We are just two hours away from the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Watch with The Hill at the link below, and like this thread to follow our pre-debate coverage: #PresidentialDebate2020
So what is expected to happen on the debate stage? Washington is bracing for an ugly and personal debate with both Trump and Biden expected to go after each other’s age, mental acuity and fitness for office. thehill.com/homenews/campa…
Before the debate, Biden and Harris released their 2019 tax returns. The move comes as Trump faces criticism after a bombshell NYT report detailed 20 years of his taxes. Biden paid a total of $299,346 in taxes, for an effective tax rate of about 30%. thehill.com/homenews/campa…
Trump’s campaign has gone on an ad-blitz ahead of the debate and even bought out the top ad on YouTube’s homepage as many people are likely to watch the candidates go head-to-head on the video streaming platform. thehill.com/homenews/campa…
Both Trump and Biden’s campaigns will live fact-check each other’s claims on Twitter during the event as well. The Biden campaign said: “Donald Trump has lied to the American people more than any president in our history — by far.” thehill.com/homenews/campa…
As you get ready to tune in shortly, here are five things to watch for in the first debate, from how personal the attacks get to how it’s handled by moderator Chris Wallace: thehill.com/homenews/campa…
We’re now just a few minutes away from the debate, remember to watch here and follow The Hill for live updates, clips and breaking news that comes out of the first debate. #PresidentialDebate2020 thehill.com/video/in-the-n…
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Democrats are second-guessing the decision to put Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman on the debate stage after a stumbling performance that put the spotlight on his condition after a stroke while playing to Republican Mehmet Oz’s strengths. 🧵 1/ thehill.com/homenews/campa…
The state lieutenant governor’s auditory processing problems resulting from the stroke proved to be a major part of the debate just two weeks before Election Day. Fetterman had a number of awkward pauses and stumbles that are sure to be seized upon by the GOP. 2/👉
A Democratic strategist spoke to The Hill about the issues Fetterman may face due to his health problems that came to light during the debate. 3/👉
.@libradunn was thrown into the spotlight in the weeks following the January 6 Attack on the Capitol. He told @CheyannaMarie97 he was there for one reason: to hear the truth.🧵⬇️
The Capitol Police officer’s testimony before Congress detailed the horrors he faced on Jan. 6, 2021, from facing down the mob’s deluge of racial hatred to wondering if he’d make it home alive that night.
“I wasn’t a big follower of politics,” Dunn said. “I didn’t know what the certification of an election was and all that stuff when I first started. As I got older and went along in making this my career, I started learning more.”
As the U.S. marks one year since pulling out of Afghanistan, Afghan women detail the perilous conditions they endure under Taliban rule with little help from Western countries, @Sarakshi reports. 🧵⬇️trib.al/ZtX9cJA
One woman told The Hill she was in hiding due to her previous work with the U.S. government.
“The Taliban came to my father and told him they knew his daughter was working with U.S. ‘spies’. [They] don’t like women working with U.S. projects,” Fatima said. 2/➡️
Women in Afghanistan feel abandoned by Western countries as the Taliban has stripped away their rights to education, walk freely or go to work. 3/➡️
House Republicans are not only forecast to win control of the lower chamber in November’s midterm elections, they’re also poised to bring with them a roster of new Trump loyalists. @emilybrooksnews and @RealMikeLillis report.🧵⬇️ thehill.com/homenews/house…
A number of Trump loyalists have bumped off more moderate Republicans in the summer primaries — a list that grew longer this week with conservative victories in Florida and New York — while a number of other centrists are stepping into retirement. 2/ ➡️
The combination foreshadows a power shift in the House GOP that has the potential to complicate any bipartisan compromise with President Biden, while creating headaches for Republican leaders who will face pressure to demonstrate their governing chops in a new majority. 3/ ➡️
The American West is experiencing its driest period in human history. @TheHill's new series - DRIED UP - kicks off with a piece on Lakes Mead and Powell, which are at the epicenter of the biggest Western drought in history, @BudrykZack reports. 🧵 thehill.com/policy/energy-…
Nowhere is the Southwest’s worst drought since the year 800 more evident than Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the pair of artificial Colorado River reservoirs whose plunging levels threaten major water and power sources for tens of millions of people. 2/
Lake Mead is projected to get down to 22 percent of its full capacity by year’s end, while Lake Powell is expected to drop to 27 percent, according to estimations from the federal Bureau of Reclamation. Both now sit at record lows. 3/
The Department of Defense announced that U.S. forces had carried out a "successful" counterterrorism mission last night in northwest Syria. thehill.com/policy/defense…
The operation targeted Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who died at the start of the operation by blowing up himself and members of his family with a bomb.
Biden called al-Qurayshi’s move “an act of desperate cowardice.”