乔·拜登致力于辩论总统唐纳德·特朗普本月晚些时候，只要所有的安全协议都得到遵守，特朗普是“无COVID的”，路易斯安那州国会议员和民主党提名人的全国联合主席塞德里克·里士满说总统竞选，在美国广播公司的“本周”
“我知道乔·拜登想再次和唐纳德·特朗普辩论。美国人在第一场辩论中看到了唐纳德·特朗普的灾难。但我要告诉你们，我们会像这场运动和这场流行病开始时那样做。我们将听取美国专家和科学家的意见——这里是克利夫兰诊所——他们已经制定了协议，”里士满周日告诉美国广播公司新闻首席白宫记者乔纳森·卡尔。
“因此，如果唐纳德·特朗普是无COVID的，协议的制定不仅是为了保护乔·拜登的健康，也是为了保护与会家庭的健康、摄影师的健康、每个人的健康以及大楼里看门人的健康...我们希望看到它，我们希望看到它在市政厅的形式，”他继续说。
在克里夫兰进行了喧闹的第一次辩论，特朗普在那周晚些时候对新冠肺炎的测试结果呈阳性之后，总统辩论委员会在本周早些时候宣布，第二次辩论将是虚拟的。此后不久，特朗普退出了那场辩论，称他不想参加虚拟活动。
拜登竞选团队的联合主席、众议员塞德里克·里士满(Cedric Richmond)表示，如果“唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)是无COVID的”，并且安全指南保护了参加辩论的每个人的健康，乔·拜登将亲自参加10月22日的总统辩论。https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6pic.twitter.com/AG8rSvf4mF
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年10月11日
拜登现在参加美国广播公司市政厅改在星期四。据熟悉美国广播公司新闻的消息人士证实，特朗普预计还将在不同的网络上参加市政厅会议。根据辩论委员会的说法，两位候选人都同意参加10月22日在田纳西州纳什维尔举行的辩论，尽管里士满周日表示，拜登竞选团队希望这场辩论是市政厅式的。
里士满，as拜登和他的竞选伙伴参议员卡马拉·哈里斯正如最近几周所做的那样，他还回避了这样的问题，即如果共和党能够确认艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官接替已故的鲁斯·巴德·金斯伯格法官，是否应该在美国最高法院增加更多的席位。艾米·科尼·巴雷特法官的确认听证会将于周一开始。
“这个问题对我来说更好。我在国会。“这需要美国国会和美国参议院的立法来做到，”里士满说，继续偏离一个坚定的答案，将讨论描述为“分散注意力”。
“我现在只想花时间，一是确定唐纳德·特朗普输，二是确定我们不确认这个法官。妇女的生殖权利岌岌可危。公民权利岌岌可危，我认为这是我们应该关注的。里士满告诉卡尔，“这不是一个假设，‘我们要扩大最高法院吗?’”我认为你问这个问题是合理的。但是离选举还有22天，这让人分心。"
拜登仍然不会说他是否支持法院打包。
@jonkarl:“他支持扩大最高法院吗?”
众议员塞德里克·里士满:“乔·拜登和参议员哈里斯非常清楚这是一种干扰。我们不应该谈论一个假设。”https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6pic.twitter.com/Py3DhGVyZM
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年10月11日
当被问到拜登的税收计划时分析税收政策中心得出结论，一些年收入低于40万美元的家庭的税收将略有增加，里士满承诺，民主党在拜登政府下提出的任何立法都只会影响高收入者。
“我们的目标是不对收入低于40万美元的人增税。因此，当你看到我们的立法在政府执政的第一天或第二天出台时，它不会对年收入低于40万美元的人增税，”里士满说。
2019年12月11日，在华盛顿国会山，众议员塞德里克·里士满在众议院司法委员会标记针对唐纳德·特朗普总统的弹劾条款时发言。
这位议员还鼓励选民利用提前亲自投票的能力，他认为这是在大流行期间投票的一种更安全的方式，也是一种有助于减少选举日排长队的方法。
与此同时，特朗普经常对邮件投票的完整性提出质疑，错误地声称这导致了广泛的欺诈。然而，就在本周，一个本地错误凸显了运行大规模邮寄投票系统带来的后勤困难。俄亥俄州富兰克林县周五宣布，49，669名选民通过邮件发送了错误的选票，其中237，498人通过邮件收到了缺席选票。在该州最大的县，该县大约有五分之一的选民负责发送选票。
过了一会儿特朗普推文参考错误，富兰克林县选举委员会回推:“总统先生，这当然是一个严重的错误，但我们正在努力纠正这个严重的错误。我们的董事会是两党的，我们的选举是公平的。而且每一票都会被统计。”
“我鼓励人们利用投票过程。里士满周日表示:“提前亲自投票是一个很好的方法，它减少了选举日的排队人数。”。“我们希望确保每一票都有价值。这就是美国成为伟大民主国家的原因。”
Biden 'wants to debate Donald Trump again': National campaign co-chair
Joe Bidenis committed to debating PresidentDonald Trumplater this month, so long as all safety protocols are followed and Trump is "COVID-free," said Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and national co-chair of the Democratic nominee'spresidential campaign, on ABC's "This Week."
