Commission cancels Trump-Biden debate.
The Commission on Public Debates officially canceled the town hall-style debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden scheduled for Thursday.
When the Trump campaign rejected plans to make the debate virtual after he was infected with the coronavirus, the commission announced the debate will not be happening, given that both Biden and Trump said they wouldn’t attend.
“It is now apparent there will be no debate on Oct. 15, and the CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 22,” the commission said in a statement. “Subject to health security considerations, and in accordance with all required testing, masking, social distancing and other protocols, the debate will take place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.”
The Oct. 15 debate was to be in
Miami moderated by C-SPAN’s Steve Scully. The CPD announced Thursday that it would be done remotely, but the Trump campaign refused, demanding that it be held in-person.
“No, I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” Trump said in a phone interview with Fox Business. “That’s not what debating’s about.”
The decision to make the debate virtual came after Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized for three nights last weekend. His campaign has insisted he would be fully convalesced by the time of Thursday’s debate.
Biden spokesman Andrew Bates said it was “shameful” Trump backed out of the only town hall-style debate of the three planned meetings.
“Everyone knows that Donald Trump likes to bully reporters, but obviously he doesn’t have the guts to answer for his record to voters at the same time as Vice President Biden,” he said.
Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s director of communications, said there was “no medical reason to stop the Oct. 15 debate in Miami from proceeding, since the president will be healthy and ready to debate.”
He said the CPD was biased in in Biden’s favor, and reprised an offer to make up for the cancellation of the forum by adding a debate Oct. 29. The Biden team rejected that proposal Thursday.
Both candidates have made other plans for Oct. 15. Biden will participate in a town hall in Philadelphia hosted by ABC News and moderated by George Stephanopoulos.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said Thursday the president would hold a rally, but ABC News reported Friday that he is planning to take part in a town hall hosted by NBC.