President Trump to hold own town hall after canceled debate

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Donald Trump’s campaign was eyeing to hold a town hall event shortly after the cancellation of the second presidential debate between Trump and Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden.
• Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that Trump already reached out to NBC to host the event and kickstarted preparations.
• The second presidential debate was canceled since Trump declined the virtual format proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates following his COVID-19 diagnosis.

Following the suspension of the second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the president’s campaign was planning to hold its own town hall as a replacement.

On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence said that the proposed event is already in process as Trump’s campaign was already coordinating with NBC to host the town hall.

No official announcement was made, and there could be precautionary measures since the president is still recovering from the coronavirus, notwithstanding the number of infected cases among his campaign team and other White House officials.

“The American people deserve to see both candidates square off, and the president’s made it very clear that he was ready to debate this week,” Pence told Julie Mason on SiriusXM.

“I think there are plans underway for us to have a similar public town hall event Thursday night. I think Joe Biden is doing the same, but how much better would it be if they were both on the stage, both taking the tough questions from people like you?” he added.

Both NBC and Trump’s campaign has yet to respond to requests for comments regarding the town hall event proposal. The president is scheduled to host a rally in North Carolina on Thursday afternoon which means the event could happen later in the evening.

On the other hand, Biden will attend his own town hall event on Thursday night which will be hosted by ABC in Philadelphia.

In a town hall format, the second presidential debate was set on Thursday night in Miami. It was called off after Trump’s campaign turned down the Commission on Presidential Debates’ (CPD) decision to proceed in a virtual format since the president and some of his staff tested positive for COVID-19. 

Trump’s campaign argued that the president can already debate in person. The CPD, however, was firm on its decision of cancellation. On October 22, the third and last presidential debate between Trump and Biden will commence.

The first presidential debate between the two candidates had over 73 million viewers. Last month, Trump’s own town hall with ABC got about 4 million viewers.

At present polls, Trump is still trailing behind Biden and has a couple of weeks to boost his campaign in key battleground states like Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Source: The Hill