After Donald Trump pulled out of the planned Thursday night town hall-style debate, refusing to do a remote debate because moderators can “cut you off whenever they want,” Joe Biden scheduled a town hall event with ABC News. Now Trump is talking about a town hall on NBC News Thursday night as well, though it’s not yet confirmed.
What is confirmed is Trump’s strong desire to resume campaigning in person, despite concerns about campaigning by someone who may well still be contagious with COVID-19. Trump’s doctor tried to give him the official sign-off as not infectious on Saturday, but experts say there’s serious doubt about that based on the scant information provided. On Sunday, Twitter flagged a Trump tweet for containing “misleading and potentially harmful misinformation”—namely, that “I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it.”
Most of all, Trump just wants to return to his ego-stroking campaign tour. He wants to be on the road every day, Axios reports, leading one adviser to fret, “He’s going to kill himself.” Trump is starting on Monday in Sanford, Florida, with a rally some locals worry will compromise public health.
”I’m worried about anybody that has had COVID or tested positive being out in the community in less than two weeks,” a city commissioner told The Daily Beast. “It could be the president, it could be my worst enemy. I don’t care who it is. They shouldn’t be out in public.”
”No person in their right mind would do this and risk so many people,” a local business owner said.
Biden, who has consistently tested negative for coronavirus, will be campaigning in Ohio on Monday and in Florida on Tuesday—in a safer way than the Trump signature rally, with its superspreader risks. His wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will be campaigning in Georgia on Monday and Texas on Tuesday, with polls tight in the traditionally deep red state. Donald Trump Jr. will also be in Georgia on Monday, highlighting that this is another traditionally red state that is in play.
