CLEVELAND: There’ll be no handshake, but venom to spare when President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden meet in Cleveland on Tuesday for the first of three televised debates that could shake up an already volatile race for the White House.
Covid-19 restrictions will give the debate moderated by Fox News star Chris Wallace a streamlined look with a smaller audience. Naturally, there won’t be the once standard — even if occasionally forced — show of goodwill in shaking hands as the rivals go on stage.
What the 90-minute clash will have is a chance for Americans finally to see Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, go head to head.
With Trump claiming Biden is virtually brain dead — “Biden doesn’t know he’s alive” — and Biden branding the president “a toxic presence,” it won’t be for the faint hearted.
Significantly behind in the polls, Trump is in fighting mode, embarking on an endurance-testing schedule of rallies in key battlegrounds several times a week.
Biden, though, comes hoping to press his advantage.
And he arrives aided by The New York Times’ publication of a report purporting to reveal the contents of Trump’s deeply secret tax returns — finding that the self-proclaimed billionaire and champion of the working class avoids paying almost all federal income taxes.
Trump, who fancies his skills as a verbal pugilist, is expected to hit hard and low.
For months he has painted Biden as senile. As the debate approached he increasingly focused on his claim that Biden takes performance enhancing drugs.
Biden has laughed off the suggestion, but Trump, a past master at getting slurs to stick to his opponents, is doubling down.
“Joe Biden just announced that he will not agree to a Drug Test. Gee, I wonder why?” Trump tweeted Monday.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield responded in kind, saying that if Trump wants the debate to be conducted through “urine” samples, “he can.”
Trump, arguably, has little to lose. His hardcore support is already baked in and Americans are by now almost incapable of feeling shocked by his convention-wrecking style.
He also goes to Cleveland with what he hopes will be his own silver bullet — the nomination of conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
If Barrett is quickly confirmed, as the Republican-led Senate expects, Trump will have managed to tilt the highest court firmly to the right for years to come.
Democrats are crying foul over the rushed timing on the eve of an election, but Trump expects the power play to energize many conservatives.
The president is sure to go heavy on previous claims that Biden’s son was involved in corruption in Ukraine. Last year Trump was impeached for using the power of his office to try and pressure the Ukrainian government into publicly backing that theory.
Biden, as frontrunner, wants to stay steady, but he has a reputation for losing his cool when challenged in public.
“I hope I don’t get baited into a brawl with this guy, because that’s the only place he’s comfortable,” he said.
Biden will instead aim to keep his sights trained on the coronavirus pandemic, which polls show about two thirds of Americans say Trump handled badly.
He will also shoot back at the filling of the Supreme Court seat, saying that Trump’s plan is for the court to restrict abortion and reverse the Obamacare health program — two areas that could worry swing voters.
But the most fiery moments may come when Biden himself gets personal, painting Trump as a spoiled playboy who only poses as a friend of the white working class that helped him get elected in 2016.
Biden, who spent his early childhood in the rough-edged town of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is increasingly mocking Trump’s glitzy New York roots, calling it a “Scranton vs Park Avenue” election.
Trump points out that Biden only lived in Scranton as a young boy and spent most of his life in Congress. But the Times report on the president’s ability to avoid almost all federal income taxes will give Biden a trove of new ammunition.
Trump, Biden head into first debate with presidency on the line
https://arab.news/25g7z
Trump, Biden head into first debate with presidency on the line
- What the 90-minute clash will have is a chance for Americans finally to see Trump, 74, and Biden, 77, go head to head
In West Bengal, community iftars offer space for inclusivity, solidarity
- Know Your Neighbor initiative for Muslims, Hindus and Christians started in Kolkata in 2017
- This year’s iftars promote women, social workers and grassroots activists from various groups
NEW DELHI: During Ramadan, a special iftar initiative in India’s West Bengal brings together different groups from the state’s diverse society to build mutual trust and strengthen neighborly bonds.
Islam has been present in Bengal since the 13th century. Muslims, who make up nearly a third of the state’s population of 100 million people, have for centuries made significant contributions to Bengali socio-linguistic identity and culture.a
But for the past decade their heritage in the state has been undermined, accompanied by tensions and riots ignited by the rise of majoritarian Hindu right-wing narratives across India.
To address the situation, a group of Bengali Muslims and Hindus started the Know Your Neighbor initiative in 2017. During the fasting month, among the events they organize is “Dosti ki Iftar,” or “Iftar of Friendship,” which brings together representatives of the region’s various religious and social groups.
This year, for the first time, one such iftar was held specifically for women, with the aim of creating a safe and open space to exchange views, address stereotypes and foster female-led unity.
“Women from many sections of the society are more marginalized than others ... Among us are Hindus, Muslims, Christians as well,” Tody Mazumdar, sociology student and Know Your Neighbor member, told Arab News.
“We want to oppose the current narrative, or the current propaganda, that is being spread so rapidly about Bengal having only one identity. We want to give a clear message that we are a diverse cultural and religious group known as Bengalis, and we all stay together, and we all eat together.”
The event, hosting a few dozen women from different religious and caste groups, was co-organized by students at Deeniyat Muallima College in Santragachi in the metropolitan area of Kolkata.
Among them was Shruti Ghosh, a dancer and theatre artist, for whom being a part of the iftar was a way of building resilience against divisive politics and policies.
“Iftar, of course, is a part of Ramadan ... but it’s also about sharing food. And food is very important in terms of cultural preservation, in terms of expressing your identity, asserting your identity. Moreover, food is something we enjoy. We sit with food, talk, exchange ideas, and share memories. So much happens over food,” she said.
“That is very important for me ... to come together, particularly in these trying times, where we have so much violence and intolerance being unleashed, and hatred being generated in society.”
This week, another iftar will be hosted in a historical setting at the Basri Shah Masjid, the oldest mosque of Kolkata, and next week another will gather grassroots activists working in different sectors of civil society.
Sabir Ahamed, the founder of Know Your Neighbor, hopes it will help make the social groups they represent engage more and better.
“We are bringing the experience of iftar to them to bridge the gap between different communities,” he said. “We are planning more iftars at different locations to promote harmony and coexistence.”
They are also sending a message.
“It’s like a neighbor-to-neighbor call, and we can stay together and talk with each other freely, without any judgment or without any social boundaries. Ramadan means sharing and caring, so we spread our love towards everyone. We can sit together as Indians, as humans,” Siddiqa Tabassum, director of Deeniyat Muallima College, told Arab News.
“It’s a little step, but small steps can do miracles.”
