Less than two weeks before the end of voting in the 2020 US presidential elections, Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden face for the last time in a debate (Friday dawn, Doha time) that represents - most likely - Trump's last chance to reach a large audience, while still falling behind Biden is in the polls nationwide and in the swing states major.
After a first debate that took place 3 weeks ago and was marked by boycotts and clashes between Trump and the debate director, a tactic that appears to have hurt Trump in subsequent opinion polls, the president enters the debate in a weaker position than the Democrat’s competition.
President Donald Trump's advisors asked him to present a "positive picture" of what the country looked like, and to seek the support of voters who had yet to decide who would vote, while Biden's supporters wanted him to keep his cool and to confirm that - unlike Trump - he is capable. To lead the country out of the economic and social consequences of the Coronavirus crisis.
Trump refuses to admit his poor performance in opinion polls (Reuters)
The last debate, not the second
, less than two days after the end of the debate on September 29, Trump announced that he was infected with the Corona virus, and was transferred to Walter Reed Military Medical Center, where he spent 4 days under intensive medical care, then returned to the White House to start again the election campaigns Character after his medical team confirmed that he was no longer carrying the virus.
Trump refused to participate in a second, virtual, remote debate, due to fears that he would transmit the infection if the debate was held in its traditional form.
Opinion polls
Despite poll results indicating a comfortable victory for Biden, the Democratic candidate's campaign urges supporters to be indifferent to it, lest they be reassured of winning and some of them are no longer enthusiastic to vote.
Biden campaign manager Jane O'Malley Dillon warned that "Donald Trump can still win this race," and added in a statement, "The swing states will decide the fate of the elections, and we are still competing closely with Trump to win those states where the odds of any victory are close." Of the candidates. "
Trump's last
chance The Americans will have a last chance to hear the two candidates in their recent debate, during which Trump will try to revitalize his electoral base and work to narrow the gap - which the polls show - with Biden.
Usually, presidents do not manage the first debate well (George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama as a model), and Trump is hoping to do better and reach his peak in this debate.
This debate is crucial and pivotal in Trump's quest to preserve his seat in the White House for an additional four years, and it is the last opportunity in which he can speak quietly in an attempt to persuade those who have yet to determine his voting destination.
Opinion polls show Biden's lead (European)
Biden’s mission is not to make a mistake
with repeated polls showing his clear lead over Trump in swing states, and at the national level as well. Biden does not have to win the last debate, but rather he should not lose it in an embarrassing and obvious way.
Biden does not need to crush Trump, he does not need to persuade many Trump voters to vote for him, and he does not need to win the majority of undecided voters, he just needs to avoid making a heavy-handed mistake or doing anything that would spark voters ’fear about his age ( 77 years old or what is related to his mental health.
However, some commentators believe that the debate, which will last for 90 minutes, will not result in anything that may change the convictions of millions of voters, and there is nothing that can change the race dramatically at this stage.