Here’s what you need to know:President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. held their first presidential debate in Cleveland last week.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesThe prospect of future presidential debates was thrown into jeopardy on Thursday after President Trump rejected a plan by the Commission on Presidential Debates to hold the next face-off virtually to keep participants safe from the coronavirus outbreak that has coursed through the White House, and the Biden campaign called for the debate to be pushed back a week “so that the president is not able to evade accountability.”“Joe Biden was prepared to accept the C.P.D.’s proposal for a virtual Town Hall, but the president has refused, as Donald Trump clearly does not want to face questions from the voters about his failures on Covid and the economy,” Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s deputy campaign manager and communications director, Kate Bedingfield, said in a statement. She said that Mr. Biden would “find an appropriate place to take questions from voters” on Oct. 15, the day the town-hall style debate was scheduled to be held in Miami, and called for the commission to move the debate back a week. Just days after being released from the hospital, where he was treated for the coronavirus, which has been coursing through the White House, Mr. Trump rejected the commission’s call for a remote debate as “ridiculous” on Thursday.The high-stakes standoff between Mr. Trump and the debate organizers emerged after the commission, with no warning to campaign representatives, said the Oct. 15 debate would feature candidates debating remotely “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved.”Mr. Trump immediately objected to the concept in an interview on Fox News, saying: “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate, that’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate — it’s ridiculous.”Mr. Biden, speaking briefly to reporters before boarding a plane to Arizona on Thursday, suggested that he would be open to following the commission’s recommendations, and said that Mr. Trump had once again shown himself to be impulsive and unpredictable.“We don’t know what the president is going to do,” Mr. Biden said. “He changes his mind every second.”The Trump campaign has sought to shift attention away from the administration’s response to the pandemic in the debates, and a virtual debate would by its very structure call attention to the degree to which the virus has upended the country.The format would also presumably make it easier for the moderator to cut off the candidates from going over their time limit or interrupting each other, which would further impede any effort by the president to change the subject away from the virus.The virus was front and center, both visually and verbally, at last night’s vice-presidential debate between Mr. Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, who faced off from behind plexiglass barriers. Ms. Harris delivered a stinging indictment of the missteps by the federal government.President Trump left Walter Reed military hospital on Monday after being treated for Covid-19. Credit…Doug Mills/The New York TimesPresident Trump attacked two cabinet members who are closest to him, insisted he wouldn’t take part in a virtual debate against his Democratic challenger and revisited the events of the 2016 campaign in a meandering, hourlong telephone interview on Fox Business Channel on Thursday. Mr. Trump called the Democratic vice-presidential nominee a “monster” and the F.B.I. director “disappointing,” posited that he might have contracted the coronavirus from a member of a military family, maintained that he is almost off medical treatments for the virus and complained about not being allowed to hold rallies while he remains in isolation. “I don’t think I’m contagious at all,” Mr. Trump said, although his positive diagnosis was revealed last Friday and people with the virus are typically contagious for at least a week and often longer. Of his treatments, he insisted, “I think I’m taking almost nothing.” His doctor has not said how long he will remain on steroids.Mr. Trump’s interview effectively wiped out attention being paid to the vice-presidential debate the night before, which Trump allies felt had gone well for Vice President Mike Pence.The president’s circuitous conversation with the host Maria Bartiromo came as he has been eager to dispel questions about his health after spending four days at Walter Reed, following a drop in his oxygen levels and a fever, chills and a cough related to the virus. But Mr. Trump’s standing in the race against Joseph R. Biden Jr., whom he trails in polls, was clearly frustrating to him. Mr. Trump criticized both Attorney General Bill Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, two cabinet members often described as among his closest aides. Mr. Trump said of investigations into the origins of the probe of his 2016 campaign and whether it conspired with Russian officials, “Bill Barr is going to go down either as the greatest attorney general in the history of the country or he’s going to go down as a very sad, sad situation. I mean, I’ll be honest with you. He’s got all the information he needs.” At another point, Mr. Trump took aim at Mr. Pompeo for not releasing documents related to Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state under President Obama.“They’re in the State Department, but Mike Pompeo has been unable to get them out, which is very sad, actually. I’m not happy about him for that reason,” Mr. Trump said. The president has been tweeting this week about documents that purportedly show that Mrs. Clinton planned to gin up a scandal tying Mr. Trump to Russia. Democrats say the documents that the administration released are misleading.