Donald Trump Won’t Participate in Second Debate | THR News - video Dailymotion

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On Thursday, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that the second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden would proceed with a new format and go virtual.

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00:00The new debate is whether there will even be a second debate between President Trump

00:03and Joe Biden. A last-minute format change by the CPD and dueling statements from the

00:08campaigns are calling it into question. The Commission on Presidential Debate says that

00:13the debate will now utilize a virtual format, a decision that comes after President Trump

00:17was hospitalized with COVID-19. The new format would have Trump answer questions from the White

00:22House, with Biden answering the questions from his own remote location. The October 15th debate

00:26would still originate at the Adrian Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida.

00:31C-SPAN anchor Steve Scully will be the moderator, and the format will still be a town hall meeting,

00:35with an audience of undecided voters set to ask the questions. However, in a Fox Business

00:40interview shortly after the news was announced, Trump said he would not participate in a virtual

00:44debate. Trump also claimed that the decision was made in order to protect Joe Biden.

00:55They're trying to protect Biden. Everybody is.

00:58Trump's campaign manager Bill Stepien followed up with a statement supporting Trump's comments,

01:02saying,

01:03Here are the facts. President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate,

01:07so there is no need for this unilateral declaration. We'll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe

01:12Biden and do a rally instead. Initially, Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a

01:18statement, Vice President Biden looks forward to speaking directly to the American people and

01:22comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald

01:26Trump's failed leadership on the coronavirus that has thrown the strong economy he inherited

01:31into the worst downturn since the Great Depression. Biden himself reacted to the news of Trump's

01:35refusal to participate in a virtual debate when speaking to press earlier this morning. But later

01:40in the morning, the campaign released a revised statement proposing to move the Biden-Trump town

01:44hall to October 22nd. Joe Biden was prepared to accept the CPD's proposal for a virtual town hall,

01:50but the president has refused as Donald Trump clearly does not want to face questions from

01:55the voters about his failures on COVID and the economy. Given the president's refusal to participate

02:00on October 15th, we hope the debate commission will move the Biden-Trump town hall to October 22nd

02:05so that the president is not able to evade accountability. The voters should have a chance to ask

02:09questions of both candidates directly. The decision by the CPD comes the morning after the first and

02:14only vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris.

02:19That debate featured enhanced coronavirus protections, including desks placed 12 feet apart

02:24and separated by plexiglass barriers. For more updates to this story, head to THR.com.

02:29For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.

Donald Trump Won’t Participate in Second Debate | THR News

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