US President Donald Trump wants to replace the proposed
virtual debates with two-face-to-face encounters with his Democratic opponent
Joe Biden, his campaign said on Thursday.

The second presidential debate was slated to be held
in Miami on October 15 as a town hall-styled event, although that timeline is likely
to be scrapped with Trump rejecting the virtual format.

A statement from Trump
2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien said that an in-person town hall debate,
with questions from voters, “should happen on October 22, and accordingly, the
third debate should then be shifted back one week to October 29.”

Trump, who is currently recovering from COVID-19, has instead called for a final showdown just five days ahead of the November 3 election, AFP reported.

Far behind Biden in the polls and with only 26 days until the November 3 election, Trump’s reelection bid is in as much upheaval as the debate schedule.

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Even as he touts his recovery from coronavirus in near miraculous terms, Trump remains off the campaign trail, while Biden increases his travel, with a trip Thursday to Arizona. 

Trump told Fox Business that the bipartisan
debate commission’s decision to make the debate a virtual affair, citing the
need for safety after his infection with COVID-19, was “not
acceptable.”

He accused organisers of trying to
“protect” Biden after their angry first debate in Cleveland on
September 29. Stepien called organisers
“pathetic” and announced that a rally would be held instead.

The campaign called for a new
debate to be scheduled on October 29, just five days before the November 3
election day. “Americans deserve to hear directly from both presidential
candidates on these dates, October 22 and 29,” Stepien said.

The Biden team quickly nixed the idea of
extending the debate schedule, insisting that the final meeting will be, as
originally planned, on October 22.

“Donald Trump can show up, or he can
decline again,” spokeswoman Kate

Bedingfield said. “Trump’s erratic behaviour does not
allow him to rewrite the calendar.”

The organisers’ worries about health
safety at the debates follow a major outbreak in the White House and around
Trump, who himself was hospitalised for three nights last week.

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On Thursday he again declared himself free
of coronavirus, telling Fox Business: “I’m feeling good, really
good.”

But he said he is still taking steroids to fight the virus and
remains in quarantine. In addition to Trump, several dozen people ranging from
aides to senators and top military officers have tested positive for the
coronavirus in the last few days.

Trump’s fight with COVID-19 and the wider
outbreak through his inner circle have thrown the spotlight back on an issue
where polls find a big majority of voters see him as having failed.

Trump is trying to make a virtue of the
calamity by boasting that he has personally defeated the virus.

“I’m back because I’m a perfect
physical specimen and I’m extremely young,” Trump, 74, joked on Fox
Business.

Adding to voters’ worries, the White House
and Congress continue to squabble over a new stimulus bill that would seek to
keep businesses and individuals afloat.

Trump expressed optimism on Fox Business,
saying “We’re starting to have some very productive talks.”

“I think we have a really good chance
of doing something,” he said.