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The second presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden has been canceled, the Committee on Presidential Debates confirmed on Friday, a move that came as the president announced his first events in person since he was diagnosed with Covid-19.
The nonpartisan commission’s decision follows a public disagreement between the two candidates over the format of the debate. The commission had previously announced that the debate would take place “virtually” due to Trump’s diagnosis. Trump, however, said he would refuse to participate in a virtual event, while Biden defended him for security reasons.
But the commission said it would not reverse its decision, citing a host of precautions and health concerns, particularly for the town hall-style debate that was to include questions from voters.
“It is now clear that there will be no debate on October 15, and the CPD will focus its attention on preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22,” the commission said in a statement.
The third and final debate, scheduled for October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, is still going on.
The move came shortly after Trump announced his first in-person events since his Covid-19 diagnosis, including a speech at the White House on Saturday and a campaign rally in Florida on Monday, even as he remains potentially contagious from the virus. virus.
The White House event will see Trump discuss “law and order,” and he hopes to address a crowd from the White House balcony.
White House physician Sean Conley said in a press release Thursday that “based on the track record of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the president’s safe return to public engagements” on Saturday. , eight days after Trump announced his positive test early last Friday.
Trump had initially indicated that he hoped to hold a rally Saturday night. “I think I’m going to try to do a rally on Saturday night if we can, if we have enough time to put it together,” Trump said Thursday. The event did not materialize.
At least one Trump rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been linked by a local health official to an increase in coronavirus cases. Most supporters of recent Trump events have avoided masks and social distancing measures.
While Trump has been interviewing conservative hosts for hours, it’s only been a little over a week since he announced his diagnosis. Medical experts have expressed concern that because the White House has refused to show the results of Trump’s chest X-rays and lung scans, the public does not have a complete picture of whether the president has recovered for complete virus.
Trump has avoided questions about whether he still tested negative for the virus. In the president’s first on-camera interview since his diagnosis, Trump said he felt “very good and very strong,” but once again declined to answer a question about his latest test results.
“I don’t know numbers or anything, but I’ve been tested again and I’m either at the bottom of the scale or free,” Trump said.
The remote interview, which had been advertised as a “medical exam” but did not involve any medical exams or tests, was conducted by Marc Siegel, a physician and Fox News contributor who previously downplayed the severity of the coronavirus.
Attendees of Monday’s rally in Sanford, Florida, will be asked to sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of Covid-19, according to the event’s registration page, and to waive their right to sue Trump or the venue if they contract. the virus.
A Covid-19 outbreak among high-ranking White House figures and the military has caused a dramatic situation within the Trump administration. At least 20 people at or working near the executive mansion have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent days.
In an interview Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court in the White House’s Rose Garden in late September was a “super spread” event.
“The data speaks for itself. We had a high-profile event at the White House. It was in a situation where people were crowded, they weren’t wearing masks, ”Fauci said.
At least seven people who attended the event out of about 150 people tested positive for the virus, including US Senator Mike Lee; the president of the University of Notre Dame, the Reverend John Jenkins; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway.
