By The Associated Press
The second debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden has been officially canceled.
The Commission on Presidential Debates confirmed Friday that the October 15 meeting in Miami, Florida, will no longer be held.
The decision was made a day after that body announced that the debate would take place "virtually" because Trump had been infected with the coronavirus.
Trump did not want to participate in the debate in that format, and
Biden scheduled a presentation open to public questions with ABC News for that evening
after the president said he would not participate.
Later, Trump's team called for the debates to be held as originally planned, after the president's doctor said he would authorize him to hold events in public beginning Saturday.
President Trump refuses to participate virtually in the second debate with Biden
Oct. 9, 202001: 54
But the commission indicated that it would not reverse its decision not to have the candidates together on stage, arguing that it was doing so to take extreme precautions against the possibility of contagion,
especially for a debate in which some voters could ask questions. in person.
The third debate, scheduled for Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, does continue, the Commission said.
[Trump will celebrate this Saturday at the White House the first mass event since his diagnosis of COVID-19]
That final debate will be moderated by NBC News reporter Kristen Welker.
Both campaigns have agreed to attend.
The forum will be "subject to medical safety considerations and in accordance with all tests, the use of masks, social distancing and other required protocols," the Commission said in a statement.