而不是和总统一起面对选民唐纳德·特朗普前副总统乔·拜登有机会在没有他的挑战者在场的情况下陈述自己的观点美国广播公司新闻市政厅费城国家宪法中心的宾夕法尼亚选民。
在周四晚上由首席主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯主持的独家活动中，拜登将他的政府与目前的政府进行了对比，给出了政策层面的答案，称自己是特朗普在任期间和整个过程中从未担任过的领导人冠状病毒流行病。
总统候选人本应参加周四的第二场辩论，但在特朗普的新冠肺炎诊断为阳性后，总统辩论委员会选择将市政厅式的夜晚作为安全预防措施，之后总统表示他将不再参加，辩论最终被取消。
距离11月3日还有不到三周的时间，候选人将选民推向他们阵营的时间已经不多了。已经有1800多万选民投了票，尽管离选举日还有很长一段时间，这是前所未有的投票率，但还有更多的美国人尚未正式表达自己的意见。
以下是拜登的美国广播公司新闻市政厅的主要观点:
当被问到时，拜登表示，他将在选举日之前向选民表明他在法庭打包问题上的“明确立场”
拜登一再回避在法庭打包问题上给出明确的答案，他告诉斯特凡诺普洛斯，他将在选举日之前给选民一个答案，尽管数百万选民已经投了票。
“乔治，你知道，如果我直接回答了这个问题，那么所有的焦点将是拜登如果获胜会做什么，而不是:现在发生的事情合适吗?”拜登说，并补充说，总统喜欢“把我们的视线从球上移开”。
美国广播公司新闻
2020年10月15日，费城，美国广播公司新闻市政厅，前副总统乔·拜登回答观众的问题。
拜登说，他并不总是打包法庭的粉丝，但现在，取决于参议院如何处理特朗普对艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官的提名，他可能会改变主意。
拜登说:“这取决于他们有多着急。”。“你想想看，乔治，这里有很多人没有能力支付他们的抵押贷款，没有能力把食物放在桌子上，没有能力保持他们的业务开放，没有能力做任何事情来处理COVID带来的经济问题，他们没有时间处理这些，但他们有时间尽快解决这个问题。”
斯特凡诺普洛斯反驳拜登，问道:“但是选民难道没有权利知道你的立场吗?”
拜登说他们有，斯特凡诺普洛斯接着问，“所以你会在选举日之前拿出一个明确的立场?”
“是的，”拜登说，但随后很快提出了警告。“取决于他们如何处理这件事。”
这一警告可能值得注意，因为就在一周前，拜登对选民何时知道他的立场给出了不同的时间表，他告诉记者，“选举结束后，他们会知道我对法院打包的意见。”
当特朗普推动即将到来的疫苗时，拜登全力以赴
正在…特朗普一直在推进可获得性冠状病毒年底前接种疫苗，以及一直戴着面具，拜登对特朗普疫苗言论的准确性表示担忧。
拜登说:“第一:特朗普总统谈论的事情并不总是准确的。”。“关键是，如果科学家们，如果科学家们的身体，说如果这是准备好要做的，经过测试，经历了三个阶段，是的，我会接受，鼓励人们接受。特朗普总统说，从他现在要离开的疯狂的事情到一切，“在你的胳膊上注射漂白剂，那会起作用的。”"
凯利·利(Kelly Leigh)是一名犹豫不决的选民，他问拜登是否会接受特朗普政府推出的疫苗，以及他是否会强制使用这种疫苗。
“我会见了四位顶尖科学家...告诉我们进展的细节。“他们还没到。大多数科学家说，在明年年初之前，不太可能有疫苗可用。”
斯特凡诺普洛斯向拜登施压，问他是否会授权使用这种疫苗。
“一旦我们得到它，如果它是安全的，如果它是有效的，你会强制使用它吗?”他问道。
拜登指出，他不能强制要求接种疫苗，但他可以去找州和地方领导人，鼓励他们强制要求减缓病毒的传播。
“但你可以说...你可以去每一个州长那里，把他们都召集到一个房间里，所有50个人，作为总统，然后说，‘让人们戴上面具。’每个人都知道，”拜登说，指的是他们的有效性。
如果州长拒绝拜登的请求，他会向其他地方领导人提出。
“我会去找每一位市长。他说:“我会去找每一个议员，我会去找每一个地方官员，说‘戴上面具’。”他补充说，总统的话很重要。
“不管它们是好的、坏的还是冷漠的，它们都很重要，”他说。“当总统不戴口罩，或者取笑像我这样戴口罩很长时间的人时，人们会说，‘嗯，这一定没那么重要。’"
拜登在向选民推销自己时，非常倾向于政策
在整个辩论中，这位前副总统在向选民推销自己时，一再夸大政策。
年轻的黑人男子塞德里克·汉弗莱(Cedric Humphrey)问拜登:“对于那些将投票给你视为进一步参与一个持续无法保护他们的系统的年轻黑人选民，你有什么要说的?”
拜登首先告诉汉弗莱，年轻的黑人男性和女性有权力决定这次选举，但随后他转向了政策的深度跳水。他说，除了刑事司法改革，他还想让美国黑人“能够获得财富。”
他说，他可以通过增加对学校的资助来确保教师不会离开他们，并向历史上的黑人学院和大学拨款700亿美元，因为“他们没有他们需要的那种基础支持”。
整个夏天，抗议者走上街头，要求为被警察杀害的黑人男女伸张正义，后来在市政厅，拜登提出了警察改革，称他将召集一个由警官、社会工作者以及黑人和棕色人种美国人组成的“国家研究小组”，共同提出改革方案。
但他也提出了更具体的想法，称他将为警察部门配备新工具，而不会减少警力。
“警察现在有点像学校老师。拜登说:“你知道，一名教师必须知道一切，从什么，如何处理家庭饥饿，以及如何教如何阅读。“嗯，警察没有那么宽。”
他说，解决办法不是像自由派活动家和一些当选的民主党人呼吁的那样“解除警察的武装”，而是用新武器武装警察，在危机时刻做出反应。然而，这些武器是人——心理学家和社会工作者，他们可以帮助更好地应对警察可能没有能力处理的情况，比如当有人精神痛苦的时候。
当斯蒂芬诺普洛斯问及他是否仍然相信“更多的警察显然意味着更少的犯罪”时，拜登说他相信，但警察的类型很重要。
“如果他们参与社区治安，而不是突击队。例如，当我们从90年代中期开始实行社区治安直到布什当选时，发生了什么?“暴力犯罪实际上急剧下降，”拜登说社区警务并不意味着更多的人乘坐装甲悍马车蜂拥而至。"
这位前副总统还谈到了气候变化问题，坚称禁止水力压裂法——宾夕法尼亚州的一个关键行业——不是他提出的建议，尽管总统一再声称他会这样做。
拜登说，美国需要在可再生能源上投资，但他不仅仅是将可再生能源作为环境宣传，而是根据经济情况进行调整，称其是“能源行业增长最快的雇主”。进入细节，他说，128，000人可以被雇用来填补油井，“并获得良好的工资。”
拜登重申了他的统一主张
拜登的竞选活动主要围绕着统一国家，并在周四向选民重申了这一点。在竞选过程中，他经常提到2018年右翼团体在夏洛茨维尔抗议后发生的暴力事件，以及总统的回应，即“双方都有好人”。
当斯蒂芬·诺普洛斯(Stephanopoulos)问拜登，如果他没有赢得这次选举，他认为拜登会如何评价这个国家的状况时，拜登说，“嗯，这可能会说我是一个糟糕的候选人，我没有做好工作。”
但他希望拜登的失败不会说，“我们在种族、道德和宗教上彼此不一致，就像总统希望我们的那样。”
这位前副总统表示，特朗普的策略是“分而治之”，但另一方面，他认为人们需要希望。
“他做得更好的方式是，如果他分裂我们，就会有分裂。我认为人们需要希望。我想，乔治，我从未像今天这样对这个国家的前景如此乐观。我是认真的。我想人们已经准备好了。他们明白利害关系。这与民主党和共和党无关。他说:“如果我当选，你知道，我会——我会以一个自豪的民主党人的身份竞选，但我会成为美国总统。”他补充说，他也会照顾那些投票反对他的人。
“我会照顾投票反对我的人和投票支持我的人。说真的。总统就是这么干的。我们必须治愈这个国家，”拜登说
卡尔·德巴克/美联社
2020年10月15日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在北卡罗来纳州格林维尔的竞选集会上发表讲话。
拜登说，每个美国人都应该得到有尊严的对待，没有这一点，这个国家将无法发挥其潜力。
“我爸以前有个表情，真的。他说，“每个人都有权得到有尊严的对待。“所有人，”“这是真的，”拜登说每个人都是。因此，无论我是一名失败的总统候选人，还是当选总统，这都是我所做的一切的一个主要因素。因为它反映了我们作为一个国家的身份。"
“我们是一个多元化的国家。除非我们能够平等对待他人，否则我们永远无法发挥自己的潜力，”他补充道。
拜登说，美国人已经准备好克服分裂，他说分裂已经超过了全国的大部分地区。全国民意调查确实发现，在创造团结的问题上，大多数选民倾向于选择副总统。
“我认为他们已经准备好了。我要告诉你一件事，如果我当选总统，你将听不到我的种族引诱，听不到我的分裂，听不到我试图统一，”他说。“当我说我竞选是因为我想统一国家时，人们说，‘好吧，那是旧时代。’我们最好能再做一次。我们最好能再做一次。"
拜登认为，在期待下一场辩论时，对冠状病毒保持清醒是一件“体面”的事情
在特朗普的新冠肺炎测试呈阳性后，第二次总统辩论被取消，但拜登表示，他预计将在下一次辩论中进行，下次辩论仍定于10月22日进行，他希望总统在那天进行测试。
在第一场辩论中，候选人被期望遵守“荣誉制度”，不清楚特朗普在辩论前多久接受了病毒测试。周四晚上，在总统自己的市政厅，在另一个网络上，这种不明确的情况持续存在，特朗普在辩论当天被多次问及他是否受到了考验，他说他“可能受到了考验”。
斯特凡诺普洛斯要求拜登对此做出回应，以及他是否会“要求特朗普总统在那天进行测试，并在你辩论之前进行否定。”
拜登说他会的，然后提出这样做是出于尊重。
“上来之前，我又考了一次。我每天都吃...如果我没有通过测试，我不想来这里，你知道，不暴露任何人。拜登说:“我只是认为这是——这只是体面，”他明确表示，这与他无关，而是与其他所有人有关。
“我不太关心我自己，更关心那些人，那些拿着摄像机的人，那些在工作的人，你知道，那些和你一起开车的特工人员，所有那些人，”他说。
拜登对其他人的持续关注，并随后采取行动，与现任总统的行动形成鲜明对比。
在他确诊之前和之后，特朗普举行了大部分无面具集会几乎没有社交距离健康官员们指出了传播可能性更大的事件类型。当总统在沃尔特·里德医疗中心接受冠状病毒治疗时，他离开医院去兜风迎接支持者，批评者抨击他可能会使他的工作人员——特勤局——也有被感染的危险。
与此同时，拜登的竞选伙伴、参议员卡马拉·哈里斯(Kamala Harris)周四取消了她的北卡罗来纳之行，在她的通信主任检测出病毒呈阳性后，她的预定活动改为虚拟活动。
5 key takeaways from Joe Biden's town hall with ABC News
Instead of facing voters alongside PresidentDonald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden had the opportunity to make his case without his challenger on stage with him, participating in anABC News town hallwith Pennsylvania voters at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
During Thursday night's exclusive event, moderated by chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, Biden contrasted what his administration would look like compared to the current one with policy-heavy answers, pitching himself as the leader that he believes Trump hasn't been while in office, and throughout the ongoingcoronaviruspandemic.
The presidential candidates were supposed to participate in the second debate Thursday, but after the Commission on Presidential Debates opted to make the town hall-style night a virtual event as a safety precaution following Trump's positive COVID-19 diagnosis, the president said he would no longer participate, and the debate was ultimately canceled.
With less than three weeks until Nov. 3, time is running out for the candidates to push voters into their camp. Already, more than 18 million voters have cast their ballots, and while that's an unprecedented turnout this far out from Election Day, many more Americans have yet to officially make their voices heard.
Here are the key takeaways from Biden's ABC News town hall:
When pressed, Biden said he will give voters his "clear position" on court packing before Election Day
Biden, who has repeatedly dodged giving a clear answer on court packing, told Stephanopoulos he would give voters an answer before Election Day, despite the fact that millions of voters have already cast their ballots.
"George, you know if I had answered the question directly, then all the focus would be on what's Biden going to do if he wins instead of on: Is it appropriate what is going on now?" Biden said, adding the president loves to "take our eye off the ball."
