Biden says he plans to attend final debate with Trump

WASHINGTON

Democratic nominee Joe Biden said Thursday he fully plans to attend next week's final presidential debate with President Donald Trump.

The men held dueling town halls Thursday evening after Trump rejected the debate committee's plan to hold the forum virtually after the president tested positive for COVID-19.

Asked if he would insist Trump take a coronavirus test the same day as next week's debate, Biden said "Yeah. By the way, before I came up here, I took another test."

"I have been taking them every day," Biden told the ABC News town hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "I’m going to abide by what the commission rules call for. I was prepared to debate him remotely, which was supposed to happen, and he said he wouldn’t do that, a virtual debate or a town hall. He didn’t want to do that. I didn’t set those rules, the commission set those rules."

Speaking during a separate town hall in Miami, Florida, Trump said he could not recall if he took a COVID test on Sept. 29 when the first debate was held. Asked whether he knew if he got tested that day, Trump said: "Possibly I did, possibly I didn't."

Trump tested positive on Oct. 1 along with first lady Melania Trump after one of his aides, Hope Hicks, was diagnosed with the virus.

Asked if he gets tested daily for the disease, Trump said he is tested "a lot."

"I was in great shape for the debate, and some time after the debate, I tested positive," he added.

The final debate is scheduled for Oct. 22, just a week and a half before Election Day.