(Reuters) – Amazon appears to be taking the lead in making inroads with the Joe Biden camp, as Big Tech uses cash and connections to connect with the Democratic presidential candidate, a Reuters report reveals.
– With few sporting events to compete and a captive audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a drawn-out, nail-biter of an election is benefiting TV networks as marketers buy up ads. Fox Corp-owned FOXA.O Fox News and Comcast Corp’s CMCSA.O NBC are experiencing or expecting high demand for the week following the Nov. 3 election night.
– Debate organizers have vowed to change the rules to rein in unruly behavior in the next showdowns between Republican U.S. President Donald Trump and Biden, his challenger.
– More than 50 Republican former national security officials will endorse Biden, joining several GOP organizations opposing Trump’s re-election.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
The Russian group accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election has posed as an independent news outlet to target right-wing social media users ahead of this year’s vote, two people familiar with an FBI probe into the activity tell Reuters exclusively.
INVESTOR VIEW
The Trump administration wants to include a $20 billion extension in aid for the battered airline industry after American Airlines and United said they were beginning furloughs of 32,000 workers. Renewed U.S. stimulus hopes lifted global markets into what is set to be an explosive fourth quarter on Thursday.
BY THE NUMBERS
An estimated 73.1 million people tuned in to the chaotic debate on Tuesday night across 16 networks, down from the 84 million who watched the first debate between Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in 2016. That matchup four years ago had the highest total viewership in 60 years of U.S. televised presidential debates.
Follow Reuters election polling at https://polling.reuters.com/topic/2020-election
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Expected events and Reuters coverage on Oct 1:
– Vice President Mike Pence campaigns in Iowa 13:00 ET/17:00 GMT
– Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris attends a disability group campaign fundraising event 14:00 ET/18:00 GMT
– Harris speaks online to Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party 18:30 ET/22:30 GMT
– Trump addresses virtual version of annual Al Smith Dinner; Biden invited to speak 19:00 ET/23:00 GMT
– Reuters/Ipsos post-debate update on support for Biden, Trump (USA-ELECTION/POLL 17:00 ET/21:00 GMT)
– Christian voters in Texas stand by Trump and his conservative policies (USA-ELECTION/TEXAS-CHRISTIANS 09:00 ET/13:00 GMT)
Refinitiv customers can find more 2020 U.S. Election content on the Election App (USPOL) on Eikon or Workspace.
Media customers can find complete multimedia coverage on the Reuters Connect planning calendar here https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning?search=all%3Ausa-election
(Editing by Leela de Kretser and Howard Goller)
