Trump looks forward to next debate despite his illness
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WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump has said he wants the next debate against his Democratic challenger Joe Biden to go ahead despite his bout of coronavirus.
"I am looking forward to the debate on the evening of Thursday, October 15th in Miami. It will be great!" Mr Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
The debate, which will be in a town hall format with audience members putting questions to the candidates, has been thrown into doubt after Mr Trump's hospitalisation last Friday with the coronavirus.
He was discharged on Monday and declared himself on Tuesday via Twitter to be "Feeling great!"
If Mr Trump's health does hold up and the debate goes ahead, it will mark one of the last set-piece events before the Nov 3 election where Mr Trump has a chance to try and turn around his seeming slide to defeat.
Polls consistently show the President behind Mr Biden and their first debate on Sept 29, which immediately descended into an ugly shouting match, shows no sign of having improved Mr Trump's standing with voters.
A third and final debate is scheduled for Oct 22 in Nashville.
But Mr Biden said he would be opposed to debating Mr Trump next week as scheduled if the US President is still sick with Covid-19, saying he would want to follow health guidelines. "I'm looking forward to being able to debate him, but I just hope all the protocols are followed," Mr Biden, 77, told reporters as he returned from a speech near the Civil War battlefield site in Gettysburg on Tuesday.
Mr Trump, 74, announced last Friday - two days after his first debate with Mr Biden in Cleveland - that he had tested positive for the virus.
"If he still has Covid, we shouldn't have a debate," said Mr Biden.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say people who test positive for the virus should stay home for at least 10 days after symptoms first appear, while people who become severely ill might need to stay home for up to 20 days.
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FOLLOW DEBATE ON ST WEBSITE
The vice-presidential debate between United States Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic candidate, Senator Kamala Harris, starts at 9am today, Singapore time. Follow the debate on The Straits Times website.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Mike Pence and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris will face off today in their first and only debate less than a month before the election, with the coronavirus adding a sudden twist to the event.
The showdown between vice-presidential candidates is more often a sideshow of US presidential elections, but this year the encounter between the two takes on far greater significance with the economy staggered by the pandemic.
The debate will be an opportunity for the American public to gauge whether Mr Pence, 61, is ready to take over for the President.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG