President Trump declared he will not be participating in next week’s presidential debate given that it is now set to be a virtual event.
Trump said the change, which was announced less than an hour before his phone interview Thursday morning on Fox Business, is “not acceptable to us.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates had just released a statement that said the “debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations.”
Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo told Trump about the statement and asked him again if he would not accept the format change, after which the president said, “No, 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. It’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want.”
Bill Stepien, Trump’s campaign manager, released a statement soon after calling the debate format change “pathetic.”
“For the swamp creatures at the Presidential Debate Commission to now rush to Joe Biden’s defense by unilaterally canceling an in-person debate is pathetic. That’s not what debates are about or how they’re done,” he said.
The decision to change the format, which the commission said was made “to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate,” comes after the president tested positive for COVID-19 last week, just days after he faced off against Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the first debate.
Stepien claimed a virtual debate should not be necessary because the president has had multiple negative COVID-19 tests, although journalists have raised questions about when exactly he last tested negative.
“Here are the facts: President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate, so there is no need for this unilateral declaration,” he said. “The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head. We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead.”
Biden’s campaign said the candidate is looking forward to the virtual debate. The former vice president previously said the debate should be called off if the president is still testing positive for COVID-19.
During his Fox Business interview, Trump also chastised the moderator, C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, saying he always thought Scully was a “nice guy” but heard he is a “Never Trumper.” That would appear to be in reference to reports that have been published in right-leaning media about Scully doing some intern work for Biden when he was a senator decades ago.
