In the first presidential debate, Donald Trump made headlines when he failed to condemn white supremacy.
But in his final presidential debate with rival Joe Biden, the US President adopted a different, but often repeated, line.
He claimed he was the “least racist person” in a room where an African-American journalist was moderating.
Race relations featured strongly in the final debate, with moderator Kristen Welker pressing the pair on the Black Lives Matter movement and discrimination against minority groups.
Mr Biden used the example of his daughter, a social worker, to explain he’s never had to give her the “talk”.
“I never had to tell my daughter, if she is pulled over, make sure she puts - for a traffic stop - put both hands on top of the wheel and don't reach for the glove box, because someone may shoot you,” he said.
“But a black parent, no matter how wealthy or how poor they are, has to teach the child, when you are walking down the street, don’t have a hoodie on when you go across the street.
"Making sure that you in fact, if you get pulled over, just ‘Yes sir,' ‘no sir,’ hands on top of the wheel.”
Mr Trump said Mr Biden had failed to do anything on the issue in the decades he had been a Senator, and attacked the Democrat for his role in a 1994 crime bill, which many commentators have said led to an increase in African-American incarcerations.
He also defended his criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, because of the violence in some protests.
“As far as my relationships with all people, I think I have great relationships with all people. I am the least racist person in this room,” he said.
“I can't even see the audience because it is so dark but I don't care who was in the audience. I am the least racist person in this room.”
The president's vexed history on race has long been chronicled.
It was another favourite line of Mr Trump's that elicited mockery from his rival: his claim that he’d done more for black people than any president besides Abraham Lincoln.
Mr Biden responded to that with a jibe: “Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history. He pours fuel on every single racist fire.”
Earlier in the debate, Mr Trump raised eyebrows during a segment on migrant children and forced separations.
Defending his record on strict borders, he claimed that less than one per cent of migrants expelled from the US returned. Those that did weren't bright, he added.
"They never come back," Trump said. "Only the really - I hate to say this - but those with the lowest IQ, they might come back."
The comment was not lost on some Americans.
