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Melina Mara / The Washington Post
Donald Trump and Joe Biden at the first US presidential debate in Cleveland. National and battlefield state polls point to a Biden victory on November 3.
The second US presidential debate between US President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden is officially off.
The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates confirmed on Saturday (NZT) that the October 15 confrontation would be ruled out. The decision was made a day after the commission announced that the debate would take place “virtually” because Trump had contracted the coronavirus.
Trump resisted holding the debate in that format, and Biden scheduled a meeting with ABC News for that evening after Trump said he would not participate.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, called Trump’s stubbornness on the matter “embarrassing” and noted that the Oct. 15 debate was the only one in which voters could ask candidates questions directly in a format of town hall.
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Later, Trump’s team responded with a call to hold the discussions as scheduled after the president’s doctor said he would be authorized to hold public events beginning Saturday.
But the commission said it would not reverse its decision not to have the candidates together on stage, citing a great deal of caution with health concerns, particularly for the town hall-style debate that included questions from average voters.
Trump tested positive for Covid-19 on Oct. 1 and has suffered severe symptoms, meaning he could be contagious for up to 20 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The third debate, scheduled for October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, is still going on.
