Donald Trump refuses to denounce white supremacy while telling far-right Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by'

That's the end of our live blog coverage for today.

You can keep up with the latest US election news via the SBS News social media channels and website. You can also catch SBS World News at 6:30pm AEST tonight and listen to SBS Radio podcasts on demand.

We touched on this earlier, but if you're interested in that wild "earpiece" conspiracy theory, this story is worth a read.

To reiterate, the theory is completely unfounded, and similar theories tend to pop up every four years as the election nears.

Donald Trump has tweeted for the first time since the debate ended, with a picture implying moderator Chris Wallace was biased against him.

He also retweeted Tyler Cardon, CEO of the conservative Blaze Media company, who was critical of Wallace.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has also weighed in on the debate chatter, slamming Donald Trump as an embodiment of "fascism".

Speaking of deep contrasts, you only have to observe the responses from America's biggest media personalities to get a sense of how divided the industry is.

On one hand, CNN's Jake Tapper slammed the debate as a "hot mess inside a dumpster fire inside a trainwreck", slamming Donald Trump's behaviour. 

"That was the worst debate I have ever seen. It wasn't even a debate," he said.

"It was a disgrace, and it's primarily because of President Trump, who spent the entire time interrupting, not abiding by the rules that he agreed to, lying, maliciously attacking the son of the Vice President, when asked to condemn white supremacists he brought up the name of a neo-fascist far-right group and said 'Stand back and stand by'.

"We'll talk about who won and who lost the debate, but I can tell you one thing for sure - the American people lost."

On the other hand, we've got Fox News' Sean Hannity heaping praise on the president as a "gladiator warrior fighter".

“The extremely weak, the frail, the confused, kind of angry Joe Biden just got steamrolled by President Trump. Joe flat out refused to answer simple, basic, fundamental questions, unable to respond to the president’s beatdowns and he appeared flustered, irritated, and well, cranky,” Hannity said.

"Maybe it’s past his bedtime, probably stayed up too late, needs his nap.”

Reactions to the debate are still coming in from American TV anchors, some of whom said they were "shell-shocked" by the 90-minute "trainwreck".

NBC anchor Lester Holt described the debate as a "low point in American political discourse".

Holt, who has moderated political debates in the past, said the insults traded between the two went to a "new level".

"If you showed up looking for a food fight, you got a brawl between these two men, including language rarely heard from candidates in a debate. Name-calling that went to a new level. Frankly, I'm a bit at loss for words here to describe what we've just witnessed," he said.

"Well maybe, because like so many in this country witnessing this, your jaw just dropped," said his colleague Savannah Guthrie. "You can't pretend that this was a normal debate, a normal example of American democracy at work.

"This was different. This was an all-out grudge match. It was undignified at many times. It was cringeworthy.

"I think we just need to pause for a moment and say, 'That was crazy. What was that?'"

Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris has slammed Donald Trump over his refusal to condemn white supremacists.

"The president of the United States, in the year of our Lord 2020, refuses to condemn white supremacists," she told CNN after the debate.

Asked whether Joe Biden should continue to participate in debates with Mr Trump, she said: "Joe Biden’s never going to refuse to talk to the American people.

"I think the American people benefitted from a very clear contrast. On the one hand, you had Joe talking directly into the camera, trying to bring some semblance of maturity to a conversation with a country that is in the midst of at least three major crises in a proportion not experienced in generations.

"On the other hand, Donald Trump spent the full time interrupting and bullying the moderator, and lying to the American people.

"I do believe the American people benefitted from a clear contrast in what they got right now but also what they can get."

The far-right Proud Boys group has responded to Donald Trump's call during the debate to "stand back and stand by".

The group changed its logo on Telegram, a social media network popular with right far-right figures, to include the words 'STAND BACK AND STAND BY'.

They also appear to have taken the President's words as marching orders.

Writing on Parler, another microblogging service, Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio wrote: “I will stand down sir!!! Standing by sir. So Proud of my guys right now.”

