Donald Trump is pushing hard for an in-person second debate on Oct. 15, but he has a long wish list for what it should look like. First, of course he has to be allowed to breathe coronavirus all over the place while everyone pretends to believe that he’s no longer infectious. Second, he objects to the moderator, tweeting: “Steve Scully, the second Debate Moderator, is a Never Trumper, just like the son of the great Mike Wallace. Fix!!!” So … the first two debates are moderated by Republicans, is what he’s saying. But it's still not good enough.
Trump is calling for future debates to be moderated by the likes of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Judge Jeanine, and other unofficial but very loyal members of Team Trump. Friday night he’s supposedly showing his fitness to campaign and debate in person by going on the show of one of those people, Tucker Carlson, where he’ll be interviewed and pretend-evaluated by Dr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News medical “expert” who has been pushing disinformation throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday, Oct 9, 2020 · 11:26:41 PM +00:00
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Jessica Sutherland
It’s official: The virtual, town hall-format debate scheduled for Oct. 15 has been canceled. The third scheduled debate, on Oct. 22, is still set to happen as planned.
The cancellation is a political loss for Trump, who is down in all national polls and either behind or tied with Biden in key swing states. The loss of a debate deprives the President of a platform that he needs at a time when his campaign is trailing. The first debate between Trump and Biden, a chaotic affair, was watched by more than 73 million people.
Trump had rejected the move to a remote debate Thursday morning, saying: “You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want.” He is eager to debate again—at least with the appropriate suck-up as moderator—because he believes he won the first debate and that polls show he won it. (Polls do not show this.)
Thursday evening, Trump’s campaign started pushing for the debate plan to be shifted back to in-person, insisting that Trump won't be infectious at that point. The campaign and the White House have little credibility on this point, to say the least.
They continue to refuse to say when Trump last tested negative for COVID-19, with a White House spokesman even refusing to answer a direct question from MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson on whether Trump was tested before the first presidential debate—when the debate rules required such a test. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who has COVID-19 herself, is insisting that “there are medical tests underway that will ensure that when the President's back out there, he will not be able to transmit the virus.” The White House remains extremely vague as to what those tests will be, though, and again, the credibility is very low with these people. If they can’t at this point say that yes, Trump was tested—and tested negative—before the last debate, why would we believe them when they say that tests show he is unable to transmit the virus at the next debate? Or at the rallies he keeps suggesting could happen as soon as this weekend?
While Trump himself is not yet out campaigning, many of his campaign surrogates are, and they're not taking precautions except where local governments insist on it.