Trump Brings Notable Special Guest to Debate

He invites Hunter Biden's former business partner to final showdown
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2020 8:15 PM CDT
Updated Oct 22, 2020 8:31 PM CDT
Trump Brings Notable Special Guest to Debate
President Trump, left, and Joe Biden take the stage for the start of the second and final presidential debate Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The second and final debate between President Trump and Joe Biden is underway, this time with one big rule change: A candidate's mic can be muted to ensure his rival can speak. In the first half hour, however, the tone has been civil relative to the first debate.

  • First subject: Trump praised his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, insisting that "we're rounding the corner" and that that a vaccine is just weeks away. Biden, for his part, said anyone who has mismanaged things as badly as Trump doesn't deserve to be president. Both covered familiar ground on the topic over a series of questions, and one exchange largely summed things up. "We're learning to live with it," said Trump, per CBS News. Biden responded, "People are learning to die with it."
  • Notable guest: Before the debate even began, Trump seemed to set the tone in the form of a special guest: He invited Tony Bobulinski, a former business partner of Hunter Biden. Bobulinski has alleged that Hunter Biden talked to his father frequently about business, while the elder Biden says his son's dealings never influenced his policies, per USA Today. "In some corners of the universe, it was a bombshell," writes Philip Bump in the Washington Post. "In most corners of the universe, though, the response was a bit different: Tony Who-now?" Trump has been pushing his attorney general to investigate the Bidens, pointing to stories in the New York Post that critics say are without merit.
(More presidential debate stories.)

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