COVID-19, taxes, education and more: Comparing President Trump, Biden side by side

With Election Day around the corner, do you know who you’ll choose?

U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University. Photo by Justin Sullivan. (Getty Images)

Election Day is almost here, and President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden are spending much of their time before Tuesday frantically crossing the country in search of undecided votes.

But as the election winds down, how do the candidates compare to one another? How are they different and how are they similar?

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Here are where the candidates stand on key issues, according to the Washington Post.

COVID-19 response

Trump

  • Doesn’t support a nationwide mask mandate.
  • Supports expanded testing.
  • Supports a fast-track to a vaccine.
  • Supports the reopening of schools.
  • Supports a withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

Biden

  • Supports a nationwide mask mandate.
  • Supports expanded testing.
  • Supports a fast-track to a vaccine.
  • Supports the reopening of schools with an emphasis on local districts making the decisions based on safety.
  • Doesn’t support a withdrawal from the World Health Organization.

Economy/taxes

Trump

  • Has been receptive to having a $15 minimum wage during presidency, but his campaign hasn’t made a definitive stance.
  • Supports an eviction moratorium.
  • Supports maintaining his 2017 tax cut.
  • Doesn’t support extending the $600-per-month federal unemployment insurance supplement.
  • Doesn’t support increasing capital gains taxes.
  • Doesn’t support increasing the corporate tax rate, he lowered from 35% to 21%.

Biden

  • Supports a $15 minimum wage.
  • Supports an eviction moratorium.
  • Hasn’t offered a stance on extending the $600-per-month federal unemployment insurance supplement.
  • Supports reversing many of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, but wouldn’t increase taxes for anyone earning less than $400,000.
  • Supports increasing capital gains taxes to 39.6% for people with incomes of $1 million or more.
  • Supports increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%.

Health care

Trump

  • Doesn’t support the Affordable Care Act and his administration supports an impending Supreme Court case that is seeking to overturn the law.
  • Doesn’t support lowering Medicare eligibility age.
  • Supports allowing patients with life-threatening diseases or conditions to have access to experimental drugs or procedures.
  • Supports importing certain prescription drugs from Canada.

Biden

  • Supports the Affordable Care Act.
  • Supports requiring health insurance to cover preexisting conditions.
  • Supports lowering medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60.
  • Supports importing certain prescription drugs from Canada.

Criminal Justice

Trump

  • Does not support defunding the police.
  • Supports lowering mandatory minimum prison sentences.
  • Does not support federal legalization of recreational marijuana.
  • Supports privatizing prisons.

Biden

  • Does not support defunding the police.
  • Would eliminate mandatory minimum prison sentences.
  • Does not support federal legalization of recreational marijuana, but would decriminalize it.
  • Does not support privatizing prisons.

Education

Trump

  • Does not support making public college tuition-free.
  • Does not support universal pre-kindergarten.
  • Supports federal funding to send students to private schools.
  • Does not support banning charter schools.

Biden

  • Supports making public colleges tuition-free for families making less than $125,000.
  • Supports universal pre-kindergarten.
  • Does not support federal funding to send students to rival schools.
  • Supports banning for-profit charter schools.

The graphic below gives a further side-by-side comparison of the two candidates.


About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.