After Pres. Trump claims 'a lot of people think the masks are not good,' GStephanopoulos asks: 'Who are those people?' 'Waiters,' Trump responds, saying he's seen servers constantly touching their face masks. More from the special abc2020 town hall:
ABC News offered to host a similar town hall with Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden, but ABC News and the campaign were not able to find a mutually agreeable date.Seven weeks before Election Day, ABC News hosts a town hall with President Donald Trump and uncommitted voters. ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos will anchor the event, which will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Sept. 15, 2020.
The president went on to say that his response to the pandemic made other officials look good too -- but that he doesn't think they didn't deserve the recognition. "Wherever you have a Democrat city -- not in all cases -- but if you look at the really troubled cities in our country, they're Democrat-run, and that's Biden," Trump said."They're weak. They're ineffective.""I'm president but I can only do what I'm allowed to do, George. I don't need the Insurrection Act to take care of 250 anarchists. We can do that very easily with a National Guard. We proved that in Minneapolis," Trump said.
"I have done so much for our vets and for our military. I rebuilt our military. Our military, when I came into this great office, our military was depleted, it was in the worst shape it was in probably ever. It was depleted. The planes were old and broken, the ships, everything. You see what I've done. I've rebuilt, $2.5 trillion. And you think that was easy getting that money from Democrats? Because they don't like the military," Trump claimed.
Trump went on to warn without evidence that if Biden were president the country would see an unprecedented depression. Trump ticked off how he appointed more than 200 federal judges and two Supreme Court justices in his first term. He went on to suggest he doesn't have the time to be"presidential" because he's moving so quickly -- which that includes moving people who can't keep up with him out.
"We're going to be doing a health care plan very strongly and protect people with pre existing conditions," he continued, before Stephanopoulos pointed out he still has not presented a plan in his first term as president. "Because they know exactly where I stand," Trump said."At the right time, I'll do that. But they know exactly where I stand. What they want is a bailout of Democrat run states that are doing poorly and, you know, I don't think this is the right way to --"
"Because you say again, we need to see when was that 'great'? Because that pushes us back to a time in which we cannot identify with such 'greatness,'" he asked."You've said everything else about choking and everything else, but you have yet to address and acknowledge that there has been a race problem in America."
"Well I think they were tragic events, and I do feel that we have to also take into consideration that if you look at our police they do a phenomenal job. You'll have people choke, make mistakes and they happen, it happens, where they have to make a fast decision and some bad things happen," Trump said, adding there are"bad apples" but"99%" are"great people.
"I didn't downplay it. I, actually, in many ways, I up-played it, in terms of action. My action was very strong," Trump said."Yeah, because what I did was, with China, I put a ban on. With Europe, I put a ban on and we would have lost thousands of more people had I not put the ban on. So that was called 'action,' not with the mouth but in actual fact."
He then pivoted to an attack on Biden who has called on every governor to set a mask mandate before defending those Americans who still refuse to wear masks. The president went on to tease a rosy timeline for a coronavirus vaccine, as he has before, suggesting one will come before Election Day, despite concern among Democrats and scientists that the Food and Drug Administration is under political pressure to expedite a vaccine for Trump's political gain.
But not all voters who have chosen between Trump and Biden have committed to voting for one or the other. This phase of the campaign -- with unpredictable formats including town halls and then debates -- represents fresh opportunities in a race that remains primed for disruptions.Seven weeks before Election Day, ABC News will host a town hall with President Donald Trump and uncommitted voters.
For Biden, a Scranton native, Pennsylvania carries some sentimental value, and presents an opportunity to rebuild a strong Democratic following in a state he won twice with Barack Obama. The former vice president has already made five trips to the state since the pandemic began earlier this year.Anotherthe president about his ubiquitous campaign slogan,"Make America Great Again," in light of a long history of systemic racism in housing and criminal justice.
"And that was solving a lot of problems, and you know what else was -- it was bringing people together," Trump said.Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed the president for"failed leadership" and"broken promises" to Pennsylvanians in a statement released on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Trump's trip to Philadelphia to participate in the ABC News town hall.
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Trump to take questions from uncommitted voters in ABC News town hall from PhiladelphiaExactly seven weeks before Election Day and two weeks before the first presidential debate, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night will face uncommitted voters head-on in a 90-minute town hall special hosted by ABC News from the battleground state of Pennsylvania. ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos
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