Wallace debunks conservative conspiracy theory off the bat
Debate moderator Chris Wallace isn’t like other Fox News hosts
Fox News host Chris Wallace opened the debate on Tuesday shortly after 9 p.m. ET.
Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday, has built a reputation for his interrogative style of interviewing. Unlike other hosts on the network — who have been criticized for cheerleading for the administration and Trump (including Sean Hannity) — Wallace has tried to model himself as an evenhanded journalist who is seen by some on both sides of the aisle as serious and sharp.
He was one of the moderators of the 2016 GOP presidential debate in Detroit when he famously used slides to fact check then-candidate Trump in real-time. He also moderated the third presidential debate during the 2016 campaign, pressing both Clinton and Trump with substantive questions and pressing further for a substantive answer.
Wallace has criticized Biden for not appearing on his show since becoming the Democratic nominee to be cross-examined over his policies. And Wallace’s style has caused Trump to lash out at him over the years — like when Trump called him a “Mike Wallace wannabe” (the moderator’s famous journalist father) in an April tweet. Wallace also clashed with Trump in a July interview in which the journalist cast doubt on the president’s that his mental fitness test was difficult.
“I took the test, too, when I heard that you passed it,” Wallace told Trump who said he aced the test. “It’s not the hardest test,” noting that one of the questions asks you to identify a drawing of an elephant.
Who will stay on topic? We’re tracking the candidates during the debate
Track what Trump and Biden talk about, and how much they stay on-topic, at tonight’s debate.
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‘Dump Trump’: Peaceful protests against the president at first debate
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated at the presidential debate near the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Tuesday, shortly before Trump and Biden were set to hold their first faceoff.
The coalition of left-wing groups aimed their ire at the president, chanting slogans like “Dump Trump” and holding “Black Lives Matter” signs. They also chanted the name of Tamir Rice, a Black 12-year-old boy who was killed by police in Cleveland in 2014.
Protesters were kept blocks away from the debate site by a combination of state police and the National Guard, who’d established an “event zone” around the area.
Here’s the vibe inside the hall pre-debate
What’s the vibe like inside the debate hall? It feels remarkably intimate and more muted than the pre-debate tee-up in years past. It’s oddly quiet, even though the room has started to fill— a relative term, considering the socially-distanced seats in effect— and people are beginning to sit.
Some of the seats are labeled. Among the names spotted by our producer: Donald Trump Jr, Tiffany Trump, Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, Lara Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, chief of staff Mark Meadows, RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, Blake Meadows, Phoebe Meadows and Dr. Jill Biden.
The mask requirements have made spotting notable guests in the crowd a bit more challenging, but we’ve seen Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, political consultant Frank Luntz, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, DNC chair Tom Perez, Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos and Jim Jordan.
We’re approximately 15 minutes from the start time.
Clinton on Trump: ‘His series is about to be canceled’
Hillary Clinton told MSNBC that tonight’s debate could be the nail in the coffin for Trump.
She said that Biden will be attacked, but that his “toughness” and his “humanity” will be in stark contrast to Trump’s bombastic style of debating. And now that Trump has a record as a politician and his administration has weathered many controversies, she said many people will look at him differently.
“I think that his big advantage of having been a so-called reality TV star and then in people’s living rooms on their TVs for a number of years before he ran has pretty much run its course,” said Clinton, who is the last person to debate Trump.
“I think his series is about to be canceled because it’s just the same story over and over again — lying with impunity, attacking when you have nothing to say, unable to give an answer that is frankly coherent.”
She said now the American people are all aware of how Trump behaves and “you can only lie so many times.”
Analysis: Will Trump cede the incumbent’s edge?
When Trump won the presidency in 2016, his debate antics helped reinforce the message that he was a rabble-rouser who would crash the political establishment’s party.
But now he’s president, and, as much as he wants to keep the outsider mantle, there’s a real risk in flouting decorum and convention. That balancing act is all the more tenuous because the public already has twice judged Biden fit to serve one heartbeat from the presidency.
It’s possible for Trump to give away the main advantage an incumbent traditionally holds in a debate: that everyone can see him as president.
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