2020 race: Trump, Biden to have duelling town halls, as Harris cancels campaign travel

Coronavirus again rattles the campaign, with an aide to the vice-presidential nominee testing positive | WATCH LIVE

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are set to face off in duelling town halls at 11am today (AEDT), and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris cancelled campaign travel after an aide tested positive for coronavirus.

WATCH LIVE: Trump Town hall

WATCH LIVE: Biden Town hall

As the pandemic continues to rattle the campaign, Ms Harris suspended all campaign travel through Sunday “out of an abundance of caution,” said Mr Biden’s campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon. The decision was made after Ms Harris’s communications director and a non-staff flight crew member tested positive for the virus.

Mr Biden’s campaign said Ms Harris wasn’t in close contact with either individual during the two days prior to the positive tests. The Biden campaign said Ms Harris tested negative for coronavirus on Thursday.

Late last night, I learned a non-staff flight crew member & a member of my team tested positive for COVID. I wasn’t in close contact—as defined by the CDC—with either during the 2 days prior to their positive tests.

I've had 2 negative tests this week & am not showing symptoms.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 15, 2020

Earlier this month, Mr Trump was hospitalised after he and several White House and campaign aides tested positive for the virus. Mr Trump’s physician said in a memo released Monday that he had tested negative on consecutive days. Mr Biden tested negative for the virus on Wednesday night, his campaign said.

Mr Biden tested negative for the virus on Wednesday night, his campaign said. On Thursday, his campaign said a member of his in-flight crew tested positive for coronavirus but hadn’t come into close contact with the candidate. Ms O’Malley Dillon said the person was “over 50 feet from VP Biden at all times” and that both the individual and Mr Biden wore masks throughout the flights they took together.

During our contact tracing, we discovered around noon today that a member of the company that charters my airplane has also tested positive for COVID. This crew member was on the plane with me, but was more than 50 feet away.

My COVID test from last night came back negative.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 15, 2020

Mr Trump’s diagnosis prompted the organisers of the second presidential debate, initially scheduled for Thursday, to change the format to a virtual event. The debate was cancelled after the president said he wouldn’t participate unless it was held in person.

Mr Biden instead signed up for a town hall on Thursday evening hosted by ABC News. Days later, NBC News announced it had scheduled a competing town hall with Mr Trump.

An NBC News spokesman said it programmed Mr Trump’s town hall opposite Mr Biden’s because it had given the same slot to the Democratic nominee in a previous town hall and wanted to keep all things equal. But the network has faced both public and internal backlash over its decision, with critics saying the move forced viewers to choose between the two candidates.

Donald Trump at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina. Picture: AFP.

At a campaign rally in North Carolina hours before the town hall was set to begin, Mr Trump spent several minutes attacking NBC News, referring to the network as “Concast” and “the worst.” He said he had agreed to do the event because “I figure what the hell, we get a free hour of television.”

“I’m being set up tonight,” he told the crowd. “If you want to see a little entertainment, watch.”

Mr Biden will field questions from voters in Philadelphia, while Mr Trump will do the same in Miami. Both ABC and NBC said their town halls will follow local public-health guidelines.

A final debate between the two candidates is still expected to take place on Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tenn.

With less than three weeks remaining until the election, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll of registered voters found Mr Biden leading Mr Trump by 11 points nationally. Recent surveys also show Mr Biden ahead in several battleground states.

Mr Trump returned to the campaign trail this week with rallies in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Iowa, while Mr Biden travelled to Ohio and Florida. The final sprint comes as millions of Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting.

Ms Harris had been scheduled to make campaign appearances in North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the coming days. The campaign said those events would be held virtually instead and Ms Harris would return to in-person campaigning on Monday.

Mr Biden raised $383 million in September, surpassing the amount he collected a month earlier, and according to his campaign, he had $432 million cash on hand.

Mr Trump’s campaign hasn’t yet released its fundraising totals for September. On Thursday, new federal filings showed that billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, gave $75 million to a pro-Trump super PAC that has been airing tens of millions of dollars worth of TV ads attacking Mr Biden in the final stretch of the campaign.

The donations to Preserve America PAC in August and September were the largest the couple has made this cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data. They had previously given $50 million to Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC focused on defending the Republican majority in the chamber.