Trump refuses to join virtual second debate
President’s campaign claims ‘swamp creatures’ of debating commission were helping rival candidate
Donald Trump yesterday pulled out of the second presidential debate after organisers made it virtual. Mr Trump objected to the Commission on Presidential Debates announcing that Thursday’s scheduled clash would not be an in-person event. Within moments Mr Trump went on Fox News to declare the move an attempt to help Joe Biden, his presidential rival. “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about,” he said.
DONALD TRUMP yesterday pulled out of the second presidential debate after organisers made it virtual, kick-starting a rapid sequence of public negotiations.
Mr Trump objected to the Commission on Presidential Debates announcing that Thursday’s scheduled clash would not be an in-person event.
Mr Trump tested positive for Covid19 last Friday, and spent several days in hospital. Within moments of the news about the debate, Mr Trump went on Fox News to declare the move an attempt to help Joe Biden, his presidential rival and the Democratic nominee.
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about,” Mr Trump said, claiming his campaign had not been consulted.
“You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.”
The row flared up the morning after Mike Pence, the US vice-president, squared off against Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, in their only debate of the campaign.
Ms Harris branded the White House’s response to the pandemic the “greatest failure” of any US administration in history, frequently speaking directly into the camera to voters at home.
Mr Pence accused Ms Harris of undermining trust in a Covid-19 vaccine and reached for familiar Republican attacks, going after the Biden campaign’s plans for raising taxes and increasing government spending. Both candidates attended the debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they were divided by Plexiglas screens and kept 12ft apart.
The Commission’s decision to make the next presidential debate virtual came amid mounting safety concerns, given Mr Trump’s illness. The president appeared on a televised debate with Mr Biden on Sept 29. He was confirmed to have contracted coronavirus two days later. The White House refused to say when the president last tested negative before his positive result, raising fears he may have had the virus for longer than had been publicly disclosed.
Although there are indications that Mr Trump could be past the worst of his illness, his doctors said an all- clear would only come on Monday, just three days before the next debate.
The Commission’s announcement that “candidates would participate from separate remote locations” is not without precedent. In a 1960 election debate Richard Nixon was in Los Angeles and John F Kennedy was in New York.
Yet the decision appeared to blindside the campaigns. Bill Stepien, Trump 2020 campaign manager, said: “For the swamp creatures at the Presidential Debate Commission to now rush to Joe Biden’s defence by unilaterally cancelling an in-person debate is pathetic.”
There then followed a scramble from both campaigns to shape the format of the last two debates. The Biden campaign wanted a town hall format, with voters asking questions.
The Trump campaign said it was ready for two debates if both were delayed by a week to allow Mr Trump to attend in person. But the Biden campaign insisted the long-agreed dates of f Oct 15 and Oct 22 should stay.
Mr Pence yesterday unexpectedly cancelled a trip to his home state of f Indiana scheduled f or today. His spokesman said it was due to his heavy travel schedule rather than any new information about coronavirus.
‘I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about’