“These people should be indicted — this was the greatest political crime in the history of our country,” Mr. Trump said. “And that includes Obama, and it includes Biden.” Mr. Trump also criticized the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, for not backing up Mr. Trump’s view, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, that voting by mail is rife with fraud, and he declined to commit to keeping Mr. Wray in a second term. And he referred to Senator Kamala Harris, Mr. Biden’s running mate, as a “monster” twice and a “communist” four times. He tried to downplay the seriousness of the medication he’d been taking, as well as the virus itself. After calling an experimental antibody cocktail that is still being studied a “cure,” Mr. Trump claimed he didn’t need to take medicine. “It’s not a heavy steroid,” Mr. Trump said of the heavy steroid he’s been taking, dexamethasone. And he theorized that he could have caught the virus from a relative of a fallen service member at a ceremony he hosted for Gold Star families.Mr. Trump said those relatives insisted on hugging him or thanking him. “I can’t back up, Maria, and say, ‘Give me room, I want room, give me 12 feet, stay 12 feet away.’ They come within an inch of my face sometimes,” he said. “They want to hug me and they want to kiss me. And they do. And frankly, I’m not telling them to back up.”Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris faced off over the coronavirus, jobs and health care at Wednesday night’s debate.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesAs Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris clashed over the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic Wednesday night, Mr. Pence defended the White House’s record without addressing its fundamental failures, while Ms. Harris accused him and President Trump of presiding over a public-health catastrophe.Ms. Harris delivered a comprehensive denunciation of the Trump administration’s policies, ranging from the economy and climate change to health care regulation and taxes.As Ms. Harris attacked Mr. Trump, the vice president sought to recast Mr. Trump’s record on the pandemic and other issues in conventional and inoffensive terms, though often in plain defiance of the facts.The vice president made misleading or plainly false claims about White House policies on a range of subjects weighing down Mr. Trump in the presidential race.Mr. Pence claimed that the president had a plan to protect people with pre-existing medical conditions, even though he does not; hailed the “V-shaped recovery” of the economy despite the latest government data; and repeatedly claimed that Mr. Trump would always “follow the science” on climate change even though he has spent his term denying the scientific consensus on global warming and dismantling environmental regulations.After Mr. Trump’s belligerent performance against Mr. Biden last week, the Harris-Pence forum in Salt Lake City mostly stood out for how different it was from that debate. It was for the most part a gloves-on affair, more akin to conventional political debates of yesteryear, albeit one playing out in a moment of national crisis.President Trump claimed on Thursday that bipartisan negotiations on a broad stimulus package had resumed and were making progress, two days after he abruptly pulled the plug by instructing his top lieutenants to cut off talks until after Election Day.“I shut down talks two days ago because they weren’t working out,” Mr. Trump told Fox Business. “Now they’re starting to work out.”The prospect of compromise remained remote, given the steep political obstacles that have hampered the agreement for months. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have continued to talk privately about a potential aid measure for airlines to prevent tens of thousands of workers from being furloughed or laid off. Mr. Trump said the discussions had also touched on the possibility of another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.“We’re talking about airlines and we’re talking about a bigger deal than airlines,” Mr. Trump said.It is far from clear whether the two sides will be able to reach an agreement either on a stand-alone airline bill or a broader package.Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal for airline aid last Friday, calling it partisan and too expensive. A similar Republican bill in the Senate would repurpose unspent funds from the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted last spring, a move that many Democrats have opposed.Still, Mr. Trump appeared to be hoping anew for a deal before Election Day, after his move to publicly scuttle the stimulus discussions prompted alarm among Republicans that voters would blame them for the collapse of the effort.Maya Wiley, a former lawyer in the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, distanced herself from her ex-boss as she announced a mayoral run.Credit…Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesMaya D. Wiley, a former top lawyer for Mayor Bill de Blasio who has gained a national following as a political and legal analyst for MSNBC, announced Wednesday night that she was running for mayor of New York City and immediately sought to distance herself from her former boss.In a campaign launch video, Ms. Wiley pointedly did not mention Mr. de Blasio by name, but invoked his tenure as she pointed to a “crisis of confidence in our city’s leadership.” Mr. de Blasio must leave office next year because of term limits.