Joe Biden won’t be helped by an earpiece during Tuesday night’s opening debate against President Trump and the former vice president’s team didn’t ask for breaks, according to his campaign.
“It is completely absurd. Of course he’s not wearing an earpiece, and we never asked for breaks,” top Biden spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield told reporters Tuesday, slapping down the Trump camp’s claim.
When pressed on whether the Biden campaign initially agreed to a third-party inspection to ensure the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee wasn’t being aided by a device during the debate hosted by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, Biden aide Symone Sanders slammed the story as “ridiculous.”
“If we’re playing that game, the Trump team asked that Chris Wallace never mention the number of COVID deaths once during the debate,” Bedingfield added. “So you can consider that confirmed from the Biden campaign. See how easy that was to try to throw up a distraction?”
The Biden camp’s reaction was in response to a Fox News report Tuesday morning that the Trump campaign pushed for an electronic device or transmitter inspection, while the Biden team requested two breaks, one every thirty minutes, during the 90-minute debate as part of their negotiations. The New York Post then reported Biden consented to the inspection before reneging on the arrangement.
Trump spokesman Tim Murtaugh defended the reports. He also denied Bedingfield’s comments regarding the country’s coronavirus pandemic.
“This is a lie and it never happened. This is the height of playing politics with a public health crisis. Biden is trying to distract from the facts that he won’t submit to an inspection for earpieces, won’t take a drug test, and needs multiple breaks during the 90-minute debate,” he said.
This is a lie and it never happened. This is the height of playing politics with a public health crisis. Biden is trying to distract from the facts that he won’t submit to an inspection for earpieces, won’t take a drug test, and needs multiple breaks during the 90-minute debate. https://t.co/94MvUnJAtP
— Tim Murtaugh – Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) September 29, 2020
The traditional trash talk precedes the highly anticipated clash between the two presidential candidates. The debate is expected to touch on six topics, including their respective records, the COVID-19 outbreak, the economy, race and violence, and election integrity, as well as feature an array of personal attacks.
