Presidential Debates In Chaos After Trump Refuses To Attend Virtual Event
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wouldn’t participate in next week’s presidential debate after organizers announced it would be held virtually “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved.” Democratic nominee Joe Biden initially agreed to take part, but suggested the debate be postponed after Trump rejected the new format.
Trump, still recovering from COVID-19, said the altered debate format that the Commission on Presidential Debates announced earlier in the day was unacceptable.
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” the president, in a hoarse voice, told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in a phone interview.
The debate commission had said the next event would take place Oct. 15 in a town hall format as previously planned, but that each candidate would participate remotely. Town hall participants and the debate moderator, C-SPAN anchor Steve Scully, would attend in person at the debate venue in Miami.
Biden’s campaign quickly said the Democratic nominee would participate and “looks forward to speaking directly to the American people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald Trump’s failed leadership on the coronavirus.”
But later, after Trump declared he would not participate, Biden urged that the town hall event be postponed until Oct. 22, when a third presidential debate was already scheduled to take place. The Biden campaign sai that should be the final debate.
“Trump’s erratic behavior does not allow him to rewrite the calendar, and pick new dates of his choosing,” Biden’s communications manager Kate Bedingfield said, noting Oct. 22 was already one of the latest debate dates in recent history.
Biden will dedicate the Oct. 15 day to another event.
“Donald Trump clearly does not want to face questions from the voters about his failures on COVID and the economy,” Bedingfiel said. “As a result, Joe Biden will...
