5 takeaways from the debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in Cleveland

by Phillip M. Bailey and Rebecca Morin, USA Today

Social distancing measures at the first debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden meant that their podiums were far apart from one another and there was no customary handshake between the two rivals at the beginning of the evening.

But the lack of a handshake was far from the way in which the Cleveland debate broke the normal conventions of civility. At Tuesday’s encounter, the two men questioned one another’s intelligence,Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden and Biden frequently scoffed at the president’s comments and called him a “clown.” At one point, the Democratic candidate asked Trump, “Will you shut up, man?”

Trump was pressed about his taxes and was also asked by moderator Chris Wallace if he would condemn white supremacists – a question he sidestepped.

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