Trump is apparently planning on participating in the next presidential debate

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

published 5 October 2020

President Trump is planning in participating in the next presidential debate on Oct. 15, despite his COVID-19 diagnosis, his re-election campaign's communications director Tim Murtagh told CNN on Monday.

Trump said he's feeling well, and is scheduled to be discharged from Walter Reed hospital Monday evening, but there hasn't been any public medical advice suggesting that's a feasible goal yet, and Trump's physician Dr. Sean Conley said Monday that the "final deep sigh of relief" about his health probably won't come until next Monday, just a few days before Trump would have to travel to Miami for the debate.

The coronavirus will affect Wednesday night's vice presidential debate, as well. Both Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) have recently tested negative for the coronavirus, but after an initial disagreement between the two sides, the debate commission will reportedly use a plexiglass barrier to separate the candidates, who will be seated 13 feet apart.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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