ATLANTA — President Trump said Thursday morning that taking part in a virtual debate with Joe Biden would be a “waste” of his time.
“I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump told FOX Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, moments after the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced changes to the debate format.
[RELATED: Second presidential debate to be virtual, but Trump says he won’t be there]
“I’m not going to waste my time on virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about,” Trump said.
Biden’s campaign insisted its candidate was ready to move forward with the second presidential debate next Thursday in Miami, but the future of the event is now in serious doubt.
[RELATED: First presidential debate devolves into name-calling, calls to ‘shut up’]
But if the president refuses to debate next week, it wouldn’t be the first time in election history.
In 1980, Georgia’s own President Jimmy Carter declined to take part in a presidential debate between then-California governor Ronald Reagan and third-party candidate John Anderson.
Carter refused to debate with Anderson, and Reagan refused to debate without Anderson, resulting in the first debate being between Reagan and Anderson only.
“Once you start opening up the system, it is hard to say where you draw the line,” White House press secretary Jody Powell told the Washington Post in 1980. ""It is not our intention to participate in debates with third, fourth or fifth party candidates."
By the time the scheduled second debate came around, Anderson no longer qualified for inclusion in the debate and the debate went forward with Carter and Regan.
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