Subsequently pushed by the moderator, NBC’s Kristen Welker, to elaborate on his previous pledge to “make China pay” for the spread of the coronavirus, Trump pivoted again to boast of the various tariffs his administration had placed on imports from China since 2018.

“I just gave US$28 billion to our farmers,” Trump said, prompting Biden to point out that the tariffs – as numerous economic studies have indicated – have been largely paid for by US taxpayers.

“You know who the taxpayer is,” Trump shot back. “It’s called China.”

Thursday evening’s debate, held before a socially distanced audience in Nashville, Tennessee, was a crucial test for Trump, who is trailing Biden in polls as the nation continues to reel from a devastating pandemic his administration has failed to control.

Even as the US approaches a third peak in daily cases, Trump repeated his claim that the country was “rounding the turn” on the coronavirus, and used his own young son’s swift recovery from the disease to argue that schools should be reopened.

At one point he claimed a vaccine was “ready”, before backtracking to say that it was “not a guarantee” that a vaccine would be coming “within weeks”.

As of Thursday, confirmed cases in the US stand at around 8.4 million. Some 224,000 people in the country have died as a result of the coronavirus. “Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,” Biden argued.

Alongside the pandemic, also on the agenda for the debate at Belmont University were race, climate change, national security, American families and leadership.

The debate was a considerably less chaotic affair than the first one in September, thanks in part to changes organisers made to the format that saw each speaker’s microphone switched off while their opponent delivered an opening two-minute response to each question.

Similar to the first debate in September, Trump did little preparation ahead of Thursday’s event, barring a few informal sessions aboard Air Force One, sources told NBC. As the president’s near-daily campaign rallies have continued apace, a campaign spokesman told NBC: “The president prepares for debates by being president.”

Biden, however, retreated from the trail in recent days, favouring intensive preparatory sessions at his Delaware home with aides role-playing as Trump. Of crucial concern for his supporters was how he would handle repeated interjections from Trump standing a few feet away, even if those interruptions were not heard by viewers at home.

After Trump’s microphone was cut off at one point, campaign adviser Jason Miller tweeted: “These swamp monster losers are trying to tank [Trumphttps://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/237×147/public/d8/images/methode/2020/10/01/454ce192-030f-11eb-88c7-25dcd0ae6080_image_hires_093209.jpg?itok=BjkJJ1zZ&v=1601515937” />