Trump, Biden Town Halls Push ABC News, NBC News Battle Into Primetime

President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offered sharply different visions of how to handle the surging pandemic and fought over how much Trump pays in taxes during their final debate of a tumultuous campaign. With Trump trailing and needing to change the campaign's trajectory, the debate could prove pivotal though more than 46 million votes already have been cast and there are fewer undecided voters than at this point in previous election years.

Despite President Trump threatening to release footage from his shortened interview with Lesley Stahl ahead of its 60 Minutes airing, CBS News beat him to the punch, releasing on Thursday morning the first preview clips of both the president's sit-down with Stahl and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's interview with Norah O'Donnell. In excerpts shown on CBS This Morning, Trump is asked about his domestic priorities and what the U.S.' greatest foreign adversary is.

Jimmy Kimmel joined the chorus of Hollywood entertainers calling out NBC and its decision to air a “dueling” town hall for Trump directly against Joe Biden’s previously scheduled ABC event. With many of his fellow hosts on break, including NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, the face of ABC late night took solo shots at the Peacock network during his opening monologue Thursday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorExecutives at NBCUniversal, NBC News and the NBC broadcast network are not-so-quietly thanking an employee who has only limited command over the Comcast-owned company’s corporate direction: Savannah Guthrie.Guthrie’s handling of President Donald Trump during a town-hall broadcast organized in last-minute fashion by NBC News helped blunt waves of criticism of the media conglomerate, which scheduled the event directly opposite one with Joe Biden, Trump’s Democratic

President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will participate in separate town hall events Thursday, hosted by NBC and ABC, respectively, and airing in the competing time slot of 5 p.m. PT.

Ted Johnson, Dominic Patten As puzzling as it was that NBC News scheduled its town hall with Donald Trump against ABC News and Joe Biden, credit is due to moderator Savannah Guthrie for turning it into much more of an hourlong interview than a series of softballs from everyday folk.Throughout the hour, she peppered the president with questions on his COVID-19 testing, on his retweets of conspiracy theories, on whether he’s indebted to the tune of $400 million.It was a bit of a recovery for the

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Trump wanted to run and ramble. Savannah Guthrie wouldn’t let him.In what may be the performance of a career, the popular “Today” anchor kept a tight rein on the proceedings of a controversial town-hall event with President Donald Trump that put NBC in the cross-hairs of critics and Hollywood A-listers.

Ted Johnson, Dominic Patten Donald Trump’s town hall with NBC News — competing against a similar event with Joe Biden on ABC News — opened with a contentious series of questions with moderator Savannah Guthrie.At times, Trump sounded angry and irate as Guthrie grilled him over the details of his testing results, his failure to immediately condemn white supremacists and his trafficking of conspiracy theories.Guthrie, co-anchor of Today, asked Trump why he retweeted a tweet earlier this week that

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPresident Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will no doubt make news when they take part in dueling town halls this evening on NBC and ABC. But the networks broadcasting their events may be looking less at headlines the two politicians will generate and more at the money they will draw.NBC and ABC hope to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue from their 8 p.m.

Ted Johnson NBC News indicated that it is not backing off plans for a town hall with Donald Trump scheduled at the same time that ABC News is doing a similar event with Joe Biden.The scheduling has drawn criticism, including from more than 100 producers, directors and writers who signed their names to a letter urging NBC to move the time of the town hall.In a statement, Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCU News Group, said, “We share in the frustration that our event will initially air alongside the

Ted Johnson NBC News is taking heat for its decision to schedule a town hall on Thursday evening with President Donald Trump that will compete head-to-head with ABC News’ event with Joe Biden.The backlash comes after Trump refused to participate in a virtual town hall debate with Biden, long scheduled for Oct. 15, forcing the Commission on Presidential Debates to cancel the event.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorPresident Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden will face off (sort of) tonight in dueling town halls live in primetime, simultaneously on broadcast networks NBC and ABC, respectively.Both events were scheduled on the night of the town hall-style second presidential debate, which was canceled after Trump would not agree to a virtual event following his COVID-19 diagnosis.The Trump event will air at 8 p.m.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVMore than 100 writers, actors, directors and producers are speaking out against NBC’s plan to air a town hall with President Donald Trump tonight at 8 PM directly opposite the Joe Biden town hall on ABC.In an open letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and NBCU News Group chairman Cesar Conde, the Hollywood heavyweights are asking for the Trump town hall to be shifted from the time slot.

NBC News announced Wednesday morning that it will host a town hall with President Donald Trump on Thursday. The one-hour event will take place outdoors at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida.

announced Wednesday that it will host a town hall event with President Donald Trump on Thursday, setting up a showdown with Democratic rival Joe Biden, who will participate in his own event on ABC that same night.NBC’s “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie will moderate the one-hour event, which will be held outdoors at Miami’s Pérez Art Museum under guidelines of local health officials.Biden will participate in a 90-minute town hall on ABC moderated by “GMA” anchor George Stephanopoulos in

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorNBC News will move forward with an 8 p.m.

Ted Johnson, Dominic Patten Donald Trump will do a town hall for NBC News on Thursday, after an agreement was reached between the network and his presidential campaign on the details for the event.That means that Trump and Joe Biden will each participate in separate town hall events on the same evening, after plans for a presidential debate with a similar format were scrapped.Today co-anchor Savannah Guthrie will moderate the event from Miami.The network and the campaign had been negotiating for

Mixed martial arts fighter Jorge Masvidal – aka “Gamebred Fighter” – let his fans know just where he stands regarding the 2020 presidential election. He’s backing President Trump instead of Democrat Joe Biden.