(Headline USA) The second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden is officially off.
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates confirmed Friday that the Oct. 15 faceoff would be scrapped.
The decision was made a day after the commission announced the debate would take place “virtually” because Trump had contracted the coronavirus.
Trump balked at holding the debate in that format, and Biden scheduled a town hall with ABC News for that night once Trump said he would not participate.
Trump’s team later countered with a call to hold the debates as scheduled once the president’s doctor said he would be cleared to hold public events beginning on Saturday.
But the commission said it would not reverse its decision not to have the candidates on stage together, citing an abundance of caution with health concerns—particularly for the town-hall-style debate that was set to feature questions from average voters.
Trump said the commission was protecting Biden from having to take on the president in person. But Biden’s team claimed the one demanding protection was Trump.
“It’s shameful that Donald Trump ducked the only debate in which the voters get to ask the questions — but it’s no surprise,” said Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. “Everyone knows that Donald Trump likes to bully reporters, but obviously he doesn’t have the guts to answer for his record to voters at the same time as Vice President Biden.”
The third debate, scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, is still on.
Meanwhile, looking to shove his campaign back on track after his unexpected quarantine, President Donald Trump and his team laid out an aggressive return to political activities on Friday.
That included a big Saturday White House event and a rally in Florida on Monday.
As questions linger about his health, also was increasing his radio and TV appearances with conservative interviewers like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, whose show he guest-cohosted on Friday.
On Saturday, Trump planned to address at least several hundred supporters, from the White House balcony on a law-and-order-themed event.
All attendees are to be required to bring masks or will be provided with them, and also will be given temperature checks and asked to fill out a brief questionnaire.
Trump’s Monday rally in Sanford, Florida, was originally scheduled to be held on Oct. 2, the day after he tested positive.
The president’s White House doctor, Navy Cmdr. Sean Conley, said that Trump was showing no evidence of his illness progressing or adverse reactions to the aggressive course of therapy he has received.
In the interview with Limbaugh, Trump again credited the experimental antibody drug he received last week with speeding his recovery.
“I was not in the greatest of shape,” he said. “A day later I was fine.”
He promised to expedite distribution of the drug to Americans in need, though that would require action by the Food and Drug Administration.
He speculated to Limbaugh that without the drug, “I might not have recovered at all.”
As many media polls yet again put the president in a familiar underdog position, Trump predicted a greater victory in 2020 than his Electoral College landslide four years ago, when he unexpectedly swept several states that were presumed to be safe for Hillary Clinton.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
