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Trump to participate in town hall event on NBC Thursday instead of debate

Biden to participate in his own town hall on ABC
Posted at 7:39 AM, Oct 14, 2020
and last updated 2020-10-14 07:39:50-04

NBC News announced Wednesday that President Donald Trump would participate in a town hall-style event on Thursday — the day that he and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden were scheduled to have a debate prior to Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis.

NBC says the event, hosted by Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie, will take place in Miami with "a group of Florida voters."

The network also said that it had received a statement from Dr. Clifford Lane, the Clinical Director at the National Institutes of Health, who said that both he and Dr. Anthony Fauci had cleared Trump to participate.

The records reportedly reviewed by Lane and Fauci included a PCR COVID-19 test. Lane said that he has a "high degree of confidence" that the president is "not shedding infectious virus."

The one-hour event will begin at 8 p.m. ET Thursday.

Trump's town hall will come the same day that Joe Biden will be holding his own town hall event on ABC. Biden scheduled the event last week after the second presidential debate was canceled. Trump withdrew from the debate last week after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the second debate would be held virtually over safety concerns following Trump's illness.