"I know that Joe Biden wants to debate Donald Trump again. And Americans saw the disaster that Donald Trump had in the first debate. But I will tell you that we will do what we did from the beginning of this campaign and the pandemic. We will listen to the American experts and scientists -- so here it's the Cleveland Clinic -- and they have set up the protocols," Richmond told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
"So if Donald Trump is COVID-free, and the protocols are set up to protect the health, not only of Joe Biden, but the health of the families that attend, the health of the cameraman, the health of everyone, the janitors in the building ... we would love to see it and we want to see it in a town-hall format," he continued.
Following a raucous first debate in Cleveland and Trump's positive test result for COVID-19 later that week, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced earlier this week that the second debate was going to be virtual. Shortly thereafter, Trump pulled out of that debate, saying he did not want to participate in a virtual event.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, co-chair of the Biden campaign, says Joe Biden will participate in the Oct. 22 presidential debate in person if “Donald Trump is COVID-free” and the safety guidelines protect the health of everyone who attends the debate.https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6pic.twitter.com/AG8rSvf4mF
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)October 11, 2020
Biden is nowparticipating in an ABC town hallon Thursday instead. Trump is also expected to participate in a town hall on a different network, sources familiar confirm to ABC News. According to the debate commission, both candidates have agreed to participate in a debate on Oct. 22 in Nashville, Tennessee, though Richmond said Sunday that the Biden campaign would like for that debate to be a town hall-format.
Richmond, asBiden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harrishave done in recent weeks, also dodged questions on whether more seats should be added to the U.S. Supreme Court if Republicans are able to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation hearings start Monday, to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"That's a better question for me. I'm in Congress. It would take legislation from the United States Congress and the United States Senate to do it," Richmond said, continuing to deflect on a firm answer, characterizing the discussion as "a distraction."
"I just want to spend my time now, one, making sure Donald Trump loses, but two, making sure that we don't confirm this judge. Women's reproductive rights are at stake. Civil rights are at stake, and I think that that's what we should focus on. Not a hypothetical, 'do we expand the Supreme Court," Richmond told Karl. "I think it's a legitimate question for you to ask. But it is a distraction with 22 days before the election."
Biden still won’t say whether he supports court packing.
@jonkarl: “Does he support expanding the Supreme Court?”
Rep. Cedric Richmond: “Joe Biden and Sen. Harris are very clear that it is a distraction. We should not be talking about a hypothetical.”https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6pic.twitter.com/Py3DhGVyZM
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)October 11, 2020
When pressed on Biden's tax plan andan analysisfrom the Tax Policy Center that concluded some families making less than $400,000 would see a slight increase in their taxes, Richmond pledged that any legislation Democrats would introduce under a Biden administration would only affect higher earners.
"Our goal, is to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. So when you see our legislation that will come up, day one or day two in the administration, it will not raise taxes on people making less than $400,000 a year," Richmond said.
Rep. Cedric Richmond speaks during a House Judiciary Committee markup of the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill Dec. 11, 2019, in Washington.
The congressman also encouraged voters to take advantage of the ability to vote early in-person, which he cast as a safer way to cast a ballot during the pandemic, and a method that will help decrease instances of long lines on Election Day.
Trump, meanwhile, has frequently sowed doubts about the integrity of voting by mail, falsely claiming that it leads to widespread fraud. However, as recently as this week one local error highlighted the logistical difficulties presented by running a large-scale mail-in voting system. Ohio’s Franklin County on Friday announced that 49,669 voters were sent the wrong ballot through the mail -- of the 237,498 who received absentee ballots through the mail. That’s roughly 1-in-5 voters the county was tasked with sending ballots to, in the state’s largest county.
After aTrump tweetreferencing the mistake, the Franklin County Board of Electionstweeted back: "Mr. President, it certainly was a serious mistake, but a serious mistake that we’re working hard to make right. Our board is bipartisan and our elections are fair. And every vote will be counted."
"I'm encouraging people to take advantage of the voting process. Early vote in person is a great way to do it, it reduces lines on Election Day," Richmond said Sunday. "We want to make sure that every vote counts. And that's what makes America the great democracy that it is."
