President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are facing off tonight in Cleveland, Ohio.
There will be no opening statements and, due to COVID-19, both camps have agreed there will be no handshake between the opponents.
With the global death toll now topping one million, the coronavirus is at the top of the list of topics which also includes the economy as well as race and violence in cities across America.
Trump’s campaign tells CBN News they are looking forward to tonight’s match-up.
“President Trump of course is going to have fun with this. He loves talking to the American people and so I anticipate that he’ll do an excellent job,” Jenna Ellis, legal counsel to the president, told CBN News.
Former Vice President Biden says he’s prepped and ready for round one of the debates.
“He’s going to want to make it personal, he’s going to want to get in the mosh pit,” Biden said. “I’m going to talk about why I want to be President.”
Tonight’s debate comes on the heels of a New York Times report claiming that the president paid no federal taxes in 11 of the 18 years of tax forms that the paper reportedly acquired, and only $750 in both 2016 and 2017.
The Biden camp wasted no time, releasing an ad on Twitter hours after the Times’ report, attacking Trump.
CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody questions the timing of the report and how quickly the Biden ad was released.
“Has anybody done the tick-tock?” asked Brody on CBN’s Faith Nation. “I have. The tick-tock on that in terms of when that Biden ad came out compared to when the New York Times story came out. The New York Times story came out at 6 pm on a Sunday evening, that Biden ad was out by 11 pm. Makes you wonder if the Biden campaign knew that the New York Times article was about to drop.”
Other topics for tonight’s debate will be the Supreme Court and the president’s pick of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the high court.
“Her qualifications are unsurpassed,” the president said Sunday. “This should be a straightforward and prompt confirmation.”
The president is predicting a quick confirmation process despite objections from Democrats who vow to fight and delay, saying her nomination is a direct assault on the Affordable Care Act.
Tonight’s face-off between Trump and Biden is the first of three presidential debates and is set to last 90 minutes.