Washington: The next United States presidential debate has been cancelled, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) confirmed late Friday, after US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, disagreed this week over the possibility of holding the event virtually.
In a statement, the CPD said the debate, which was scheduled to take place on October 15 in Miami, would not be held.
“The CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22,” the commission said.
The widely anticipated announcement comes after Trump, who tested positive for COVID-19 on October 1 and is expected to resume campaigning as of Saturday, rejected the option of holding a virtual debate.
“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” the US president said in an interview Thursday with Fox Business Network.
The Trump campaign responded to the news with a statement saying there is “no medical reason to stop the Oct. 15 debate from proceeding as scheduled, since the president will be healthy and ready to debate”.