347 years later, the debate is over.

Those poor Americans. They sound exhausted.

Joe Biden has urged Americans to vote in the November election.

“Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote,” he said.

He also dismissed Mr Trump's claims that mail-in voting is corrupt, noting the President himself has voted by mail in recent years. “He sits behind the Resolute Desk and sends his ballot to Florida," Mr Biden said.

Donald Trump has again suggested his legal team could refuse to concede the election if he loses, saying it's a "rigged election".

"This is going to be a fraud like you've never seen," he said. "November 3, you're watching and you will see who won the election and I think we'll do well because people are happy with the job we've done.

"But you know what, we might not know for months because these ballots are going to be all over the place. Take look at what happened in Virginia, they're losing 30 and 40 per cent.

"It is a fraud and it's a shame. And can you imagine where they say, 'You have to have your ballot in by November 10th'. November 10th, that's seven days after the election. In theory, should have been announced. OK, we have major states with that, all run by Democrats. It is is a rigged election."

Mr Trump sparked outrage last week with his comment that he might not honour the results of the election or treat mail-in ballots as legitimate.

Asked at a White House press conference whether if he is committed to the peaceful handover of power if he is defeated, Mr Trump replied: "Well, we're going to have to see what happens."

"You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster," he said.

On the issue of climate change, Joe Biden said the US will rejoin the Paris Accord under his leadership.

He also referenced his plans to create "thousands and millions" of "good-paying jobs" by investing in green energy.

"These tax incentives for people... which (Trump) wants to get rid of, is going to make the economy much safer.

"He can create hard, good jobs by making sure the environment is in good change. We spend billions on floods, hurricanes, rising seas. They're because of global warming."

Mr Biden emphasised he doesn't support the Green New Deal. "I support the Biden plan that I put forward, which is different than what Trump calls the 'radical Green New deal'."

The debate is now wrapping up. Source: Getty / Getty Images North America

Donald Trump has again claimed "bad forest management", rather than climate change, was the primary cause of the devastating west coast bushfires.

"I want crystal-clean water and air. We now have the lowest amount of carbon. If you look at our numbers onw, we are doing phenomenally, but I haven't destroyed our businesses," he said.

"Our businesses are doing well. As far as the fires are concerned, you need forest management. The forest floors are loaded up with trees, that are years old, and leaves and everything else... you drop a cigarette in there, the whole thing explodes."

Asked whether he believes climate change contributed to the fires, Mr Trump said "to an extent yes... but we have to do more about forest management".

"If you had good forest management, California wouldn't be getting those calls," he said.

If you're interested, here's a story we ran earlier this month on the misinformation campaign surrounding the US bushfires. 

Donald Trump was just asked point-blank whether he is "willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups".

His response? "Sure."

"And to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities, as we saw in Kenosha and as we've seen in Portland?" pressed Wallace.

"Sure, I'm willing to do that," said Mr Trump.

"Go ahead, sir."

"I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not the right wing," said Mr Trump. "I'm willing to do anything. I want to see peace."

"Then do it sir, say it," said both Wallace and Mr Biden.

"What do you want to call it? Give me a name," said Mr Trump to the moderator.

"The Proud Boys stand back and stand by, but I'll tell you what - someone's gotta do something about Antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left wing problem."

We've now moved on to the issue of race relations.

Joe Biden brought up Donald Trump's infamous remark in the wake of the Charlottesville riots that there were "very fine people on both sides".

He also brought up the rallies after George Floyd's death, saying Mr Trump's actions have been "disastrous" for the African-American community.

"What did he do? He came out of the bunker, had the military use tear gas so he could walk across to a church and hold up a Bible.

"This is a President who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred, racist division. One in 1,000 African-Americans have been killed because of the coronavirus, and if he doesn't do something quickly, by the end of the year 1-in-500 will have been killed.

"This man is the saviour of African-Americans? This man cares at all? You have to look at what he did and it's been disastrous for the African-American community."

In his response, Mr Trump accused Mr Biden of "mistreating the African-American population".

