Trump Won't Participate In Virtual Debate After Virus Diagnosis

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he won't participate in the next presidential debate after organizers announced it will take place virtually because of the president's coronavirus diagnosis.

“I’m not going to do a virtual debate," Trump told Fox Business News after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the changes.

The commission's decision, announced Thursday, comes a week before the president and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are scheduled to face off in the second presidential debate in Miami.

The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates made the decision unilaterally, citing the need "to protect the health and safety of all involved with the second presidential debate," The Associated Press reported.

With the president's refusal, the future of the second debate is uncertain. While Biden's campaign indicated it would move forward with the change, Trump's campaign said the president will hold a rally instead of attend the debate.

“For the swamp creatures at the Presidential Debate Commission to now rush to Joe Biden’s defense by unilaterally canceling an in-person debate is pathetic,” Bill Stepien, Trump campaign manager, said in a statement. “The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head. We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead.”

The Biden campaign said the former vice president will now hold his own town-hall event next Thursday, according to a report by The Hill. Kate Bedingfield, Biden's deputy campaign manager, said Biden “will find an appropriate place to take questions from voters directly.”

The Biden campaign is also calling for changes to the format of the final debate, planned Oct. 22. Next week's debate — which was supposed to be the second out of three — was originally designed as a town hall-style event between Trump and Biden.

The Biden campaign on Thursday is now asking the commission to change the Oct. 22 event to a town hall format.

Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl about the state of Trump's health and the trajectory for his recovery less than a week after contracting COVID-19.

On Wednesday, he tweeted in a new round of videos that his diagnosis and the experimental antibody treatment he is receiving may be a "blessing in disguise" in the nation's battle against the pandemic.

The White House continued to offer few details about Trump's health, and there's no way of knowing if the therapeutics he's receiving are having any effect on his illness. But Trump thinks they are and said in a new video that he wants average Americans to receive the same comprehensive treatment that he has.

Trump promised swift approval of the drug for broader use and free distribution, even though he doesn't have the power to order that himself.

“I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president, because I feel great,” Trump said in a video from the Rose Garden. “I feel, like, perfect.”

Trump used the video to again downplay the threat of the virus, telling Americans who may become ill with COVID-19 that they're going to “get better fast, just like I did.” More than 211,000 people in the United States and more than 1 million worldwide have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Trump posted the video not long after he returned to the Oval Office for briefings on Hurricane Delta, which is bearing down on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and on economic stimulus prospects —despite still being contagious two days after he was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

His return to the Oval Office threw the West Wing into "full-blown chaos," according to reports.

Trump spent much of the day on Twitter throwing punches at Democrats and imploring lawmakers to piece together economic aid proposals — after he nixed negotiations on a broader assistance package.

Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, said in a memo that Trump continued to make progress in his recovery, had been symptom-free for more than 24 hours and that his oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate were normal.

Also, a blood test Monday showed Trump had coronavirus antibodies, substances that fight infection, Conley added; however, Trump had been given an experimental drug on Friday containing the antibodies.

As Trump continues to move through his diagnosis, at least four more White House officials have tested positive for the virus, including Stephen Miller, a top adviser to Trump. The West Wing has essentially become a ghost town, cleared of staff who are either home sick or working from home amid the outbreak of cases, reports indicate.

A total of 14 people close to the White House or president are now confirmed carriers of the virus.

One of them, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie remains hospitalized for COVID-19 as an "important precautionary measure" because of his history of asthma, but he declined to share details of his health or treatment plan. Tim Moran, a journalist at the Star Ledger, said Christie sounded raspy but didn't cough once" during their 10-minute chat.

"He said it's scary, of course, and he's fully aware that he's a prime target for this virus, given his weight and a lifelong case of asthma that was bad enough to hospitalize him during one attack in 2011," Moran reported.

As Trump went back to work, the White House was "taking every precaution necessary" to protect not just the first family but "every staff member working on the complex" consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and best practices, White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

Deere added that physical access to the president would be significantly limited and appropriate protective gear would be worn by those near him.

Elsewhere in the nation's capital, coronavirus quarantines are in effect at the Pentagon, where a number of top officials have been forced to work from home due to a positive test from a leading admiral at the Coast Guard, according to a CNN report.

It was Adm. Charles Ray who tested positive Monday, according to the report that cited Jonathan Hoffman, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates. The Associated Press contributed reporting.