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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday (October 8) that he would not participate in a debate with Democrat Joe Biden under a new format announced by the debating committee in which each candidate would appear in remote locations.
In an interview with Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business Network, Trump said that the new virtual format announced by the Committee on Presidential Debates was “unacceptable” to him.
“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” he said. “I’m not going to waste my time in a virtual debate, it’s not about that.”
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He added: “You sit behind a computer and have a debate; it’s ridiculous and then they cut you when they want.”
That casts serious doubt on whether the event will continue, even as Biden’s campaign promised that its candidate will participate.
Biden told reporters Thursday that he would follow the debate committee’s recommendations. Biden said he didn’t know what action he would take if Trump refused to participate.
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“We don’t know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second,” Biden added.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said Biden hoped to “speak directly to the American people and compare his plan to unite the country and build back better with Donald Trump’s failed leadership on the coronavirus that has turned the strong economy he inherited. at worst “. recession since the Great Depression. “
Former vice president of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to members of the media as he leaves the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020 (AP Photo / Andrew Harnik).
Trump accused the bipartisan debate committee of trying to “protect” his opponent Biden.
He added that he was well enough to hold campaign rallies and did not think it was contagious.
The second presidential debate was scheduled for October 15 in Miami.
After the president’s diagnosis of COVID-19, the plan was for candidates to “participate from separate remote locations,” while participants and moderator Steve Scullystay in Miami, the commission said.
He added that the decision was made “to protect the health and safety of all those involved.”
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Trump was diagnosed with the coronavirus a week ago and had said he was looking forward to discussing Biden on the Miami stage, saying, “It will be great!”
Biden, for his part, said he and Trump “shouldn’t have a debate” as long as the president remains positive for COVID-19.
Biden told reporters in Pennsylvania earlier that he was “looking forward to discussing it,” but said “we will have to follow very strict guidelines.”
After the first debate, there were concerns about whether Trump had infected Biden and moderator Chris Wallace. Biden tested negative.
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