The nonpartisan commission holding the quadrennial presidential debates says the first of three scheduled clashes this fall between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will move from Indiana to Ohio after Notre Dame retired as host.
The Presidential Debate Commission (CDP) announced Monday that the debate on September 29 will now be hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic and will take place at the Health Education Campus (HEC) in Cleveland, Ohio.
The move came after the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, withdrew as the host of the first presidential general election debate.
Notre Dame withdrew due to health concerns about holding a presidential debate amid health concerns about large in-person meetings amid a coronavirus pandemic, the school said.
After consulting with public health officials, the school president, the Rev. John Jenkins, made what he called “this difficult decision because the necessary health precautions would have greatly diminished the educational value of organizing the debate on our campus “
The debate will be the second CPD sponsored debate organized by Case Western Reserve University. In 2004, the school was the site of the vice presidential showdown between Vice President Dick Cheney and the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Senator John Edwards.
The commission also noted that the Cleveland Clinic is serving as CPD’s health safety advisor for all four discussions this fall.
Last month, the commission announced that the second presidential debate, scheduled for October 15, would be held in Miami, Florida at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County. CPD made the move after the original host, the University of Michigan, withdrew due to health problems amid the pandemic.
The final Biden-Trump meeting is still scheduled to be hosted by Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22. The vice presidential debate is scheduled for October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.
BIDEN AGREES WITH THREE EXHIBITIONS, TRUMP LOOKS FOR MORE
Biden’s campaign last month reiterated that he agreed to participate in all three planned presidential debates, and criticized the recent push by the Trump re-election campaign for more debates as an “effort to change the subject” and “create a ‘debate on the distracting debates. ”
The president’s political team had asked for more debates, an earlier start to the confrontations than planned, and to be able to comment on the choice of moderators.
Fox News’ Cherie Grzech contributed to this report.
