Steve Cortes, a senior adviser to President Trump’s reelection campaign, said there’s no guarantee that the next presidential debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden will take place and that Trump will need medical clearance to participate.
“There’s not a guarantee,” Cortes said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” on Wednesday. “We’re going to need, the president’s going to need, medical clearance. Now we’re very confident that he’s going to get it.”
The adviser said there is “plenty of time” for the president to meet all the protocols laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make sure he can safely attend his second face-off against Biden on Oct. 15.
“We’re very optimistic and planning on that being the case and the debate going ahead as scheduled for the 15th,” Cortes said.
The schedule for the final two debates between Trump and Biden was thrown into uncertainty after the president announced Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Trump later spent four days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment before returning to the White House on Monday.
Biden has tested negative for the coronavirus three times since Trump’s announcement on Friday, though it could be two weeks since exposure for a positive test result to be returned. The two presidential contenders did not make any physical contact at the first debate last week, and their podiums were spaced about 12 feet apart.
The former vice president said Tuesday that a debate should not be held if Trump “still has COVID” but said he would defer to “what the docs say is the right thing to do,” referring to the group overseeing health protocols for the presidential and vice presidential debates this year.
Trump’s physician released a memo Wednesday saying Trump has been fever-free for over four days and asymptomatic for more than 24 hours.
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