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“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump said on Fox Business. “I am not going to waste time in a virtual debate.”
Biden’s campaign on Thursday quickly embraced the virtual format. But Trump’s comment calls into question the debate after the commission took a significant step to completely remake the event. The members of the debate committee considered that the measure was necessary given the uncertainty surrounding the president’s health.
Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, accused the commission on Thursday of “unilaterally canceling an in-person debate” to help Biden and said the president will hold a rally rather than attend the debate. A Biden campaign adviser told CNN they also learned about the commission’s announcement Thursday morning.
“The second presidential debate will take the form of a municipal meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations,” the commission said in a statement about the debate, which is scheduled for October 15 in city hall format. .
The commission went on to say that the debate moderator, Steve Scully, and attendees who will ask Trump and Biden questions will appear from Miami, the original site of the debate.
“The Commission, including myself, is certainly open to virtual operations of the debates, without a doubt,” said a member of the commission, who requested anonymity to speak openly about the upcoming deliberations.
Even before the vice presidential debate, however, committee members were consumed with what to do with the upcoming presidential races and said whether the event happened in person or virtually focused on one thing: Trump’s well-being.
“Everything will depend on the health of the president,” said a member of the commission before the vice presidential debate. “We have to plan how it will happen … If they quarantine him at the White House, they have a way to bring him” alive into the living room.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
