Miami presidential debate ‘not officially canceled.’ But it’s not looking good.
Already in doubt, a debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami appeared to fall apart Thursday after the president balked at organizers’ plans to hold the event virtually due to concerns about his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Trump, reacting to an early morning announcement from the Commission on Presidential Debates that the candidates would participate “from separate remote locations,” quickly called into Fox News to reject the possibility of a virtual presidential debate based only partially out of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.
“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” Trump said. “That’s not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate. It’s ridiculous. And they cut you off whenever they want.”
The announcement of a format change — and Trump’s refusal to go along — threw into doubt the likelihood of the Miami debate, as well as another scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee. During the afternoon, as Trump’s campaign argued that both debates should be pushed back one week, Biden committed to an Oct. 15 town hall in Philadelphia hosted by ABC, and his campaign indicated that the former vice president would not agree to a later debate.
“We haven’t officially canceled [the Miami debate] yet,” Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, told CNN Thursday evening. “We haven’t heard back yet from the Trump campaign as for exactly what they’re going to do, although I did talk to someone from the Biden campaign today and they said they definitely will be in Nashville on the 22nd.”
Fahrenkopf, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he hoped for clarity in the next few hours or days. “Then a decision will have to be made concerning Miami, and also a decision … as to how we proceed in Nashville.”
Should it still take place, the Oct. 15 debate in Miami would be an encore to a contentious and chaotic first debate in Ohio, which spurred talk of using a “mute” button for future meetings between the two candidates. Afterward, Biden and his representatives repeatedly swatted away questions about whether he would pull out of Miami.
It all started with COVID
But uncertainty surrounding the second debate began anew last week when Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, more than two dozen people tied to the White House and Trump campaign have reportedly contracted the novel coronavirus.
Trump’s diagnosis and the rapid spread of COVID-19 among his administration and campaign advisers immediately threw into question his ability to safely appear for the Miami debate, scheduled as a town hall event in which undecided voters would ask questions of the candidates in-person at the county-owned performing arts venue north of downtown. Trump also spent a long weekend at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he received antibody cocktails, steroids, supplemental oxygen and over-the-counter medications.
Trump’s physician wrote in a memo Wednesday that the president had been symptom-free for 24 hours, and his campaign manager, Bill Stepien, insisted that Trump will have tested negative “multiple times” before Oct. 15. But Trump’s doctors and his administration have refused to say when the president last tested negative for the virus.
Given all that, the debate commission announced Thursday morning that it would change the format of the Miami event, with the moderator at the Arsht Center and the candidates participating in separate studios.
Trump’s campaign responded by attacking the debate commission as “protecting” Biden, and promising to hold a rally instead of attending the debate. Biden’s campaign fired back, accusing Trump of dodging the debate and suggesting that the commission push back the town hall forum to Oct. 22. That in turn led Stepien to suggest that the Miami debate be held on the 22nd, and the Nashville debate be pushed back until the 29th, which would be less than a week before Election Day.
Later, in the evening, Stepien issued another statement calling on the debate commission to hold the Miami debate as scheduled and in person after Trump’s physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, wrote a memo explaining that he expects Trump to “return to public engagements” on Saturday.
“Trump chose today to pull out of the October 15th debate,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in a statement. “We look forward to participating in the final debate, scheduled for October 22, which already is tied for the latest debate date in 40 years. Donald Trump can show up, or he can decline again. That’s his choice.”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a question Thursday evening about whether it had written off the Miami debate entirely.
A lawsuit against a Trump visit
Compounding the uncertainty around a Miami debate, six Miami-Dade residents filed a lawsuit Thursday afternoon against Trump, the debate commission and the Arsht Center, arguing that Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and his attitude toward precautionary restrictions such as masks rendered him a nuisance “detrimental to the health” to Miami, a region that has endured one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country.
“Trump has made numerous false statements about his condition and COVID-19 since being discharged from the hospital which will only embolden his supporters who will likely participate in the debate at or outside the event or rally,” states the complaint, filed by Florida attorney Daniel W. Uhlfelder, known for dressing up as the Grim Reaper in public to highlight his dissatisfaction with the state’s response to the pandemic. “These supporters will travel to Miami-Dade County and spread the virus as they often refuse to wear masks and take safety precautions akin to their leader.”
The apparent fizzling of the Miami debate — already moved once from Ann Arbor after University of Michigan leaders in June backed out of a commitment to hold the event — caught the nonprofit that manages the Arsht Center by surprise. Its top executive said the county-owned facility wasn’t given advanced warning of the decision to go virtual with the candidates, though there were talks of logistical changes coming due to Trump’s diagnosis.
“This is all brand new information for us” Arsht CEO Johann Zietsman said Thursday morning. “All we know is they’re going to be virtual. We’ll get the details as they come.”
A spokeswoman said later Thursday that the organization had no update.
The day’s events didn’t appear to trouble city leaders. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican who contracted COVID-19 in March, told the Miami Herald that the commission’s decision to order a virtual debate was “prudent.”
“I’m not surprised,” Suarez said. “I quarantined for 18 days until I was certain I could not be infectious. It’s the best decision for all.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who is running for Congress with Trump’s endorsement, did not respond to text messages seeking comment. In a press appearances Wednesday, Gimenez said he planned to meet with his medical advisers sometime Thursday to explore options for Trump’s coming to Miami.
“I need to talk to my medical experts. Is there a way to do this even if he’s positive? People test positive for a long time, way after symptoms,” he said at a senior-center appearance Wednesday.
Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat whose district includes the Arsht Center, told the Miami Herald Wednesday that the event might be more entertaining if held in-person but voters wouldn’t suffer if the event went virtual.
“We all rubber neck at accidents, we all kind of want to see the political theater. But to be intellectually honest, it brings large groups of consultants, the press and media and contributes to another bottle-necking of groups and crowds which are unnecessary,” he said. “The only disservice it does is to those interested in political theater.”
Miami Herald staff writer Joey Flechas and McClatchy DC White House correspondents Francesca Chambers and Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 7:56 AM with the headline "Miami presidential debate ‘not officially canceled.’ But it’s not looking good.."
