Why the Biden and Trump campaigns both claim they won the final 2020 presidential debate
Both presidential campaigns and their supporters declared victory after the second and final debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden's backers said Trump failed to win over new voters, while Trump's team said the president successfully painted Biden as an ineffective career politician.
"Joe Biden won this debate," Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said on a press phone call. "He didn’t win by a little. This was not close. This was a dramatic and resounding Biden victory tonight."
"Absolute, total victory for President Trump tonight. Joe Biden is all talk and no action," said Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign.
"I felt terrible after the first debate, to be honest with you," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a staunch Trump supporter. "I feel great tonight."
Here's a look at why each side believes they were the winner of Thursday night's debate:
Team Trump: Biden revealed as politician who didn't fix problems
Trump's supporters praised him for repeatedly hammering the message that Biden had more than three decades in the Senate and two terms as vice president to address issues such as health care and immigration.
"'All talk and no action, just like a politician,'" tweeted former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, quoting Trump's criticism of Biden on criminal justice reform. "Good line. Kind of sums things up."
"Tonight on stage, you saw a President who has accomplished more in 47 months than the politician on the other side has ever done in 47 years," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tweeted.
.@realDonaldTrump loves his job & showed it tonight. He was hopeful & optimistic; @joebiden negative & backward-looking.
Made Biden explain - and eat! - his record.
"You had 8 years and didn't do it"— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 23, 2020
Team Biden: Trump didn't win anyone new to his side
With the president trailing in the polls, Biden supporters argued Trump needed a decisive victory that included doing more than appealing to his base.
Senior Biden campaign adviser Symone Sanders said the debate was Trump’s "last shot to present a coherent vision to the American people and to earn their vote."
"Tonight Donald Trump desperately needed a huge win on the debate stage to change the trajectory of this race, and he did not do that," Sanders said. "His voice, yes, was calmer. He did interrupt a little less. But he attacked Joe Biden and he lied just the same all night long."
"For Biden at this point in the campaign, a draw would have been a win. But Biden did better than draw. Biden won. Not by a knockout. But Biden won," tweeted conservative Trump critic and Biden supporter Bill Kristol.
"Fundamentally, if you’re ahead and you get a draw, you win," said David Axelrod, a former campaign adviser for Barack Obama, on CNN.
"I thought that Joe Biden held his own. And that’s all he had to do," Axelrod said. "The trajectory of this race did not change."
Team Trump: Biden 'declared war' on oil industry
A number of Trump's supporters pounced on Biden's statement that he wanted to "transition from the oil industry" and to have net-zero carbon emissions in place in energy production by 2035. During the debate, Trump said the remark was a "big statement" and proved Biden was "going to destroy the oil industry."
"He lost Pennsylvania tonight," Graham told Fox News after the debate. In the debate, Biden claimed he was "not opposed to fracking" and reiterated multiple times that he does not support a ban on the practice through which natural gas is extracted.
Similarly, senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said Friday that Biden's remarks signaled the "nail in the coffin for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania" and would prove "devastating" in other battleground states.
Graham said Biden, who has said he wants to stop new permits for fracking, was "trying to change his position on fracking, because it will destroy his campaign in Pennsylvania."
But Graham said the biggest news was Biden's plan to move to emissions-free energy production.
"He declared war on the oil and gas industry," Graham declared.
Despite Graham and other Trump supporters' claims that the statement represented a shift for Biden, his plan "to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035" has been posted on his website for months.
Last night was a really good debate but the craziest part was when Trump asked Biden if he wanted to get rid of the oil industry and then Biden was like as a matter of fact I totally want to do that, in detail. And then Trump was like 'uhhhhhh did everyone get that?'
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 23, 2020
Team Biden: Trump didn't offer vision of second term
"Biden showed Americans tonight why he’s the only candidate in this race who has the temperament to move us forward from these crises. He summarized how he sees this race: 'It’s not about my family. Or his family. It’s about your family,'" said Bedingfield.
Sanders said Trump, on the other hand, offered “no vision for the future” and that he talked about “everything except the job he’s done as president over the last four years."
Joe Lockhart, a White House spokesman under former President Bill Clinton, said what stood out about Trump's performance was "the fact that there was no sense directionally, ideologically, or specifically what his second term would look like. He offered no reason to vote for him."
"If you tuned in tonight wondering what Donald Trump would do if elected to a second term, what did you hear?" asked Jon Favreau, a former speechwriter for President Barack Obama.
30 minutes into the debate.
Trump hasn't said a *single* word about how he would make peoples' lives better.— Rob Friedlander (@robsfriedlander) October 23, 2020
Team Trump: Biden lied about alleged Hunter Biden influence peddling
During the debate, Trump referenced the "laptop from hell" – a computer former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani turned over to authorities, which he says belongs to Biden's son Hunter Biden – several times, along with allegations Biden improperly received money from foreign sources.
"I have not taken a penny from any foreign source at any point in my life," Biden shot back at Trump's charge.
Despite the allegations from Trump and his allies, there are questions about the authenticity of the laptop.
Fox News host Sean Hannity accused Biden of "lying to our faces" when he said during the debate that "there was nothing inappropriate, nothing unethical, while he was vice president."
In response to the news Friday that the FBI was going to interview former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski, senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller said he hoped it would "prove Joe Biden is a massive liar."
Team Biden: Trump corruption claim backfired
In defending himself from Trump's allegations, Biden pointed out that he had made his tax records public, while Trump had not.
Sanders said the former vice president's retort effectively turned the issue of corruption back on Trump.
"Biden put Trump on the defensive on taxes and corruption. Trump came in wanting to drive this message. They previewed this all week. And Joe Biden turned it back on him," Sanders said, asserting Biden "baited Donald Trump" into describing all his foreign bank accounts.
"Joe Biden has released 22 years of his tax returns as a reminder," Sanders said. "And how many has Donald Trump released? None. Zero. Trump should release his tax returns or stop talking about corruption."
Contributing: Joey Garrison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Presidential debate: Trump and Biden campaigns both say they won