The Debate Over Debates: Trump Says He Won’t Participate In A Virtual Town Hall

Relatively few Americans are excited about a potential rematch of the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. But more Republicans would be happy to have Trump as their nominee than Democrats would be with Biden.

Patrick Semansky / AP

Updated at 3:55 p.m. ET

President Trump says he won’t participate in a virtual town hall, after the independent commission that runs presidential debates announced that next week’s scheduled event would be virtual for health and safety reasons.

His decision set off a back-and-forth between the major-party presidential campaigns about the remaining debates, with the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, scheduling a separate town hall.