“Some will say I don’t sound like past mayors or look like them or think like them, and I say yes, I don’t — that is the point,” said Ms. Wiley, who is Black. “I am not a conventional candidate. But changing it up isn’t the risk. Electing the same kinds of people, bringing the same old broken promises over and over again and expecting things will be different — that’s the risk we can’t afford right now.”Her announcement had been expected for months after Ms. Wiley left her role at MSNBC in July to explore a run. The mayor’s race next year has been reshaped by the pandemic and by massive Black Lives Matter protests in the city.By urging voters to support her “if you’re tired of the same old thing,” Ms. Wiley cast herself as an outsider, despite her affiliation with the de Blasio administration, a strategy that would distinguish her from two leading Democratic candidates — Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, and Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller — who are longtime public servants.Maya Wiley is also a former head of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, an independent agency that investigates complaints from the public about police misconduct.She plans to formally begin her campaign today at an event outside the Brooklyn Museum with her family and supporters, including Michael Gianaris, a powerful Democratic state senator from Queens known most for his successful efforts to disrupt Amazon’s deal for a headquarters in his borough.Joseph R. Biden Jr. boarded a flight to Arizona on Thursday.Credit…Hilary Swift for The New York TimesThere are 26 days until Election Day. Here are the schedules of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates for Thursday, Oct. 8. All times are Eastern time.President TrumpNo public events.Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.Afternoon: Greets Native American tribal leaders in Phoenix with his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris.5 p.m.: Delivers remarks before leaving on a bus tour to meet with small business owners and voters in Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz.Vice President Mike Pence1 p.m.: Holds an airport rally in Boulder City, Nev.4:30 p.m.: Visits TYR Tactical, a manufacturer of body armor and other military gear in Peoria, Ariz.Senator Kamala HarrisAfternoon: Greets Native American tribal leaders in Phoenix with Mr. Biden.5 p.m.: Delivers remarks before leaving on a bus tour to meet with small business owners and voters in Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz.Vice President Mike Pence is well-practiced at translating President Trump for those who might find him objectionable.Credit…Ruth Fremson/The New York TimesVice President Mike Pence approached his task on Wednesday as he has approached his four years as the executive straight man to an unruly leader: not merely defending President Trump but effectively insisting, with poker-faced conviction, that those who doubt his boss should not believe their eyes and ears.The trouble this time was not Mr. Pence’s skill on this front, which remains peerless. It was the facts underpinning this debate, which remains inconvenient to an administration so overwhelmed by the virus that its own West Wing has become a hot spot.And so Mr. Pence — stripped of most politically palatable explanations for the White House pandemic response — set off on a curious charge when Senator Kamala Harris said that the Trump team’s leadership “clearly” had not worked: He chose to hear it as a direct affront to the American people.“When you say what the American people have done over these last eight months hasn’t worked,” Mr. Pence said gravely, as controlled as his president is rambunctious onstage, “that’s a great disservice to the sacrifices the American people have made.”At last, the strain seemed to be showing, at least a little. Perhaps that is what a full term of wear-and-tear can do to even the most accomplished rhetorical gymnast.Or perhaps the reality is simply too bleak for any administration to explain away entirely: The president has contracted the virus that has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States on his watch. His behavior, since leaving the hospital on Monday, appears to be a continuation of the kind of scientifically dubious happy talk that has left the Trump-Pence ticket at a significant polling disadvantage four weeks before Election Day.VideotranscriptBacktranscriptPence Deflects Question on Accepting Election ResultsIn Wednesday night’s debate, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence were asked if the election results would lead to a peaceful transfer of power.“President Trump has several times refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. If Vice President Biden is declared the winner and President Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power, what would be your role and responsibility as vice president? What would you personally do? You have two minutes.” “Well, Susan, first and foremost, I think we’re going to win this election, because while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris rattle off a long litany of the establishment in Washington, D.C., an establishment that Joe Biden’s been a part of for 47 years, President Donald Trump has launched a movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life. When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election. I must tell you, Senator, your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to overturn the results of the last election. It’s amazing. We’ve all seen the avalanche — what what you put the country through for the better part of three years until it was found that there was no obstruction, no collusion, case closed. And then, Senator Harris, you and your colleagues in the Congress tried to impeach the president of the United States over a phone call. And now Hillary Clinton has actually said to Joe Biden that under — in her words, under no circumstances should he concede the election. So let me just say, I think we’re going to win this election.”In Wednesday night’s debate, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence were asked if the election results would lead to a peaceful transfer of power.CreditCredit…Erin Schaff/The New York TimesVice President Mike Pence was asked during Wednesday night’s debate, in a question similar to one put before President Trump at last week’s presidential matchup, what he would do if Mr. Trump refused to accept the election results should he lose to Joseph R. Biden Jr.Just as Mr. Trump has done repeatedly, Mr. Pence declined to say what he would do — nor did he offer any commitment to accepting a negative result.