Donald Trump Jr. said it was “awfully coincidental” that the Commission on Presidential Debates changed the rules of the next presidential debate the morning after the debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris.
“Does anyone else find it awfully coincidental that the morning after Mike Pence destroys Kamala Harris in a debate that the ‘debate commission’ unilaterally changes the format to obviously benefit Basement Biden?” Trump said on Twitter Thursday.
Does anyone else find it awfully coincidental that the morning after Mike Pence destroys Kamala Harris in a debate that the “debate commission” unilaterally changes the format to obviously benefit Basement Biden?
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 8, 2020
The debate commission announced Thursday morning that the next presidential debate would be virtual.
“The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations,” the Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement.
The change in format was made “in order to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate,” the statement said.
President Trump slammed the news in a Thursday morning interview, saying the new format is “not acceptable to us.”
“No, I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” he said. “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.”
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien called the 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 in a statement.
“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,” Stepien 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.”
The Biden campaign welcomed the new format and said Biden planned to participate.
“Biden looks 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 on the coronavirus,” Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield tweeted Thursday.
When asked for comment on Trump pulling out of the debate, Biden criticized the president for changing his mind.
“We don’t know what the president’s going to do,” Biden said. “He changes his mind every second.”
