NYT Report Exposes Trump’s $750 US Income Tax Payments in 2016-2017

Biden's campaign team posted a tweet that simply stated how much federal income tax had been paid by teachers ($7,239), firefighters ($5,283) and nurses ($10,216) — all groups that have been hit hard by the pandemic or the West Coast wildfires, two major topics ahead of the debate.

At Tuesday's election debate, millions of Americans will watch as the two antagonists — who depict each other as existential threats to the country — step into the ring live on television after months of shadow-boxing.

Blunders and gaffes

Trump taunted Biden on Sunday with a fresh salvo on his mental acuity.

"I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night," he tweeted, saying he would take one also.

"His Debate performances have been record setting UNEVEN, to put it mildly. Only drugs could have caused this discrepancy???"

When asked by reporters about the demand, Biden laughed before declining to comment.

Both men are prone to blunders and gaffes when speaking — but the 74-year-old Trump has repeatedly depicted the 77-year-old Biden as senile.

On Saturday, Biden said he expects "personal attacks and lies" from the president, likening Trump to Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

The former vice president has until recently stayed close to his Delaware home due the pandemic — while Trump has flouted his own government's social distancing guidelines, holding jam-packed rallies with few masks in sight.

Read also: Amid a Pandemic, Trump and Biden’s Presidential Campaigns Vastly Differ

The debate also comes as both sides try to exploit Trump's bid to install conservative Amy Coney Barrett in the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court.

Trump sees his nomination of Barrett — potentially tilting the court to the right for years — as a fundamental boost to his troubled campaign.

High-stakes debate

But Biden accused Trump of rushing Barrett's nomination in order to launch a new assault on health care and urged the Senate to delay the confirmation until after the election.