Won’t waste time on virtual debate with Biden: Trump

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will not participate in the second presidential debate with Joe Biden after the Commission on Presidential Debates said the event will be held virtually in the wake of the President’s positive coronavirus diagnosis.

“I am not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump said. “I am not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”

Biden’s campaign swiftly agreed to the virtual format. Politically, if Trump skips the debate, he’ll be deprived of a platform that he needs at a time when his campaign is trailing in every national poll and in a number of key states. The first event was watched by more than 73 million.

‘Catching virus was blessing’ Trump declared that catching the coronavirus was a “blessing from God” that exposed him to experimental treatments he vowed would become free for all Americans, in a video address. “I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise,” Trump said, adding that his use of the medication from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc had allowed him to experience firsthand how effective it could be.