to bring us together,” he says, accusing Biden of wanting to raise taxes and regulations. Biden asked the same question. Biden says he will be an “American president and I will represent all of you, whether you voted for me or against me.” He says the economy can grow and we can deal with racism, and move the economy with “clean energy” and create new jobs that way. “What is on the ballot here is the character of this country,” he says.
- FoxLiveBlogTeam Trump asks Biden if he would end the oil industry. “I would transition from the oil industry, yes.” Biden says. “Oh that’s a big statement,” says Trump. Biden says he wants to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, and hold China accountable.
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER The candidates are going back and forth on climate change. Biden says he has never been against fracking and rules out banning fracking. Trump says he’s said it on tape and Biden challenges him to play the tape. Biden later says he wants to ban fracking on federal land.
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER Trump hits Biden for not passing a reform bill on crime, saying “you’re all talk and no action.” “You got NOTHING done,” he says. Biden says he got the process started, and also managed to release 38,000 federal prisoners. “Why didn’t you do it in the eight years,” Trump responds. Biden says he had a Republican Congress. (Democrats controlled Congress for the first two years of the Obama administration.)
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER Trump asked about his opposition to Black Lives Matter, says the first he heard about them was when they were chanting “Pigs in a blanket…fry ’em like bacon.” “I said ‘that’s a horrible thing,'” he says. He says he is “the least racist person in this room.” Biden shoots back: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire. Every single one.”
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER Trump mentions “the laptop from hell,” bringing up the Hunter Biden alleged laptop. Biden says it is a “Russian plant” and says it’s a bunch of “garbage.” “You mean the laptop is another Russia Russia Russia hoax? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
- FoxLiveBlogTeam REPORTER On race relations, Biden says black parents have to warn their kids “because you are in fact the victim” no matter how much they earn. “There is institutional racism in America” and says “we’ve never lived up” to America’s ideals. Trump says he passed criminal justice reform, prison reform, and says Biden did nothing when he was vice president.
Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and European politics for Fox News. He can be reached here.
