Trump calls Biden's remarks about struggling middle-class families 'a typical political statement'

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 23 October 2020

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called President Trump's attacks against his family during Thursday night's debate "malarkey," adding, "there's a reason for it. He doesn't want to talk about substantive issues."

When asked by moderator Kristen Welker about election security, Trump instead pivoted to talking about Biden and his family, repeating an allegation from a GOP report claiming they received more than $3 million from Russia. Trump mentioned these allegations — which Biden denied — multiple times, and Biden moved to shut him down after being asked a question about China.

Biden said the debate isn't "about his family and my family. It's about your family, and your family is hurting badly. If you're a middle class family, you're getting hurt badly now. You're sitting at the kitchen table this morning deciding, well, we can't get new tires, they're bald, because we have to wait another month or so, or are we going to be able to pay the mortgage, or whose going to tell her she can't go back to community college. Those are the decisions you're making."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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