NBC faced sharp criticism this week for scheduling a Thursday night town hall with President Trump, with even network employees chiding their employer for giving him an hour of airtime — “a free hour of television,” he said, sounding pleased, at a rally earlier that day. Even worse, critics said, it was matched up against ABC’s town hall with Democratic candidate Joe Biden, making voters choose.

But despite fears that the event would amount to a free promotion for Trump’s campaign, it ended up being one of the toughest grillings he has faced as president, with questions about white supremacy, covid-19 deaths and his taxes….

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For his part, Trump protested Guthrie’s questioning, saying, “I knew you’d be doing this. … You always do this.” He complained that Biden got much easier questions from moderator Lester Holt when he participated in a similar event held by the network on Oct. 5. “He was asking questions like Biden was a child,” the president said….

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Biden….

Mr. Biden, seated in a chair at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, sought to connect with the voters sprinkled throughout a mostly empty auditorium by making constant references to his plans to confront the major challenges facing the nation, including the coronavirus and school and business reopenings. He concluded many of his lengthy responses by expressing hope that he had answered the voters’ questions….

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In his appearance, Mr. Biden also confronted a number of issues that have been challenging for him to address throughout the campaign, including his views on expanding the Supreme Court and his record on the 1994 crime bill. Under questioning he indicated that he would clarify his position on expanding the Supreme Court before Election Day. And he also seemed to briefly acknowledge that it was a mistake to support the crime bill, a measure in which he played a central role, though he went on to immediately suggest the perceived problem came in how the states implemented it…..

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