“First and foremost, I think we’re going to win this election,” Mr. Pence said before turning his attention to his debate opponent, Senator Kamala Harris. “When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election, I must tell you, Senator, your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to overturn the results of the last election. It’s amazing.”Mr. Pence never got around to saying what he would do if Mr. Trump declined to accept a losing result.Senator Kamala Harris was asked a similar question about what she and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would do if Mr. Trump refused to step aside. She offered few specifics, but instead made a plea for supporters to vote as soon as possible.“I’d like to say to everybody, vote,” she said. “Please vote. Vote early, come up with a plan to vote.”She added: “We have it within our power in these next 27 days to make the decision about what will be the course of our country for the next four years. And it is within our power and if we use our vote and our voice, we will win.”Research shows that voters see certain behavior as assertive or authoritative when it comes from men but aggressive or condescending when it comes from women. The double standard is more severe for women of color.Credit…Tamir Kalifa for The New York TimesIt was the first time a woman of color had ever appeared on a presidential or vice-presidential general election debate stage, and the tightrope Senator Kamala Harris had to walk was never far from sight.Just consider the reaction in the Republican pollster Frank Luntz’s focus group of undecided voters: “She is applauded for her knowledge,” Mr. Luntz wrote on Twitter, “but they just don’t like her ‘condescending reactions.’”That some voters would view Ms. Harris’s reactions as condescending, and recoil at them — the laughs, head shakes and “are you kidding me” expressions she displayed at various points in response to Vice President Mike Pence — was not surprising. Nor was the lack of comparable backlash to Mr. Pence’s head shakes and unamused expressions.Research shows that voters see certain behavior as assertive or authoritative when it comes from men but aggressive or condescending when it comes from women. The double standard is more severe for women of color, and the specific criticism lodged against Ms. Harris has both racial and gendered components.“Her facial expressions and the eye rolls and neck movements were quintessential Black woman — she was signaling, ‘Don’t start,’” said Nadia E. Brown, an associate professor of political science and African-American studies at Purdue University.“However, what came out of her mouth was what people tuned in to the debate to hear,” Dr. Brown said. “She gave clear policy contrasts, and that’s really what the debate should be about.”Dr. Brown and other experts who study women of color in politics said that while double standards were very much present, Ms. Harris may also have helped herself and the Democratic ticket by calmly asserting herself when interrupted.“I’m speaking,” she said less than 15 minutes in, a line she would repeat more than once: “I’m speaking.” “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking.”Women of all political persuasions can relate to being spoken over and dismissed, Dr. Brown said, and that does not necessarily help the Trump campaign win over, say, white suburban women — who helped lift Mr. Trump to victory in 2016, but among whom he is badly trailing in the polls.“With the tightrope she’s walking, she’s definitely not going to make everybody happy,” said Amanda Hunter, research and communications director at the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which supports women in politics. But, she added, “it’s so important that a woman candidate stand up for herself in a debate, and that can display strength to voters.”The Biden campaign, for its part, sought to use the gendered dynamics to its advantage in the post-debate spin.“He didn’t just mansplain,” Symone Sanders, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign, said of Mr. Pence. “He man-dodged.”A debate viewing party at the Women’s National Democratic Club in Washington on Wednesday.Credit…Anna Moneymaker for The New York TimesAbout an hour into Wednesday night’s presidential debate, a fly suddenly appeared on Vice President Mike Pence’s head, resting motionless yet extremely visible set against his silver hair. It sat there for two minutes and three seconds, enough time to spawn thousands of memes and somehow crash Twitter’s trending topics.📈 Trending on our site for quite possibly the first time:’fly’#VPDebate— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) October 8, 2020
Even a comedian who spent nearly a decade finding humor in the travails of the vice presidency was impressed by the fly’s appearance.The Biden campaign even turned the fly into its latest get-out-the-vote canvasser and fund-raiser.The Trump campaign had put out no fly content as of late Wednesday.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/08/us/harris-pence-trump-biden