After Trump refuses to do virtual debate, Biden will get a solo town hall on ABC
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday morning the presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 would be held virtually — but President Donald Trump said he won’t participate. So instead Democratic nominee Joe Biden will hold a solo town hall.
Trump and Biden would have participated in the town hall-format debate “from separate remote locations” with participants and the moderator in Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Florida, according to a statement.
The decision came as Trump and others in the White House have tested positive for COVID-19.
The president said on Fox Business shortly after that he’s “not gonna do a virtual debate.”
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate, that’s not what debating’s all about,” he said, according to videos posted on Twitter. “You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever you want.”
Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also tested positive for coronavirus, said in a statement the campaign will hold a rally instead.
“President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate, so there is no need for this unilateral declaration,” he said. “The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head. We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead.”
The president’s health has been largely kept under wraps since he tested positive for the virus, with his doctors and others refusing to answer many questions about his condition — including when his last negative test was, which could provide insights into how far along he is in his illness.
Biden will instead “find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly” on Oct. 15, Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director, said in a statement.
ABC News announced Thursday afternoon it will host a town hall with the former vice president Oct. 15 moderated by George Stephanopoulos.
“The primetime event will take place in Philadelphia where the former vice president will answer questions from voters,” ABC News tweeted.
Biden’s campaign said earlier he would participate in the virtual debate and looked “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,” Bedingfield told reporters following the announcement.
“Give the president’s refusal to participate on October 15th, we hope the debate commission will move the Biden-Trump town hall to October 22nd so the president is not able to evade accountability,” Bedingfield wrote in the statement.
Biden previously said there shouldn’t be a debate if Trump is still infected with COVID-19 and that he would listen to medical experts on whether participating was safe.
“I think if he still has Covid, we shouldn’t have a debate,” he told reporters Tuesday, according to CNN. “I think we’re gonna have to follow very strict guidelines. Too many people have been infected and it’s a very serious problem.”
The Trump campaign released another statement Thursday asking for the third debate, originally scheduled for Oct. 22, to be pushed to Oct. 29, with the second held on Oct. 22.
“Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29,” the statement said.
The Biden campaign responded shortly after, saying the CPD schedules the debates, not Trump.
“We accepted three debates — Sept. 29, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 — in June. Trump chose today to pull out of the October 15th debate,” Bedingfield wrote in a statement to reporters. “Trump’s erratic behavior does not allow him to rewrite the calendar and and pick new dates of his choosing.”
Candidates are not required to participate in debates, according to the CPD.
The Trump campaign called the decision to hold the debate virtually “pathetic,” saying Trump “won the first debate” and that the CPD is rushing “to Joe Biden’s defense.”
Polling after the first presidential debate, however, found most Americans thought Biden came out on top, McClatchy News previously reported.
The CPD also promised changes after the first debate, which was filled with interruptions, falsehoods and violations of the rules agreed to by both campaigns.
The president rejected the idea of changing the rules for future debates.
This wouldn’t have been the first presidential debate to be held virtually. In 1960, then candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon debates from thousands of miles apart — with Kennedy in an ABC studio in New York and Nixon in an ABC studio in California, according to Snopes.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 7:55 AM with the headline "After Trump refuses to do virtual debate, Biden will get a solo town hall on ABC."
