Trump vows not to participate in next week’s virtual debate with Biden

The announcement from the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates cited a need to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate.

Read | Donald Trump calls his illness a ‘blessing from God’

The candidates will “participate from separate remote locations,” while the participants and moderator remain in Miami, the commission said.

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Biden, for his part, said he and Trump “shouldn’t have a debate” as long as the president remains COVID positive. Biden told reporters in Pennsylvania that he was “looking forward to being able to debate him?” but said “we’re going to have to follow very strict guidelines.”

Trump was diagnosed with the coronavirus a week ago and said he looked forward to debating Biden on stage in Miami, saying, “It will be great!”

Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020 at the first presidential debate in Cleveland, where Trump mocked Biden for his habit of wearing a mask in public. Biden said he tested negative for the coronavirus on Friday, three days after facing Trump in their first debate. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)

Trump was still contagious with the virus when he was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday but his doctors have not provided any detailed update on his status. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention those with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID19 can be contagious for as many days and should isolate for at least 10 days.

It’s not the first debate in which the candidates are not in the same room. In 1960, the third presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy was broadcast with the two candidates on opposite coasts.