Former Vice President Joe Biden answers questions from members of the audience after an ABC News Town Hall in Philadelphia, Oct. 15, 2020.
Biden said he hasn't always been a fan of packing the court, but now, depending on how the Senate handles Trump's nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, he may change his mind.
"It depends on how much they rush this," Biden said. "And you think about it, George, here you got a lot of people not being able to pay their mortgage, not being able to put food on the table, not being able to keep their business open, not being able to do anything to deal with what's going on in terms of the economy as a consequence of COVID, and they have no time to deal with that, but they have time to rush this through."
Stephanopoulos pushed back on Biden, asking, "But don't voters have a right to know where you stand?"
Biden said they do, Stephanopoulos followed up asking, "So you'll come out with a clear position before Election Day?"
"Yes," Biden said, but then quickly followed with a caveat. "Depending on how they handled this."
That caveat could be notable as just a week ago, Biden gave a different timeline on when voters would know his stance, telling reporters, "They’ll know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over."
While Trump pushes for a coming vaccine, Biden goes all in on masks
WhileTrump has continually pushed forward on the availability of acoronavirusvaccine before the end of the year, andconsistently flouted wearing a mask, Biden expressed concern about the accuracy of Trump's vaccine comments.
"No. 1: President Trump talks about things that just aren't accurate about everything," Biden said. "The point is that if the scientists, if the body of scientists, say if this is what is ready to be done, been tested, gone through the three phases, yes, I'd take it, encourage people to take it. President Trump says things like everything from crazy stuff he's walking away from now, 'Inject bleach in your arm and that's going to work.'"
Kelly Leigh, an undecided voter, asked Biden if he would take the vaccine coming out of the Trump administration -- and if he would mandate its use.
"I meet with four leading scientists... giving us the detail on what kind of progress is being made," he said. "They're not there yet. And most scientists say it's not likely to have a vaccine that will be available until the beginning of next year."
Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on if he would mandate the use of the vaccine.
"And once we get it, if it's safe, if it's effective, will you mandate its use?" he asked.
Biden noted that he couldn't mandate a vaccine, but he could go to state and local leaders to encourage mask mandates to slow the spread of the virus.
"But you can say... you can go to every governor and get them all in a room, all 50 of them, as president, and say, 'Ask people to wear the mask.' Everybody knows," Biden said, referring to their effectiveness.
And if governors were to deny Biden's request, he'd take it to other local leaders.
"I'd go to every mayor. I'd go to every councilman, I'd go to every local official, say, 'Mandate the mask,'" he said, adding that the words of a president matter.
"No matter whether they're good, bad, or indifferent, they matter," he said. "And when the president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then, you know, people say, 'Well, it must not be that important.'"
Biden leans heavily into policy as he pitches himself to voters
Throughout the debate, the former vice president repeatedly played up policy as he pitched himself to voters.
Cedric Humphrey, a young Black man, asked Biden, "What do you have to say to young Black voters who see voting for you as further participation in a system that continually fails to protect them?"
Biden first told Humphrey that young Black men and women have the power to decide this election, but then he pivoted to a deep dive in policy. He said that in addition to criminal justice reform, he wants to put Black Americans "in a position to be able to gain wealth."
He said he could do that by increasing funding for schools to ensure teachers don't leave them, and also allocating $70 billion to historically Black colleges and universities because "they don't have the kind of foundational support they need."
Throughout the summer, protesters took to the streets demanding justice for the Black men and women killed by police, and later during the town hall, Biden took on police reform, saying he would convene a "national study group" of police officers, social workers and Black and Brown Americans to come up with reforms together.
But he also laid out more concrete ideas, saying that he would arm police departments with new tools, without diminishing the police force.
"Cops are kind of like schoolteachers now. You know, a schoolteacher has to know everything from what, how to handle hunger in a household, as well as how to teach how to read," Biden said. "Well, cops don't have that breadth."
He said the solution isn't "defunding the police," which liberal activists and some elected Democrats have called for, but rather arming police with new weapons to respond in moments of crisis. Those weapons, however, are people -- psychologists and socials workers who can help better respond to situations that cops may not be equipped to handle, like when someone is under mental distress.
Asked by Stephanopoulos if he still believes that "more cops clearly mean less crime," Biden said he did, but the type of policing matters.
"If they're involved in community policing, not jump squads. For example, when we had community policing from the mid '90s on until -- until Bush got elected, what happened? Violent crime actually went down precipitously," Biden said. "Community policing doesn't mean more people coming in up armored humvees and swarming."
