Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will square off on the debate stage for the first time at 9 p.m.
If you have an Apple TV, Chromecast or cable subscription it will be harder to miss the debate than not — it will air on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, MSNBC, and CSPAN. It will also stream live on YouTube.
Those seeking a more interactive experience have some other options: Debate watch parties.
Biden backers can tune in to a Zoom watch party featuring Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, Rep. Anna Eskamani and Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo. The trio of female leaders will also play a special video from Spanish American chef José Andrés of the World Central Kitchen.
The watch party starts at 8:30 p.m. Those who want to attend can RSVP in advance here.
Trump supporters can pick from a trio of watch parties hosted by Florida Trump Victory.
Northeast Floridians who RSVP via [email protected] can watch alongside Duval County Chair Dean Black. The South Florida crowd can send a note to [email protected] and join Miami Young Republicans President Armando Ibarra. And those looking to rub elbows (virtually, of course) with Republican Party of Florida Chair Joe Gruters and Vice-Chair Christian Ziegler can sign up with an email to [email protected].
All three Trump watch parties start at 7:45 p.m.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 696,171 FL residents (+3,209 since Monday)
— 8,397 Non-FL residents (+57 since Monday)
Origin:
— 5,741 Travel related
— 253,351 Contact with a confirmed case
— 6,029 Both
— 431,050 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 43,855 in FL
Deaths:
— 14,313 in FL
Evening Reads
“Donald Trump deflects questions about taxes, but first debate has a new issue” via Peter Baker and Michael Shear of The New York Times
“Trump — not Joe Biden — is being underestimated going into the debate” via Ryan Lizza of POLITICO
“The New York Times confirms Trump is a genius” via John Harris of POLITICO Magazine
“Media prepares to fact check debates in real-time” via Sara Fischer of Axios
“Chris Wallace says he wants to be ‘invisible’ as debate moderator. Will Trump let him?” via Jeremy Barr of The Washington Post
“What polls say about the 2020 race as Biden and Trump square off” via Giovanni Russonello of The New York Times
“Examining Trump’s unorthodox debate style” via Tamara Keith of NPR
“Trump camp seeks extra debate rule: Third-party inspectors to look for electronic devices in candidates’ ears” via Peter Doocy, Patrick Ward and Paul Steinhauser of Fox News
“New poll reveals Republicans more likely than Democrats to prioritize winning debate over telling truth” via Noah Pransky of NBCLX
“Trump’s campaign is making up fake debate excuses in advance. Sound familiar?” via Philip Bump of The Washington Post
“Debates don’t matter. Unless someone face-plants.” via David Siders and Steven Shepard of POLITICO
“Why Wallace won’t be the Trump-slaying moderator liberals crave” via Jack Shafer of POLITICO
“‘Vote him out’: Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger releases new anti-Trump ad ahead of debate” via Kelly Hayes of Florida Politics
“Nikki Fried, Anna Eskamani to Zoom in with Terrie Rizzo for debate watch party” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
“Want to bet on the presidential debate? For the first time ever in the U.S., you can do it legally” via Weston Blasi of MarketWatch
Quote of the Day
“This is probably as happy as I’ve been about testing in an awful long time.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, announcing that the state will receive 6.4 million rapid test kits from the federal government.
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