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      US presidential debate moderator Chris Wallace struggles to contain Trump – video

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      Fox News host Chris Wallace, the moderator for the first 2020 US presidential debate, has faced criticism for struggling to rein in interruptions and outbursts from Donald Trump. Throughout the 90-minute broadcast on Tuesday night, the president continually broke the agreed rules of the debate, refused to stick to his own speaking time and steamrolled over both Wallace and Biden
      Trump plunges debate into chaos as he repeatedly talks over Joe Biden
      Troubled Florida, divided America: will Donald Trump hold this vital swing state?

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      Trump and Biden in bitterly personal clash at first presidential debate

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      US elections 2020

      Candidates throw insults amid arguments over healthcare, coronavirus and supreme court
      First presidential debate: follow live

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      ‘This is so unpresidential’: tempers flare in first US presidential debate – video

      Donald Trump and Joe Biden sparred bitterly during the first presidential debate of the general election on Tuesday night, hurling personal insults as they clashed over healthcare, the coronavirus and the supreme court.
      Ignoring the rules, the candidates repeatedly interrupted each other, with Biden losing his patience at one point and retorting: “Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential.”
      At another point, Trump wrestled with the moderator, the Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, complaining: “I guess I’m debating you, not him. But that’s OK, I’m not surprised.”
      “The fact is that everything he’s said so far is simply a lie,” Biden said. “I’m not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he’s a liar.”
      Trump, pressed on new revelations that he avoided paying federal taxes for years and paid only $750 in 2016 and 2017, claimed he had paid “millions of dollars” in taxes in those years. He bragged that he took advantage of tax loopholes and that as a successful businessman he didn’t “want to pay taxes”.
      Hours before the debate, held in Cleveland, Ohio, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, released their 2019 tax returns. Breaking decades of precedent, Trump has refused to release his tax returns to the public.
      Both campaigns have spent weeks preparing for the matchup, which was expected to draw millions of viewers. In a segment on the coronavirus, Biden hammered Trump over his handling of the pandemic, which has claimed nearly 205,000 American lives.
      “Do you believe for a moment what he’s telling you, in light of all the lies he’s telling you, about Covid?” Biden asked.
      Ahead of the debate, Trump’s allies attempted to cast Biden as incoherent and fanned baseless online conspiracy theories that Biden requires cue cards or an earpiece to answer questions.
      In a statement, Trump’s communications director, Tim Murtaugh, alleged that Biden’s campaign had reneged on an agreement to a “pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces” and that his team sought “multiple breaks during the debate, which President Trump doesn’t need”. Pointing to Trump’s demand that Biden submit to a drug test, a suggestion Biden laughed off, Murtaugh said it was clear the president’s opponent was looking for a “safety net” ahead of the debate.
      Biden’s campaign flatly denied the accusations.
      Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, the deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, observed that Trump’s team appeared “concerned that he will not do well tonight” and were “laying the groundwork for how they’re going to lie about why”.
      The debate was centered around six pre-determined topics, which included: the candidates’ records, the Covid-19 crisis, the economy, the supreme court, race and violence in American cities and the integrity of the election. Each topic will receive 15 minutes of discussion during the 90-minute affair.
      The debate was arguably Trump’s best opportunity to reset the presidential race in which he is currently behind. The economy is the sole issue where Trump retains a slight advantage over Biden, though even there his edge is slipping.
      Majorities of Americans consistently disapprove of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and believe his response to the racial justice protests have only made matters worse.
      On election security, Trump may face scrutiny for his baseless attacks on mail-in balloting and attempts to undermine confidence in the electoral system. Polls show that Americans have lost faith in the electoral process, a sign that his efforts to sow doubt ahead of the election are resonating.
      Performance is equally, if not more, important than the discussion. And in both style and substance, Biden and Trump are opposites.
      Trump, ever the showman, has used past debates to shock and awe the audience with his unorthodox approach. The approach worked in 2016, when Trump defeated his better-prepared opponents. Biden, by contrast, delivered steady albeit less memorable performances in many of the Democratic primary debates. And yet, Biden emerged victorious from a field of agile debaters.
      Looming over the debate is whether anything either candidate says or does on Tuesday night will sway voters. While nearly three in four voters said they planned to watch the debate on Tuesday night, according to a recent Monmouth University poll, just 3% of voters said it was “very likely” to affect their vote in November.