The former vice president also took the issue of on climate change, insisting that banning fracking -- a key industry in Pennsylvania -- is not something he's proposed, despite the president repeatedly claiming that he would.
Biden said the country needs to invest in renewable energy, but instead of just making it an environment pitch, he tailored it to the economy, saying it's "the fastest-growing employer in the energy industry." Getting into specifics, he said that 128,000 people could be hired to fill oil wells, "and get a good salary doing it."
Biden reiterates his unity pitch
Biden has centered much of his campaign around unifying the country and reiterated that pitch to voters Thursday. On the campaign trail, he often references the violence that unfolded after right-wing groups protested in Charlottesville in 2018, and the president's response that there were "good people on both sides."
Asked by Stephanopoulos what Biden thinks it would say about the state of the country if he didn't win this election, Biden said, "Well, it could say that I'm a lousy candidate and I didn't do a good job."
But what he hoped a Biden loss wouldn't say was "that we are as racially, ethically, and religiously at odds with one other as it appears the president wants us to be."
The former vice president said Trump's strategy is to "divide and conquer," but he, on the other hand, thinks people need hope.
"The way he does better is if he splits us, there's division. And I think people need hope. I think, look, George, I've never been more optimistic about the prospects for this country than I am today. And I really mean that. I think the people are ready. They understand what's at stake. And it's not about Democrat and Republican. If I get elected, you know, I'm going to be -- I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I'm going to be the American president," he said, adding he would also take care of those who voted against him.
"I'm going to take care of those who voted against me as well as those who voted for me. For real. That's what presidents do. We've got to heal this nation," Biden said
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Greenville, N.C., Oct. 15, 2020.
Biden said every American deserves to be treated with dignity, and without that, the country will be unable to meet its potential.
"My dad used to have an expression, for real. He said, 'Everyone's entitled to be treated with dignity. Everybody.' And it was real," Biden said. "Everybody is. And so, whether I'm a defeated candidate for president back teaching or I'm elected president, it is a major element of everything that I'm about. Because it reflects who we are as a nation."
"We're a diverse country. Unless we are able to treat people equally, we're just never going to meet our potential," he added.
Biden said Americans are ready to move past the division, which he said has overtaken so much of the nation. National polling does find that the majority of voters tend to opt with the vice president when it comes to the question of creating unity.
"I think they're ready to see it happen. And I'll tell you one thing, if I'm elected president, you will not hear me race baiting, you will not hear me dividing, you will hear me trying to unify," he said. "When I said I was running because I wanted to unify the country, people said, 'Well, they were the old days.' We better be able to do it again. We better be able to do it again."
Biden makes being coronavirus-conscious a matter of 'decency' when looking forward to next debate
The second presidential debate was cancelled after Trump tested positive for COVID-19, but Biden said he expects to be at the next one, which is still scheduled for Oct. 22, and that he wants the president to take a test that day.
For the first debate, candidates were expected to abide by an "honor system," and it was not clear how long before the debate Trump had been tested for the virus. During the president's own town hall on another network Thursday night, that lack of clarity persisted, with Trump, after being asked multiple times whether he was tested the day of the debate, saying he "probably did."
Stephanopoulos asked Biden to respond to that, and if he would "demand that President Trump take a test that day and that it be negative before you debate."
Biden said he would, and then made the case that doing so is a matter of respect.
"Before I came up here, I took another test. I've been taking them every day... if I had not passed that test, I didn't want to come here and not, you know, expose anybody. And I just think it's -- it's just decency," Biden said, making it clear that it's not about him, but rather about everyone else.
"I'm less concerned about me than the people, the guys with the cameras, the people working in the, you know, the Secret Service guys you drive up with, all those people," he said.
Biden's persistent message of concern for others, which he follows up with action, is a stark contrast to the actions of the current president.
Before and since his diagnosis,Trump has held largely maskless rallieswith little social distancing, whichhealthofficials have pointed to as the types of events where transmission is more likely. While the president was at Walter Reed Medical Center being treated for coronavirus, he left the premises to go for a ride greeting supporters, and critics blasted him potentially putting his staff -- the Secret Service -- in danger of also being infected.
Meanwhile, Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate, cancelled her trip to North Carolina Thursday, making her scheduled events virtual instead, after her communications director tested positive for the virus.
