President Trump announced he would not participate in the second presidential debate scheduled for a week from tonight when the Commission on Presidential Debates ruled the debate would take place on virtually on account of Trump being afflicted with COVID-19 and to prevent further spread.
It reminds me of when Trump skipped one of the GOP debates in January 2016. Of course, that didn't harm him in the least. So why not do the same here?
But I think there's another dimension to Trump's decision. The second debate is a town hall format - something at which Biden excels. Trump not so much as evidenced when he described "herd immunity" as "herd mentality".
I have a feeling that Trump will want to proceed with the third scheduled debate on October 29th as it will be a moderator only debate as was the case in the first debate. With no one but a moderator posing questions, I can't imagine Trump passing up an opportunity to hector Biden for 90 minutes straight with a few obligatory pot shots at the moderator. Given the ongoing concerns about COVID (assuming if Trump insists it be held in person), Biden might opt out of the third debate as Trump has opted out of the second one. Of course, that won't stop Trump from saying that Biden chickened out.
In the absence of a second debate in a week from now, Biden will have a socially distant town hall meeting in Philadelphia while Trump will hold a rally at a yet to be determined location despite the possibility he might still test positive. Trump might hold a rally as soon as Saturday in Florida. Trump is behaving as a man who has learned nothing. The Trump super spreader events shall resume. The same cannot be said of the debates.
No comments:
Post a Comment