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      Tensions and insults in the battle for Florida lay bare America's divisions

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      Observer special report

      Tensions and insults in the battle for Florida lay bare America’s divisions

      People stand for the Pledge of Allegiance before the arrival of US president Donald Trump for ‘The Great American Comeback Rally’ at Cecil Airport, Florida on 24 September.
      Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

      Decisions in this vital swing state are made in two different realities, one adherent to facts and science, the other rooted in conspiracies and political dogma
      by Oliver Laughland in Florida

      Main image:
      People stand for the Pledge of Allegiance before the arrival of US president Donald Trump for ‘The Great American Comeback Rally’ at Cecil Airport, Florida on 24 September.
      Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

      If you wanted a symbol for Donald Trump’s complete takeover of the Republican party, you could do little better than a nondescript shopping mall on the outskirts of Largo in west Florida.
      This is a usually quiet intersection in Florida’s quintessential bellwether county, Pinellas, which has voted for the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1980 (bar the disputed 2000 race won by George W Bush).
      But eight months ago Cliff Gephart, an enthusiastic Trump supporter and local entrepreneur, transformed a vacant lot – formerly a strip club – into a thriving coffee shop devoted to the president. Business at Conservative Grounds is roaring, despite the pandemic, with hundreds and, they claim, occasionally over a thousand customers, dropping by each day for a cup of coffee, a chat about politics and to purchase from a plethora of Trump themed merchandise. No-one is social distancing or wearing a facemask.

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      Troubled Florida, divided America: will Donald Trump hold this vital swing state? – video
      In 2016, the narrative of the so-called “secretive Trump voter” went part of the way to explaining the billionaire property magnate’s unexpected pathway to the White House. But now, in Pinellas as in many parts of the country, Trump supporters are out in force, unafraid, empowered and organised.
      Every section inside this place is designed for social media posting – there’s a second amendment wall filled with decommissioned firearms, a gumball machine stocked with spent ammunition (it doesn’t vend), and a coffee machine decorated with slurs against Democrats. At the back is a scaled reproduction of the Oval Office itself, complete with a replica Resolute Desk, cardboard cutouts of the President and first lady, and a Martin Luther King bust, wearing a red Trump 2020 cap.
      I ask Gephart, a heavily built, stubbled 50-year-old, whether he thinks people might be offended by the latter. (Martin Luther King’s children are staunch critics of the president, and Trump declined to celebrate the life of civil rights icon John Lewis after his death in July.)
      “Everything offends everybody these days,” he says. More

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      Troubled Florida, divided America: will Donald Trump hold this vital swing state? – video

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      Donald Trump’s presidency has changed American society. With six weeks until the most important election in a generation, Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone are crossing the US to uncover the fault lines that underpin American politics. In the vital swing state of Florida, where disinformation on Covid-19 has spread unchecked, the race for the White House is tightening by the day
      To stay up to date on coronavirus news around the world follow the Guardian’s blog. 
       For further information on the dangers of the virus visit the CDC’s website.

