Trump says he won’t debate Biden virtually
WASHINGTON — President Trump pledged Thursday to skip next week’s debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden after organizers said it would be held virtually because of the president’s COVID19 diagnosis — more evidence that the race will be defined by the coronavirus despite the White House’s attempts to make it about almost anything else.
“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump told FOX Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, moments after the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced the changes.
Biden’s campaign insisted its candidate was ready to move forward with the second presidential debate next Thursday in Miami, but the future of the event is now in serious doubt.
The commission made the decision unilaterally, citing the need “to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate.” A person familiar with the matter said some associated with the production of debate No. 2 raised safety concerns after Trump tested positive for the virus following the first debate last week in Cleveland.
Trump is thought to be trailing in key battleground states. Even before his COVID19 diagnosis, the president was widely criticized for his chaotic performance during the Cleveland debate. Next week’s faceoff in Miami, and a third one set for the following week in Nashville, would have given him a chance to reset the election and potentially change its trajectory in front of a national television audience — but he now appears ready to give up that up.
Trump has pledged to return to the campaign trail as soon as he’s able. Still, the commission’s move shows how much the pandemic has upended the presidential race, even as the Trump administration has insisted for months that the country has turned the corner. The president has even said he considers his getting the virus a plus, though it has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans.
“I don’t want to do a virtual debate because ( a) virtual debate is a joke. There’s no reason. I’m in great shape,” Trump said.
He then reverted to one of his mainstay attacks, that Biden spent months focusing too heavily on virtual campaigning from his home in Delaware, even though the Democrat has begun crisscrossing the country in recent weeks.
Boarding a flight to campaign in Arizona on Thursday, Biden said it’d be “irresponsible“ for him to comment.
“We don’t know what the president’s going to do. He changes his mind every second” and could ultimately end up debating anyway,” Biden said.
Still, Trump’s campaign manager promised that the president will stage a rally rather than debate — though its not yet clear he will actually be well enough for that.