The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday morning the next debate will be virtual. The debate, which is schedule for Oct. 15, will be in the form of a town hall meeting and the candidates will participate from separate remote locations. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

The second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, scheduled for Oct. 15, will be held virtually, the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates said Thursday.

Minutes after the announcement, however, Trump said he would not participate.

“No I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” he said during an interview on the Fox Business channel. His campaign later said Trump will hold a rally that night instead.

Trump and his allies quickly claimed, without evidence, that the commission had made the change to favor Biden. A Biden campaign source told NBC News that the CPD made the decision independently.

The format change comes six days after Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. Since Trump’s diagnosis, more than a dozen White House officials have tested positive for Covid-19.

Following Trump’s refusal to do a virtual debate, the Biden campaign proposed that the final debate, currently scheduled for Oct. 22, be held as a live town-hall debate between the two candidates. The Trump campaign tentatively agreed to a town-hall on Oct. 22, but also called for a third and final debate on Oct. 29.

The Biden campaign rejected the idea of a third debate if Trump refuses to participate in the Oct. 15 debate, arguing that Trump’s refusal is tantamount to canceling the second debate.

White House aides are reportedly trying to convince the president to agree to at least one and possibly two more debates with Biden. “It’s a mistake to cede ground” to the former vice president, a senior official told NBC News. “If he lets Biden speak more, the public will see Biden’s shortcomings.”

Earlier this week, Biden said he thought the debate should be called off if the president were still infected with the coronavirus.

But experts say it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly when a Covid patient is no longer contagious, and they urge doctors and patients to err on the side of caution.

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