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(CNN) – The Commission on Presidential Debates on Friday canceled the second debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden after the president refused to hold a virtual debate despite concerns about his Covid-19 diagnosis, a source familiar with the reports told CNN. plans.
The cancellation is the culmination of a furious 48-hour exchange between the commission and both campaigns and means that what would have been the third debate in Nashville on October 22 will likely be the final meeting between the two candidates. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report on the commission’s decision.
The commission, with the backing of its health advisers, announced Thursday morning that because Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, the debate that was scheduled for Miami would take place virtually, with the two candidates appearing from locations. remote. Trump quickly rebuffed that plan, saying he would not run and sparking a series of events that cast doubt on the future of all general election debates.
In response to Trump’s cancellation, a Biden spokeswoman was quick to say that they would have agreed to a virtual format for next Thursday’s contest, but because the president had apparently been saved, they would reserve another format for the former vice president to answer questions. And they did just that when, later that day, ABC News announced that they would host a town hall with the former vice president.
The Trump campaign, in response to its candidate withdrawing from the debate, issued three statements Thursday that criticized the commission, pressured Biden’s campaign to accept a debate in person and said they would be willing to delay the debate on the October 15th. one week to October 22 and then move the third debate to October 29, a few days before the November 3 elections.
But Biden’s campaign rejected his proposal, and campaign spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said in response: “Donald Trump is not on the debate calendar; the debate committee is.”
The Trump campaign has argued that because of the president’s doctor, the commander of the Navy. Dr. Sean Conley has cleared him to travel, the commission should move the debate to an in-person stage.
“Therefore, there is no medical reason why the Presidential Debate Committee should shift the debate to a virtual stage, postpone it, or alter it in some other way,” Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement. .
The cancellation is a political loss for Trump, who is down in all national polls and is behind or tied with Biden in key states. The loss of a debate deprives the president of a platform he needs at a time when his campaign is lagging behind. The first debate between Trump and Biden, a chaotic affair, was watched by more than 73 million people.
However, the reality for the commission is that once Trump backed down and Biden acceded to an ABC town hall, a second debate between the candidates was unlikely, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.
And the head of the commission, Frank Fahrenkopf, told CNN late Thursday that the push from the Trump campaign to hold an in-person debate next week in Miami after the president had already withdrawn from the race did little to change the Presidential Debate Commission’s belief that any debate next week must be virtual.
“The Cleveland Clinic would have to clear it,” Fahrenkopf said. But, he added, that does not involve Biden’s campaign again, something the commission chief believed was unlikely to happen after talks with Biden’s top advisers.
“They have moved on and are going to do this with ABC,” Fahrenkopf added. “It doesn’t look good unless the Biden campaign changes its mind.”
Negotiations between the campaigns and the commission early Friday did nothing to change the fact that the probability of a debate in Miami was low.
“It’s fair to say that it looks like Miami will be canceled,” a source familiar with today’s negotiations told CNN. “I don’t think there is any movement from either side that makes Miami possible.”
This story was first published on CNN.com. Commission cancels second debate between Trump and Biden
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