The second and final Presidential debate of 2020 took place Thursday night in Nashville, Tennessee and was markedly different from the first one in late September. The Commission on Presidential Debates had changed the rules to mute the microphones of President Donald Trump and Democratic Nominee Joe Biden while the other was giving their main answer to questions. Mr. Trump, who was widely castigated after his first debate performance for raging uncontrollably and continuously interrupting Biden and the moderator, changed his behavior during the second debate. However, the deception that the President has made a hallmark of his tenure remained at high levels. Fact checkers found that Trump spewed the most lies of the night by far. The New York Times summarized it this way: “Mr. Trump unleashed an unrelenting series of false, misleading and exaggerated statements as he sought to distort Mr. Biden’s record and positions and boost his own re-election hopes… The president once again relied heavily on well-worn talking points that have long been shown to be false.” 

Among the numerous issues discussed at the debate was the coronavirus pandemic which has so far claimed more than 220,000 American lives. Immigration was also a hot topic at the debate and the immigrant family separations that Trump’s government adopted as a deterrent was under scrutiny. Trump claimed that the majority of children separated from their parents were brought by “coyotes” or traffickers, and not by their own parents, even though it has been well documented that separating children from parents was a policy. Mr. Biden took Trump to task on the issue. Arguably the most shocking line of the night came from Trump who claimed that most immigrants do not reappear for their court hearings except those with the “lowest IQ”. 

The issues of race and policing were also front and center with Mr. Trump claiming contrary to all evidence that he had done more for the Black community than any other president with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, and that he was the least racist person in the room. Among Biden’s responses was a reminder that Trump was one of the loudest champions of the death penalty for the Central Park 5, a group of falsely accused African American teens. Also discussed during the debate was climate change, healthcare, Trump’s taxes, the minimum wage and more. A CNN poll of viewers and undecided voters concluded that Biden won the debate while observers pointed out that Trump’s wild and deceptive claims had strong echoes of Fox News talking points in a way that most people who don’t consume rightwing news may have been alienated by.

As election day nears a record-shattering 50 million voters have already cast their ballots in early voting states. Meanwhile Trump and Biden are