Tag: Trump says he won’t participate in a virtual debate

Trump says he will not participate in virtual presidential debate

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President Trump said Thursday that he would not participate in a virtual debate, minutes after the organizing commission announced that next week’s event would be virtual to protect the health of those involved.

“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump, who was diagnosed last week with the coronavirus, said in an interview on Fox Business, claiming the Commission on Presidential Debates is “trying to protect” Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“I’m not going to waste my time with a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate, that is ridiculous,” Trump continued. Continue reading.

Trump says he won’t take part in virtual debate

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President Trump, who continues to battle a coronavirus infection, told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that he will not take part in a virtual second presidential debate, with his campaign later saying he would do two in person debates later on this month. 

What he’s saying: “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. It’s not what debating is all about. … It’s ridiculous,” the president said.

  • Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also tested positive for coronavirus, said in a statement that the campaign will “pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead.”
  • Stepien also claimed without evidence that Trump “will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate,” which has never been publicly confirmed by the president’s doctors.
  • Later in the day, Stepien again called the decision to move to a virtual format “extremely suspect,” but said Trump would be willing to push each debate by a week to Oct. 22 and Oct. 29.  Continue reading.