WASHINGTON – The second presidential debate of 2020 this fall will take place in Miami in place of the University of Michigan, which originally planned to organize it, the Presidential Debates Commission announced Tuesday.
The university, located in Ann Arbor, concluded that the debate is not feasible, the commission said in a press release, which said the debate will now take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami on May 15. October. The Center was the site of the first Democratic presidential primary debate last year.
The commission did not specifically say that the coronavirus threat is the reason the university withdrew as a host, but reports Monday said the school was concerned about bringing a large gathering of campaign staff, supporters and media outlets to your campus.
Michigan was heavily affected by the spread of the coronavirus, which prompted its Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, to impose a restrictive stay-at-home order that lasted approximately two months and was lifted in early June.
The second debate will be in the format of a city council meeting, the commission said, in which people from the Miami area will be able to ask questions of the candidates, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, the alleged Democratic candidate.
The first presidential debate is scheduled for September 29 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the third presidential debate will be held on October 22 at Belmont University in Nashville. The vice presidential debate is scheduled for October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. All discussions will be moderated by one person, the commission said, and those moderators will be announced in early September.
This comes after the Biden campaign committed the former vice president to participate in no more than the three previously scheduled presidential debates. Trump has been pushing for more general election debates to be added to the calendar.
