The final debate between President Trump and former Vice President Biden took place on Oct 23rd in Nashville Tennessee.  The moderator was NBC News anchor, Kristen Welker, and might I say, this debate was much calmer and more civilized than the first. The six talking points were Covid 19, healthcare and families, racial issues, climate change, national security, and leadership.

For one, there was some interrupting but mostly, both the President and former Vice President took their two minutes and kept to themselves. The moderator allowed both candidates time to reply back to one another. It seemed however that the President kept talking over the moderator when she repeatedly told them that they had to move on to the next segment.

Of course the first segment had to be about the Coronavirus. Simply speaking, Biden repeated over and over that they need to shut down in order for resources and money to be provided to local businesses and schools. Trump responded with, “We have to recover, we can’t close down our nation and we have to open up our schools and we can’t close our nation, or you’re not going to have a nation”

Trump also stated that there was a vaccine ready but when pressed said there “was no guarantee.” He said that there was 1.5 million vaccines almost ready to be shipped out. ‘Operation Warp Speed’ is what Trump referred to as the military sending the vaccines out. He also talked about his personal experience with catching Covid and said, “I was in the hospital, I had it and I got better.”

When asked what he would do about the Coronavirus situation, Biden said, “What I would do is make sure everyone [was] encouraged to wear a mask all the time. I would make sure we move [in] the direction of rapid testing. I would make sure that we set up national standards as to how to open up schools and businesses so that they can be safe and give them the wherewithal, the financial resources, to be able to do that.”

When asked about election interference, the two debaters actually ended up talking about taxes and how Biden was ‘enriching’ himself from other countries. Biden then retaliated saying ‘I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life.” Biden then asked Trump about the $750 he paid in taxes and Trump said that was because of a ‘filing fee.’ A quick fact check suggests that said there is no such thing as a filing fee. Speaking of fact checking, this website gives some perspective on the issues discussed at the debate.

Trump and Biden also discussed the minimum wage issue. Biden’s stance on this was clear: “…They deserve a minimum wage of $15, anything below that puts you below the poverty level”

Trump countered, “He [Biden] said we have to help our small businesses by raising the minimum wage? That’s not helping. I think it should be a state option…Alabama is different than New York, New York is different from Vermont. Every state is different.”

When asked about how children from families that crossed the border will ever be reunited, the President stated, “There are children that are brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels, and they’re brought here and they used to use them to get into our country. We now have stronger borders than we’ve ever had.”

When Biden had his two minutes, he said “These 500 plus kids came with parents. They separated them at the border to make it a disincentive to come to begin with. We’re tough we’re really strong, and guess what, they cannot, it’s not coyotes didn’t bring them over it was their parents that were with them.”

In response, Trump said, “They did it, we changed the policy.”

Now I can’t tell you everything the President and former Vice President said, but this is was just some of the highlights. I appreciated the fact that both stayed calm and civilized, let each other talk and were respectful of the moderator. It shows how much the two have learned from the last debate, and it will make it easier for Americans who still haven’t voted to pick their side. The election is on November 3rd so go out there and do your part!