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Organizers hoped that next Thursday’s debate, which was to be a town hall-style event, would offer the opportunity for a considerably less chaotic and combative affair compared to the first debate.
But even before its official cancellation, any hope that it would go ahead as planned was effectively dead in the water by Thursday, when Biden’s camp said it would go ahead with its own town hall event in lieu of the debate that Trump was in. boycotting.
“It’s embarrassing that Donald Trump avoided the only debate where voters can ask the questions, but it’s no surprise,” said Biden’s campaign spokesman Andrew Bates.
US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden during the first presidential debate in Cleveland on September 29. Photo: TNS
Biden’s camp asked the commission to replace the final debate, scheduled for October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, with the town hall event, “so that the president cannot evade accountability.”
“Voters should have the opportunity to ask questions of both candidates, directly,” campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said Thursday.
In response to news of the cancellation, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said the Trump campaign would happily engage in a showdown with Biden without the commission’s involvement.
“There is nothing to say that President Trump and Joe Biden cannot debate together without the chief heads of the commission having a say in the matter,” he said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump removes his mask after returning to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 5. Photo: AP
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that those infected must remain in isolation for at least 10 days, Trump is pushing ahead with campaign events in person, as his personal physician authorized him to “return to the public commitments “.
On Saturday, the president will address up to 2,000 supporters on the South Lawn of the White House on a “law and order” topic, according to reports. The plans have raised concerns about a possible repeat of the Rose Garden meeting on Sept. 26, which was suspected to be at the center of a spike in cases within Trump’s inner circle.
Trump also plans to fly to Florida on Monday for what he called a “very large rally.”
The president said in an interview on Fox News late Friday that he had stopped taking drugs for the coronavirus. “Right now I am drug free. I’m not taking any medication as of, you know, probably eight hours ago, ”Trump said in the interview.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks before boarding his campaign plane in Las Vegas on Friday. Photo: AP
Biden criticized Trump’s decision to continue campaigning. “His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis, the destabilizing effect he’s having on our government, is unthinkable,” Biden said at a drive-in event in Las Vegas.
“He did not take the necessary precautions to protect himself or others … How can we trust him to protect this country?”
Despite mounting evidence that his insistence on holding large-scale, in-person events has put him and other attendees in danger, Trump and his allies continue to portray Biden’s decision to refrain from doing so as a sign of weakness and lack of political support.
As of Thursday, Biden led Trump by 10 points nationally, according to an average of recent polls compiled by The New York Times. Pollsters have predicted that Trump, who is behind in numerous swing states, will have a hard time making up lost ground if he continues to avoid debates.
In addition to protesting the format of the debates, Trump and his base have claimed that both the Presidential Debate Committee and the moderators are biased against the Republican Party.
“Steve Scully, the second moderator of the debate, is a Never Trumper, as is the son of the great Mike Wallace,” Trump tweeted on Friday, referring respectively to the aspiring host of next week’s town hall and Chris Wallace, the Fox News host who oversaw the first confrontation. “Repair!!!”
Additional information from Reuters and Agence France-Presse
