On Thursday, President Donald Trump firmly declined to participate in next week’s scheduled debate with Joe Biden after organizers announced they were unilaterally changing the rules. The Commission on Presidential Debates decided the next session would take place virtually, ostensibly “because of the president’s diagnosis of COVID-19.” The real reason is so they can mute the president’s microphone at will.
President Trump stands firm
“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” President Donald Trump told Fox News, mere moments after the sweeping format change. AOL can’t believe it’s true, noting the president’s flat denial “cast serious doubts on whether the event will go forward.” Unless the commission backs down, the event’s outlook appears rather grim indeed. That’s seriously bad news for Biden.
“Vice President Biden looks forward to speaking directly to the American people,” deputy Biden campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement. Well, great then. He can round up his own viewers, without tagging along on the president’s popularity. Of course, liberals blame the cancellation on Covid. “It is more evidence that the race remains defined by the virus, even as Trump has attempted to underplay it,” she adds, whatever that’s supposed to mean.
The allegedly “nonpartisan” commission declares that the need “to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate” makes it too dangerous for anyone to be in the same room with President Trump. Instead, they say it’s perfectly reasonable for the candidates to “participate from separate remote locations.” That way they can mute the president anytime he starts saying things they don’t like. He won’t stand for that, any more than he’ll stand for allowing the election to be rigged against him twice in a row.
The president was looking forward to it
Even though President Trump was diagnosed with the Wuhan Flu last week, he still looked forward to going head to head with Biden on the Miami debate stage. Biden’s just as glad to call the whole thing off so he can go back to hiding in his basement, since Kamala Harris is calling all the shots anyway. Biden’s terrified he’ll catch the crud before November, and he’s considered one of the “high risk” types. He and Trump “shouldn’t have a debate” while the president is COVID positive, he insists.
He jumped on the virtual bandwagon, which would throw the format totally in his favor, telling Pennsylvania reporters that he’s “looking forward to being able to debate him but we’re going to have to follow very strict guidelines.” Biden has been getting tested daily since Trump was diagnosed only 48 hours after the last debate, with a virus notorious for spreading the most just before it surfaces with symptoms.
Trump and Biden were twice the recommended limit apart so the new rules reflect the fact that the debate organizers don’t have any faith in the guidelines laid down by all the experts. “Health concerns for Biden sent him to undergo multiple COVID-19 tests before returning to the campaign trail.” The president was still contagious when discharged on Monday and is supposed to isolate for at least 10 days. Nobody is talking about, it so you can rest assured that nobody promised the President that if he likes his microphone he can keep his microphone, which is what they’re really fighting over. Instead, the president will hold a YUGE deplorable rally.