Weekly Presidential News Briefing - October 16, 2020

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Every weekday, Ballotpedia tracks the news, events, and results of the 2020 presidential election.

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Every weekday, Ballotpedia tracks the news, events, and results of the 2020 presidential election.

With just 18 days until the presidential election, are you looking for more frequent updates about the candidates and their campaigns? In addition to our Weekly Briefing, we also offer a Daily Presidential News Briefing. Subscribe here.

Share the latest from the campaign trail.

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Notable Quotes of the Week

“The fact that both candidates are grasping at Dr. Fauci is revealing. It sort of serves as a microcosm of where we’re at in American politics: Americans at either side of the political divide can look at the same thing and come away with vastly different interpretations of it.”

– Steven Webster, Indiana University political scientist

“In 2016, 94% of all campaigning took place in just 12 states and two-thirds of the events took place in just six states. More than half of all states did not have one campaign event in 2016 after the national party conventions. No candidate stepped foot in any state with just 3 electoral votes, undermining the argument that the Electoral College forces candidates to run national campaigns.

The same pattern has emerged this fall. Since the conclusion of the national party conventions in August, Over 70% of all campaign events -- either virtual or in person -- have been held in just six states (Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida, Michigan and Minnesota). If you want to know where the presidential election will be decided, you need look no further than where the candidates are spending their time and money.”

– Robert Alexander, director of the Institute for Civics and Public Policy at Ohio Northern University​​​​​

Biden on the campaign trail

* On Monday, Biden campaigned in Toledo and Cincinnati.
* On Tuesday, Biden campaigned in southeastern Florida.
* On Thursday, Biden filmed a town hall in Philadelphia.
* On Friday, Biden is campaigning in Michigan.

Trump on the campaign trail

* On Monday, Trump held a rally in Florida.
* On Tuesday, Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania.
* On Wednesday, Trump held a rally in Iowa.
* On Thursday, Trump filmed a town hall in Miami.
* On Friday, Trump is holding rallies in Florida and Georgia.

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### Biden, Trump participate in competing town halls rather than debate

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced on October 9 that the second presidential debate would not take place.

The group said in a statement, “On October 8, CPD announced that for the health and safety of all involved, the second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15 in Miami, would be conducted virtually. Subsequently, the campaigns of the two candidates who qualified for participation in the debate made a series of statements concerning their respective positions regarding their willingness to participate in a virtual debate on October 15, and each now has announced alternate plans for that date. It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15, and the CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22.”

Joe Biden and Donald Trump participated in competing events on Thursday night, instead.

Biden appeared in a town hall on ABC News in Philadelphia moderated by George Stephanopoulos. He discussed the coronavirus pandemic response and vaccine, Trump’s tax cuts, green infrastructure, Black economic mobility, education, the 1994 crime bill, community policing, Supreme Court, healthcare, bipartisanship, fracking, foreign policy, and LGBT issues.

Biden said that a vaccine mandate would depend on its effectiveness and distribution. He said he wanted to eliminate tax cuts for only the top earners. He called the 1994 crime bill a mistake and advocated more community policing. Biden said his position on court packing depended on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation process.

Trump participated in a town hall on NBC News in Miami moderated by Savannah Guthrie. He discussed his COVID-19 diagnosis, mask use, white supremacy, QAnon, election fraud, coronavirus response, economy, healthcare, emergency relief, corporate tax rates, personal debt, Supreme Court, abortion, law enforcement, and immigration.

He denounced white supremacy and antifa. He said he would always protect people with pre-existing conditions. Trump said his reported personal debt of $421 million was tiny compared to his assets. He said his position on Supreme Court nominations in election years changed after how Brett Kavanaugh was treated during his confirmation hearing.

Biden, DNC lead Trump and RNC in fundraising by $135 million in September

The Biden campaign announced on Wednesday that the campaign, in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee, raised a record-setting $383 million in September. Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee, and joint fundraising committees raised $248 million in the same month.

Three individuals linked to Biden campaign travel test positive for COVID-19

Three people who traveled with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on campaign flights tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Harris suspended her travel for several days after sharing a flight with two of the individuals who had tested positive. The campaign said Biden would remain on the campaign trail since he had not been within 50 feet of the third person who tested positive. Biden said his COVID-19 test was negative on Thursday.

Trump returns to the campaign trail in Florida

Donald Trump’s physician, Sean Conley, said Trump had tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days. “Repeatedly negative antigen tests, taken in context with additional clinical and laboratory data, including viral load, subgenomic RNA, and PCR cycle threshold measurements, as well as ongoing assessment of viral culture data, all indicate a lack of detectable viral replication,” Conley said in a statement on Monday.

Trump held his first rally since his COVID-19 diagnosis on Monday at an airport in Sanford, Florida.

Biden campaign responds to New York Post story on Ukraine business dealings

The Biden campaign campaign responded to a New York Post story that said Hunter Biden introduced Joe Biden to an executive from a Ukranian energy company, where Hunter Biden was a member of the board. “The never-before-revealed meeting is mentioned in a message of appreciation that Vadym Pozharskyi, an adviser to the board of Burisma, allegedly sent Hunter Biden on April 17, 2015, about a year after Hunter joined the Burisma board at a reported salary of up to $50,000 a month,” The New York Post said. The article referenced a hard drive and emails given to The New York Post by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement that “we have reviewed Joe Biden's official schedules from the time and no meeting, as alleged by the New York Post, ever took place.” Politico reported that the Biden campaign did not rule out the possibility that Biden had an informal interaction with Pozharskyi.

Bates also said, “Investigations by the press, during impeachment, and even by two Republican-led Senate committees whose work was decried as 'not legitimate' and political by a GOP colleague have all reached the same conclusion: that Joe Biden carried out official U.S. policy toward Ukraine and engaged in no wrongdoing. Trump administration officials have attested to these facts under oath.”

Donald Trump began airing an ad questioning Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine on Wednesday. The narrator says in the clip, “The question is not why Hunter Biden used his name to get these gigs. It’s why Joe Biden let him do it.”

Ad spending in battlegrounds crosses $1 billion mark

Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and their respective allied groups have spent more than $1 billion on television ads in 13 battleground states. Six states have received the bulk of spending—almost $9 for every $10 spent—Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

Want more? Find the daily details here:

* Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 16, 2020
* Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 15, 2020
* Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 14, 2020
* Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 13, 2020
* Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 12, 2020

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### Poll Spotlight

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### Campaign Ad Spotlight

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### What We’re Reading

* ABC News: How soon will we know the US election outcome?
* FiveThirtyEight: Will Georgia Turn Blue?
* National Review: Reports of Trump’s Political Demise Are Greatly Exaggerated
* Pew Research Center: White Christians continue to favor Trump over Biden, but support has slipped
* Politico: Anti-Trump, but not fully for Biden: Will Gen Z vote?

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### Flashback: October 12-16, 2016

* October 12, 2016: Robert Satiacum Jr., a Democratic elector in Washington, said he was considering not voting for Hillary Clinton.
* October 13, 2016: Donald Trump said that allegations in a New York Times story that he had sexually harassed several women were false.
* October 14, 2016: Republican pollster Whit Ayres said Donald Trump was “at a point where he's trying to draw an inside straight now by campaigning primarily in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina.”
* October 15, 2016: Donald Trump said he and Hillary Clinton should take a drug test before the final presidential debate.
* October 16, 2016: The New York Times reported that Donald Trump began October 2016 with $75 million in cash on hand, while Hillary Clinton had roughly $150 million.