US election 2020: Donald Trump refuses virtual debate with Joe Biden to throw plans into disarray
"I'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate," the president declares just moments after an official announcement.
Thursday 8 October 2020 17:44, UK
Donald Trump has thrown plans for his second presidential debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden into disarray after saying he will not take part in a virtual event.
The president's declaration came less than an hour after organisers announced that the debate would be taking place virtually.
Joe Biden's campaign announced that the Democratic candidate would instead find a venue to take questions straight from the audience in response to the incumbent leader's withdrawal.
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The Commission on Presidential Debates said the decision was made to "protect the health and safety of all involved", with the president's positive coronavirus test having come just days after the first debate last week.
The commission said both candidates would appear at the second TV debate, scheduled for next Thursday, from separate locations.
But, in an interview shortly after the announcement was made, Mr Trump said: "I'm not going to do a virtual debate."
He told Fox Business that the arrangement was "not acceptable to us", adding: "I'm not going to waste my time on a virtual debate, that's not what debating is all about.
"You sit behind a computer and do a debate? That's ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want."
The president said debate organisers "called up two minutes ago and it [a virtual debate] was announced", while he also accused them of trying to "protect Biden".
Later in the day, Mr Biden's team released a statement saying he would take questions directly from the audience in lieu of a debate.
It also asked for the event be delayed a week to allow for Mr Trump to take part.
The statement said: "Joe Biden was prepared to accept the CPD's proposal for a virtual town hall, but the president has refused as Donald Trump clearly does not want to face questions from the voters about his failures on COVID and the economy.
"As a result, Joe Biden will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly on 15 October, as he has done on several occasions in recent weeks.
"Given the president's refusal to participate on 15 October, we hope the Debate Commission will move the Biden-Trump town hall to 22 October, so that the president is not able to evade accountability.
"The voters should have a chance to ask questions of both candidates, directly."
During the phone interview with Fox, Mr Trump also twice called Mr Biden's Democratic running mate Kamala Harris a "monster".
She took part in the campaign's first and only vice presidential debate on Wednesday evening against Mike Pence.
The president said: "This monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way. This monster, she says, 'no no, there won't be fracking', there won't be this. Everything she said is a lie."
Analysis: Trump is better suited to the public stage - so would struggle with a virtual debate
By James Matthews, news correspondent
It might just be the excuse he needs.
A second debate that was already promising to rein in the excesses of a petulant president is never going to suit him.
Discussion of increased controls, clamping down on interruptions and cutting mics was already shaping a format to squeeze his rumbustious style.
A considered sit-down conversation might suit Joe Biden better than a president who riffs on the generalities of power and promises but is vulnerable when penetrated on the detail.
The public stage works best for him and his audience. The comic shtick that stirs a Trump rally carries him through a performance in a way that considered detail doesn't.
It doesn't work for everyone but it works for the Trump base and it works inside his head.
Mr Biden's camp had earlier said their candidate would take part, with the former vice president said to be looking forward to "speaking directly to the American people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald Trump's failed leadership".
The Democratic challenger has previously said he and Mr Trump "shouldn't have a debate" as long as the president remains positive for COVID-19.
In a sign of the Trump campaign's opposition to the virtual arrangement, the president's son, Eric Trump, had claimed "Biden's mouth is watering at the notion of a virtual debate".
"He will have 12 teleprompters and 14 campaign staffers holding flash cards on the other side of that camera!," he added on Twitter.
Bill Stepien, Mr Trump's campaign manager, claimed the debates commission's action had seen them "rush to Joe Biden's defence by unilaterally cancelling an in-person debate".
He said: "President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate, so there is no need for this unilateral declaration.
"The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without cancelling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head."
Mr Trump would hold a campaign rally instead of taking part in the planned virtual debate, Mr Stepien added.
The president returned to the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday, despite still recovering from COVID-19.
His doctors said Mr Trump had had no coronavirus symptoms for the past 24 hours.
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In his Fox News interview on Thursday, the president said: "I think I'm better to a point that I feel better than I did - I jokingly said - 20 years ago.
"I feel perfect, there's nothing wrong.
"I had a case, I got it knocked out - I think it was Regeneron that was responsible for it."
Mr Trump has promised the experimental antibody treatment, Regeneron, he received while in a military hospital would be offered to Americans for free.
In Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate, Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris clashed on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and race relations.