The Commission on Presidential Debates has canceled the second debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It’s possible a second debate will still happen. Per CNN, the Oct. 22 debate — which was meant to be the third and final debate between the two candidates — will likely still happen in Nashville, Tennessee.
The decision comes after a back-and-forth between the two campaigns and the commission.
The CPD said the second debate would be virtual — pitting Biden and Trump against each other in a digital format. But Trump’s campaign refused to participate.
- Moderator Steve Scully of C-SPAN would have hosted the event from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami on Oct. 15.
Instead, the Trump campaign asked for the second debate to happen on Oct. 22 and the third debate to be pushed back to Oct. 29, as I reported for Deseret.com.
- “We agree that this should happen on October 22, and accordingly, the third debate should then be shifted back one week to October 29. The CPD and the media cannot hide Joe Biden forever. Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29,” the Trump campaign told the Deseret News in a statement.
Biden’s team rejected moving the third debate. Biden’s campaign originally asked for the second debate to be moved to Oct. 22, according to The New York Times.
- “Given the president’s refusal to participate on Oct. 15, we hope the debate commission will move the Biden-Trump town hall to Oct. 22, so that the president is not able to evade accountability,” Kate Bedingfield, a Biden deputy campaign manager, said in a statement, according to The New York Times.