Instead of debating Thursday night, as was originally planned, President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will participate in dueling town hall events on separate networks.
NBC News announced Wednesday that it will host a town hall for Trump outside the Pérez Art Museum in Miami. The one-hour event will be moderated by “Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie and air at 8 p.m. Eastern.
ABC News announced last week that it will broadcast a Biden town hall from Philadelphia, also at 8 p.m.
Trump and Biden had been scheduled to square off in their second debate Thursday night, but the event was ultimately canceled. The Commission on Presidential Debates had planned to convert the event to a virtual one after Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, but Trump backed out because he didn’t like that format. The president later said he wanted to reschedule the debate, but by that time Biden had already committed to the ABC town hall.
The two candidates are scheduled to debate once more, on Sept. 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.
NBC News said it received a statement from Dr. Clifford Lane, clinical director at the National Institutes of Health, indicating that he and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have reviewed Trump’s medical data and concluded “with a high degree of confidence” that the president is “not shedding infectious virus.”
White House physician Sean Conley said Monday that the president had tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days.
Trump’s town hall, which will include questions from Florida voters, will follow guidelines from health officials, NBC said. Trump and Guthrie will stand at least 12 feet apart, and the audience will be socially distanced and required to wear masks, answer a symptoms questionnaire and have their temperatures taken. NBC staffers working the event will be tested on site.