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      in US Politics

      US presidential debate: all you need to know about the face-off in Cleveland

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      The US will get confirmation that election season is under way on Tuesday night, when Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, face each other in the first presidential debate.The debate, held in Ohio, is the first of three tête-à-têtes ahead of the vote on 3 November.Both Biden and Trump have said they are looking forward to the debate, and onlookers are set to be subjected to an hour and a half of argument between the Democratic nominee and the Republican president.Here’s what you need to know.When is the debate?It will begin at 9pm US eastern time (ET). The event will run until 10.30pm ET.Where is it taking place?At the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio.Ohio has been a swing state over the past two decades, but Trump won there by eight points in 2016. The state is seen as trending towards becoming more solidly Republican, due to its whiter, older population compared with the rest of the US.Who’s moderating?Fox News host Chris Wallace will be the man in charge. The Fox News channel has been fawning in its coverage of Trump for the past four years, but Wallace is seen as a relatively independent, straight journalist.Wallace won praise for an interview with Trump in July, when he challenged Trump over the coronavirus death count and memorably dug into Trump’s claim to have aced a cognitive test. He’s no favourite of Trump – who on Thursday baselessly claimed Wallace is “controlled by the radical left”.What’s the format?The debate will have six 15-minute segments. It will run for 90 minutes, with no breaks for commercials. There will be no opening statements, and the first question will go to Trump.Wallace said he’s hoping to let the debate flow. He isn’t expected to factcheck either candidate – it would be a mammoth, time-consuming task – and has said he will strive to be as “invisible as possible”.What about coronavirus precautions?The podiums will be further apart than usual, and Biden and Trump won’t shake hands before or after. According to CNN 60 to 70 people are expected to be in the audience, way below the usual number at a presidential debate.What’s up for debate?Wallace was in charge of selecting the six topics, and they were announced by the Commission on Presidential Debates last week. They are:The records of President Trump and former vice-president Joe Biden.
      The supreme court.
      Covid-19.
      The economy.
      Race and violence in our cities.
      The integrity of the election.
      How are the candidates preparing?Biden is said to have spent days preparing, and has held mock debates with Bob Bauer, campaign adviser and former White House general counsel, ABC News reported. Bauer has apparently adopted Trump’s debate style for the practice sessions.Trump has used flashcards and videos to prepare and has eschewed traditional rehearsals, CBS News reported.On Sunday, Trump said Rudy Giuliani and the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie had been helping him prepare. According to CBS, Trump aides have studied Biden’s debate habits and created an “arsenal” of material for Trump to use.How can I watch?All major US networks are airing the debate, and most news channels, so Americans are spoilt for choice. ABC, CBS, CNN, C-Span, Fox News, MSNBC and NBC are among those who will carry it live. Most of those networks will also offer live coverage online.Outside the US, viewers can watch the debate on C-Span, a non-profit bipartisan cable channel which televises government proceedings. The channel will run coverage on its website and YouTube channel.The Guardian will also be streaming the debate, as well as offering live coverage, factchecking and analysis. More

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      US election to have far fewer international observers than planned

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      There will be far fewer international election observers than planned at this year’s fraught US presidential vote because of a combination of health concerns during the pandemic and the lack of an invitation from the state department for Latin American observers.The electoral arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has had to scale down its ambitions because of Covid-related precautions and travel restrictions. It is sending 30 observers, instead of the 500 that had been recommended in view of the scale of concern about the US election.The Organization of American States (OAS) has yet to receive an invitation to send observers to the 3 November vote, which is threatening to be the most contentious in modern US history as Donald Trump himself repeatedly claims it will be rigged and refuses to say whether he will leave the White House if defeated at the polls.The OSCE’s election monitoring body, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), had intended to send 100 long-term and 400 short-term observers, after its assessment mission warned the election “will be the most challenging in recent decades”.But a cautious response from the OSCE member states who have the responsibility for recruiting and funding the trained observers meant the plans had to be drastically downsized.The organisation is now sending just 30 long-term observers in a limited mission. The long-term observers, who arrive this week, will make assessments of the overall environment for the vote and are supported by a dozen core staff led by the head of mission, Urszula Gacek, a former centrist Polish politician and diplomat.The short-term observers would have fanned out to polling stations around the country, particularly in battleground states, to give live assessments on the conduct of the vote. This year, they will not be coming.“The safety concerns as well as continuing travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are creating challenges for all our election activities and particularly for the deployment of long- and short-term observers, who are sent directly by OSCE countries,” Katya Andrusz, the ODIHR spokeswoman, said.“In this case, we ended up with a huge shortfall of long-term observers compared to the number we’d originally requested. In the end, we judged that it would simply be infeasible to deploy enough short-term observers to allow a meaningful observation of election day, and therefore changed the format of the observation activity to what we call a limited election observation mission.”The OAS was invited to send an observation mission in 2016 and dispatched 41 observers from around Latin America, led by the former Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla.The state department did not respond to an inquiry on whether an invitation for 2020 would be sent at all.Amid threats from Trump that he might not respect the result, and his repeated claims that postal ballots will be rigged, in absence of any historical evidence that they are vulnerable, the November vote threatens to be like no other.US intelligence has warned that Russia is repeating the election interference campaign it unleashed in 2016, largely based on disinformation. There is also widespread evidence of voter suppression, most of it targeted at Black Americans.In view of the dangers and the high stakes, the Carter Center, which observes elections around the world, announced it would launch a campaign in the US for the first time. It will involve supplying public information about the election and encouraging election officials to maintain transparency and access for observers, but it will not be deploying observers.The political parties and non-government organisations will be deploying observers but Susan Hyde, political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said international observers could provide a useful international benchmark of whether an election is free or fair in a hyper-partisan atmosphere.“The thing that seems clear from many other countries is that what international observers can do is be a clear outside actor which is interested more in democracy than in who wins and have expertise in the quality of the electoral process,” Hyde said. More