Crisis in US Presidential Debate: "Let's Postpone" vs "Just Show Up for the Third One"

After Changing to TV Debate Format, Both Sides Clash
Trump Declares Absence from 2nd Debate, Proposes One-Week Postponement of Entire Schedule
Biden Side Responds, "Debate Date Is Set by Organizers"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden are engaged in a tense standoff over changes to the format and date of their TV debates. As both sides clash, there are growing concerns that the debates might not take place at all.

The situation began to unravel on the 8th (local time) when the debate organizers announced a change to a virtual format for the second debate scheduled for the 15th.

The organizers notified the candidates' teams of the format change without prior consultation and immediately made an official announcement.

President Trump, who cited COVID-19 infection as the reason for the change in debate format, immediately pushed back. Right after the announcement, he declared his withdrawal from the debate in a phone interview with Fox News, citing the change in election procedures. Conversely, Biden's camp promptly accepted the change. Biden told reporters, "I will follow the recommendation of the debate commission."

Subsequently, Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, proposed rescheduling the debates.

He suggested, "We should not deprive the American people of the opportunity to watch the debates," and proposed postponing the debates by one week each.

According to the schedule proposed by the Republicans, the second debate would be held on the 22nd, originally the date for the third debate, and the third debate would be moved from the 22nd to the 29th. By then, President Trump would have recovered from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and be able to participate in the debates in the original format without quarantine measures.

However, the Democrats opposed this proposal. Kate Bedingfield, Deputy Campaign Manager for Biden, stated that the election schedule is determined by the debate organizers, not President Trump, and pressured, "We agreed to three debate dates back in June, and Trump just canceled the second debate today. Trump should now decide only whether he will attend the third debate."

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