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Virtual Debate Should Be A Nonstarter

If you needed any further confirmation that the Commission on Presidential Debates is a

creature of the DC Swamp, created to preserve the establishment status quo, look no further than the group’s unilateral decision to conduct the next presidential debate virtually.

Joe Biden previously said he and Trump “shouldn’t have a debate” as long as the president remains coronavirus positive, as Breitbart News reported. And Lisa Desjardins of PBS also reported a “Biden senior source” as saying it is “hard to see that debate happening” between Trump and Biden on October 15, ostensibly due to the President’s recent bout with the Wuhan virus.

So, the allegedly nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates unilaterally made the announcement a week before the event was to take place that the next debate would go virtual. Apparently without consulting with President Trump or his campaign the Commission announced the candidates would instead “participate from separate remote locations,” while the town hall participants and moderator Steve Scully remain in Miami.

Biden was apparently OK with the new format, however, when Trump finally got the word on the new plan his response was short and sweet: “I’m not going to do a virtual debate.”

“I heard that the Commission a little while ago changed the debate style, and that’s not acceptable to us,” Trump later elaborated.

“I am 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, that’s ridiculous, they cut you off whenever they want.”

Trump further accused the Commission of “trying to protect Biden.”

The President’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien later issued a statement saying, “President Trump won the first debate despite a terrible and biased moderator in Chris Wallace, and everybody knows it. 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. 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. 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 location of the planned October 15 rally had not yet been announced when the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Biden campaign began to show signs of wilting and rescheduling two in-person debates.

At 12:25 p.m. Mr. Stepien issued another statement calling for in-person debates to be rescheduled:

The American people should not be deprived of the chance to see the two candidates for president debate face to face two more times just because the Commission on Presidential Debates wants to protect Joe Biden. It remains extremely suspect that the CPD announced the brand new virtual format at 7:30am ET today immediately after Vice President Mike Pence had just wiped the floor with Senator Kamala Harris. Clearly the commission wanted to shift attention away from Pence’s complete victory. As President Trump said, a virtual debate is a non-starter and would clearly be a gift to Biden because he would be relying on his teleprompter from his basement bunker. Voters should have the opportunity to directly question Biden’s 47-year failed record of leadership. We agree that this should happen on October 22, and accordingly, the third debate should then be shifted back one week to October 29. The CPD and the media cannot hide Joe Biden forever. Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29.

Joe Biden’s campaign said Thursday that the panel overseeing the presidential debates should postpone the Oct. 15 debate between Mr. Biden and President Trump and that Biden will find an “appropriate place” to take questions from voters elsewhere on that date, however, Biden’s campaign also rejected the proposal from President Trump for a debate on Oct. 29, saying the one already scheduled for a week earlier should be the last debate ahead of the November election.

We can see why Joe Biden wouldn’t want to remind voters who he really is by debating Donald Trump just a few days before the election, especially after Vice President Mike Pence vaporized Democrat candidate Kamala Harris in Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate.

Given the failures of Biden and Harris in the live debate format it is not difficult to understand why the Swamp wanted to move to a virtual format that would help bail out the Democrats’ failing campaign. We urge the President and his advisors to stick to their guns and refuse a virtual format that is guaranteed to tilt the scales in favor of Joe Biden.

  • 2020 Election

  • Mike Pence

  • Kamala Harris

  • Vice President debate

  • Donald Trump

  • Joe Biden

  • COVID-19

  • virtual debate

  • presidential debates

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