Trump, Biden trade corruption charges, the likes of which have never been heard in presidential campaigns

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger

Joseph Biden

hammered each other with charges of corruption, financial malfeasance, and being on the take from foreign entities, in a fierce third Presidential debate on Thursday that did not appear to substantially alter the dynamics of the election where all polls show the incumbent heading to defeat.


Needing to articulate a clear vision why he should be voted for a second term, Trump chose to batter Biden with corruption allegations and repeated reminders that he was a Washington insider who was "all talk" with little to show for the 47 years he has been in public service, including eight as vice-president. Biden lashed back by bringing up Trump's own financial shenanigans, including charges of tax evasion, while denying he has ever taken a penny from any foreign source.

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The 90-minute clash was more civil and substantial than the first debate with both candidates laying out sharply different but previously articulated approach on issues such as the coronavirus

pandemic

, climate change, immigration, health care, and the economy. On each issue, Trump projected a positive, upbeat, America-first outlook, even if it was at the expense of other countries, whereas Biden took on a more globalist approach that would roll back some of the insular policies of the current administration and return US to global engagement.

The contrast was most evident in their clash on climate change and global warming, which Trump has previously called a hoax and taken the US out of the Paris accord to contain emissions. Claiming that the accord was to the detriment of the US while benefiting countries such as China and India, whose air he described as "filthy," Trump maintained that Biden's embrace of global commitments in this regard would destroy the American economy while giving "unfair" advantage to others.

“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia, look at India – it’s filthy. The air is filthy,” Trump said in the only reference to India during the debate, as he made out a case for continuing an America-first policy despite copious evidence that its carbon consumptive approach with some of the highest per capita carbon footprint over decades has been damaging to the global environment to the detriment of the world.

Biden's pledge that he would transition the US away from oil and replace it with wind and solar to achieve zero emissions by 2050 invited sneers from Trump, whose bigger and more immediate concern is ramping up the hydrocarbon economy.

"I know more about wind (power) than you do...it's extremely expensive, kills all the birds, is very intermittent, it's got a lot of problems, and they happen to make the windmills in both Germany and China," Trump said, as they argued about a critical issue whose effect in terms for fire, rain, and other disasters is being felt across the globe every day.

Biden: Oil industry pollutes significantly...it has to be replaced by renewable energy – over time..
Trump (needing to win battleground states with significant hydrocarbon jobs): He is destroying the oil industry! Will you remember that, Texas? Will you remember that, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio?

The two candidates also clashed over the coronavirus pandemic with Biden warning that the US is "about to go into a dark winter" with a gradual uptick in cases and "anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of

the United States of America

." Trump maintained that the death rates are falling, the virus will go away, and "we can't lock up in a basement like Joe does."

Both Trump and Biden took coronavirus tests Thursday and tested negative before meeting onstage. In a visually arresting sight, all members of the Trump family wore masks and kept them on during the debate - after apparently being warned they would be asked to leave if they took them off.

While the two candidates sparred on other substantial issues such as North Korea, crime, and health care, it was the personal corruption charges they flung at each other that introduced a new element into American political discourse where previous presidential nominees had eschewed such allegations based on dubious sourcing. Never before US political history had candidates accused each other of fattening themselves by taking money from foreign entities.

Biden was repeatedly on the defensive in the face of relentless accusations - from a President who refuses to disclose his tax returns - that he and his son were personally corrupt and were on the make. “I think you have to clean it up and talk to the American people. Maybe you can do it right now," Trump taunted Biden, eliciting only a feeble response from the former vice-president.

Post-debate analyses and polls suggested a draw with many pundits agreeing Trump did much better than expected, with the initial muting of the mic to allow uninterrupted presentation actually working to his advantage as he was forced to take a disciplined approach. Trump himself tweeted several polls from favored right-wing websites showing his supporters believed he overwhelmingly won the debate, but in an election where more an 50 million people - a third of the expected turnout - have already voted, his performance did not indicate any significant change of heart among those yet to vote.