Debate Chaos: Trump Bails on Virtual Version and Demands Live Event, Biden Plan His Own Town Hall, Commission Still Refuses In-Person Forum
President Donald Trump’s Covid-19 infection and the growing spread of the virus through the ranks of the White House and his campaign have thrown the presidential debates into complete chaos. As of Thursday evening, the Trump campaign, Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign, and the Commission on Presidential Debates have all issued separate and conflicting statements about what they want to happen on October 15.
The original plan for the debates was to have Trump and Biden face off on September 29, October 15, and October 22, and Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris on October 7.
The vice presidential matchup and the first Trump-Biden debate happened as scheduled, but Trump’s shock announcement that he had tested positive for the coronavirus — followed by the growing list of infections among his inner circle — tossed a gigantic wrench in the works.
Prior to the Covid-induced disruption, every detail of the debates had been aggressively negotiated by the two campaigns: the moderators, time limits, who would be allowed in the audience, and even whether the candidates would sit or stand. The blatant refusal of Trump family members and staffers to comply with the face-mask requirements at the first debate caused more friction, with the CPD vowing to toss out anyone who didn’t follow the rules for upcoming debates.
The end result of this mistrust between the campaigns and the CPD has meant that the past few days have witnessed dueling press releases flying back and forth, sometimes barely hours apart.
Trump’s positive test announcement in the wee hours of last Friday morning, and subsequent temporary hospitalization, led the CPD to announce on Thursday morning that they would conduct the second presidential debate virtually.
During a Fox Business interview shortly thereafter, Trump bluntly rejected the idea of a virtual debate, calling it a “waste of time.”
The Biden campaign issued a statement in response, saying that “Joe Biden was prepared to accept the CPD’s proposal for a virtual town hall, but the president has refused,” so they suggested delaying the debate until Trump could attend in person, adding that Biden would have his own event on October 15th where he could “take questions from voters directly.”
ABC jumped at the opportunity and announced they had agreed to host an October 15th town hall event for Biden, to be moderated by George Stephanopoulos.
Meanwhile, Trump has spent the past few days since being discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center declaring himself to be “cured” and in very good health, both in video messages posted to his Twitter account, and in interviews with friendly hosts on Fox News.
Trump’s personal White House physician, Dr. Sean Conley, released an optimistic letter on Thursday saying he expected Trump to be able to resume public activities as early as Saturday.
Shortly thereafter, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien — who is himself quarantined after his own positive coronavirus test — issued a statement declaring that “President Trump will be ready to debate, CPD must let Miami debate proceed in person.”
Citing Dr. Conley’s letter, Stepien wrote that there was “therefore no medical reason why the Commission on Presidential Debates should shift the debate to a virtual setting, postpone it, or otherwise alter it in any way,” and accusing the CPD of wanting to “shield” Biden from an in-person debate.
UPDATE: Based on Dr. Conley’s letter, the Trump campaign is pushing for the 2nd presidential debate originally scheduled for October 15 in Miami to move forward AS PLANNED https://t.co/TEnAyjq9KZ pic.twitter.com/n4vCuiECyb
— Sara Cook (@saraecook) October 9, 2020
It should be noted that while Stepien’s statement was accurate in that the CPD did not know in advance what Trump’s condition would be on debate night, no one else had the ability to predict that information either. The Trump campaign and White House have been less-than-transparent regarding when precisely the president first tested positive or when his last negative test was before he fell ill.
Even late Thursday night, Trump was still refusing to provide details on his testing when he called into Hannity, and neither the campaign nor White House have pledged to provide proof of the multiple negative test results health officials recommend before a coronavirus patient should be deemed noncontagious.
