NBC News Town Hall With Trump Set for Same Time as Biden’s on ABC

Meredith Jacobs October 14, 2020, 10:45 am

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Donald Trump First Presidential Debate 2020 — Win McNamee/Getty Images

(Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The second presidential debate may not be happening as planned on Thursday, October 15, but both participants will be discussing current issues that day … in separate town halls at the same time.

Nearly a week after it was announced that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will be participating in a town hall on ABC, NBC News announced its own live town hall, in Miami, with President Donald Trump and a group of Florida voters, also on Thursday. Today anchor Savannah Guthrie will moderate the one-hour conversation at 8/7c.

The event will take place outdoors at the Pérez Art Museum Miami and follow guidelines set by health officials and in line with government regulations. In a statement to NBC News, Clinical Director at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Clifford Lane said he and Dr. Anthony Fauci reviewed the president’s recent medical data, including a PCR test from October 13 and concluded “with a high degree of confidence” the president is “not shedding infectious virus.” (Trump tested positive for the coronavirus on October 1.)

Guthrie and the president will be at least 12 feet apart from each other and the audience, who will also be socially-distanced and must wear face masks, answer a symptoms questionnaire, and have their temperatures checked before they can enter the venue. NBC News staffers will all be tested on site.

These town halls come after it was announced the second presidential debate would be a virtual one and Trump refused to participate, calling it “not acceptable” and saying, “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”