[ad_1]
The split-screen show follows Trump’s three-day campaign tour of the battlefield states once doctors gave him medical clearance less than two weeks after he announced he contracted the coronavirus.
United States President Donald Trump greets the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Charlotte Convention Center on August 24, 2020 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Image: AFP
WASHINGTON – Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden will duel in town halls on Thursday instead of going head-to-head in their second debate, as the president of the United States seeks to shake up his struggling campaign 19 days before the election.
The split-screen show follows Trump’s three-day campaign tour of the battlefield states once doctors gave him medical clearance less than two weeks after he announced he contracted the coronavirus.
But even as Trump tried to make a final argument against Biden at a boisterous rally Wednesday in Iowa, promising an “incredible” third quarter for the struggling economy, the pandemic remained front and center.
Trump’s teenage son Barron contracted the coronavirus, first lady Melania Trump revealed Wednesday in news that came as a surprise in part because he had been hidden from the public for so long.
He said the 14-year-old, who attends a private school near Washington, had no symptoms and has tested negative since.
“Barron Trump, you know, he had the Corona 19,” the president said in Des Moines. “He had it for such a short period of time that I don’t even think he knew he had it.”
The news, which had been kept under wraps despite worldwide attention to Trump’s own health, brought public attention firmly back to the pandemic and, in particular, to an outbreak within the supposedly highly secure White House during the last two weeks.
The problem plays a prominent role in Thursday’s simultaneous town hall events on major television networks, as cases increase in several states and the death toll in the United States exceeds 216,000.
The competition’s primetime appearances were arranged after a face-to-face debate between Trump and Biden on Thursday was scrapped in the wake of Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
REALITY SHOW EXPERIENCE
But while the Trump team might be relieved that the president is regaining the opportunity to contrast with his opponent, NBC faced criticism for allowing President Bigfoot Biden to be at the same 8:00 a.m. time.
“Dueling in town halls is bad for democracy,” tweeted Katie Couric, longtime host of NBC’s “Today” morning show.
“Voters should be able to see both and I don’t think many will,” he said, adding that the confrontation will benefit Trump “because people like to see his unpredictability.”
David Canon, chair of the political science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, agreed.
But he said Trump may have made a “tactical error” by withdrawing from a virtual debate with Biden.
“He needed the debates more than Biden,” Canon told AFP. “He’s the one who needs to change the momentum in the elections.”
Trump negotiated to go to NBC on an outdoor stage in Miami after Biden had hosted his own ABC event in Philadelphia.
Previously, Trump seemed uncomfortable in city hall settings where ordinary voters ask questions. But as a former reality TV star and an avid fan of viewership numbers, the president will at least be eager to attract a larger audience than Biden.
The rivals were supposed to have gathered on stage for their second debate, also in town hall format.
However, in an unprecedented decision, organizers said they wanted to switch to a virtual format for security reasons after Trump contracted the coronavirus. Trump rejected the new conditions and the debate was dismissed.
NBC said it received a statement from the clinical director of the National Institutes of Health, Anthony Fauci, saying there was “a high degree of confidence” that Trump is now “not spreading infectious viruses.”
Trump and the NBC host will be socially estranged at the outdoor venue and audience members will wear masks, NBC added.
Biden has reported multiple negative coronavirus tests since Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis on October 1.
SCREAMING COMPETITION
The first of three scheduled presidential debates was widely criticized for descending into an angry shouting match when Trump attempted to inflict a belated wound on the Biden campaign.
In Iowa, Trump renewed the fierce attacks.
“Joe was shot, okay? … Joe lost him,” Trump said between laughter and cheers.
“If they win, the radical left will rule the country. They are addicted to power, and God help us if they succeed.”
Continuing his long-standing narrative that Biden, 77, is too fragile for the presidency, Trump, 74, tweeted a grossly false image that he purported to show Biden in a wheelchair.
Biden has stepped up his own courtship of the important vote of the elderly, telling retirees in Florida on Tuesday that Trump has “never focused on you.”
A RealClearPolitics average of national polls saw Biden rise 9.2 points, with the Democrat leading the way in several key states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Download the EWN app on your iOS or Android device.
[ad_2]
