ABC News announced Thursday that it will host a town hall telecast with Democratic candidate Joe Biden on the night the second presidential debate was supposed to happen.
The network said ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos will moderate the event in Philadelphia on Oct. 15. The announcement came just hours after President Donald Trump said he would skip the debate after organizers said it would go virtual.
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Video: Trump says he will not participate in a virtual debate
The Biden campaign also released a statement saying the former vice president would back out and pursue his own event.
Early Thursday, The Commission on Presidential Debates, the non-partisan group behind the traditional election-year showdowns, said it would implement new measures “to protect the health and safety of all involved” for the second debate. Under the change, the two candidate would have faced off from remote locations while moderator Steve Scully curated “town hall” questions from attendees at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
But Trump quickly denounced the idea. “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” he told Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo during an appearance on her program Thursday morning.
Future debates between Trump and Biden have been in question ever since the President’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis last week. CNN had reported on Monday that the commission was considering moving debates to a virtual format.
ABC did not release a specific time for its event with Biden, saying only that details “will be released in the days ahead.” ABC News and Stephanopoulos held a town hall event with Trump on Sept. 15. The network at the time said it had offered a similar opportunity to Biden, but a date couldn’t be worked out.
Biden has already participated in televised town halls on CNN and NBC, both of which were criticized by Trump supporters who believed the moderators — Anderson Cooper and Lester Holt — gave the Democratic candidate kid-glove treatment.
ABC said the Oct. 15 town hall with Biden will be held in accordance with state and local government health and safety regulations, as well as guidelines set forward by health officials.