"if you look at the polls, I'm doing better than any Republican in a long time because they saw what you did. You called them superpredators and you've called them worst than that." 

He was actually referring to a speech by Hillary Clinton in 1996, where she used the term "superpredators" in support of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which Mr Biden authored.

It took 45 minutes, but we've just hit the tax returns drama!

Asked about the economic recovery from the pandemic, Mr Biden managed to sneak in a line about the recent New York Times investigation into Mr Trump's tax returns.

"The difference is millionaires and billionaires like him, in the middle of the COVID crisis, have done very well. Billionaires have made another $300 billion because of his prolific tax policy. He only paid $750 in taxes. But you folks at home, you in Cleveland, and Scranton and all the working class suburbs in America, how are you doing?" Mr Biden said.

"You can't fix the economy until you fix the COVID crisis and he has no intention of doing anything about making it better for you all at home in terms of your health and safety."

Wallace then asked Mr Trump to confirm the tax story. The President skated around it.

"I know that you pay a lot of other taxes but I'm asking you the specific question: Is it true that you paid $750 in federal income taxes, each of those two years?" Wallace asked.

"I paid millions of dollars in taxes, millions of dollars of income tax, and, let me just tell you, there was a story in one of the papers," Mr Trump responded.

Later on this topic, Mr Biden offered a blunt statement: "You are the worst president America has ever had."

Mr Biden was asked why he was hesitant to reopen schools and the economy in the wake of the pandemic.

"Because he didn't have a plan," Mr Biden said, referring to Mr Trump. "If I were running, I'd know what the plan is. You've got to provide these businesses the ability to be able to have the money to be able to reopen with the PPE and with sanitation they need."

Mr Trump responded: "We had to shut it down. We didn't want to do anything about it but we didn't know anything about it. We've learnt that vulnerable people and the elderly are affected by it. But younger people aren't. If you look at certain states that have been shut down, they have Democrat Governors all."

Moving on to the economic recovery from the COVID fallout, Mr Trump defended his stance on America's economy reopening.

"What happened is we closed it down and we're doing record business. We had 10.4 million people in a four-month people that we've put back into the workforce - a record, the likes of which nobody has seen before. (Biden) will shut it down. He wants to close it down."

Mr Trump responded to Mr Biden's criticism of his handling of the pandemic by saying "There's nothing smart about you, Joe".

"Did you use the word 'smart'? You graduated either the lowest or the next lowest in your class, don't ever use the word 'smart' with me," the President said.

With a laugh, Mr Biden responded: "Would he just shush for a minute?"

This is spicy viewing. 

Joe Biden has lashed Donald Trump's performance on the pandemic, saying he doesn't have a plan going forward.

"200,000 dead, as you said over seven million infected in the United States. We, in fact, have five per cent, or four percent of the world's population, and 20% of the deaths. 40,000 people a day are contracting COVID. In addition to that, about between 750 and 1,000 people a day are dying," Mr Biden said. 

"The President has no plan. He hasn't laid out anything. He knew all the way back in February how serious this crisis was. He knew it was a deadly disease.

"What did he do? He's on tape as acknowledging he knew it. He said he didn't tell us or give people a warning of it because he didn't want to panic the American people. You don't panic. He panicked.

"How many of you got up this morning and had an empty chair at the kitchen table because someone died of COVID? How many were in a situation where you lost your mum or dad and you couldn't even speak to them, you had a nurse holding the phone so you could say goodbye?"

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are trading insults during their first debate. Source: Getty / Getty Images North America

The fireworks continue!

On a question from Wallace about the Supreme Court nominations, Mr Biden was interrupted by Mr Trump while explaining  whether he would pack the Supreme Court.

Mr Biden interjected: "Will you shut up man? This is so unpresidential." 

He later added: "That was really a productive segment, wasn't it? Keep yappin', man." 

(For what it's worth, this is the fourth time Mr Biden has referred to Mr Trump as "man". It's kind of jarring.)