The Commission on Presidential Debates isn't meeting the challenge of the times by canceling the second debate between Democrat nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump when the president refused to participate in a virtual event, Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, the commission is not rising to the challenge of these tumultuous times," the Texas Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "I think we would benefit from head-to-head conversation or a debate between the presidential candidates, rather than dueling town halls."
The candidates will hold competing town halls Thursday night. ABC News will present Biden's town hall event from Philadelphia, while Trump's will be on NBC News from Miami.
Biden has not tested positive for coronavirus, while Trump, who was hospitalized earlier this month for COVID, has been cleared to participate in in-person events and has been determined to not be actively shedding the virus.
Cornyn said he is also "very concerned" about the race between Trump and Biden, as polls are putting Trump only a few points ahead of Biden in states like Texas where he'd normally have a more commanding lead.
"I want the president to win, because for no other reason to put more good judges on the bench," said Cornyn. "We need the Senate as a firewall. If it turns over to the Democrats, court-packing, statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico, the Green New Deal, you name it, we need to keep that majority."
Meanwhile, Cornyn is facing a political challenge for his Senate seat from Democrat MJ Hegar, who the incumbent GOP senator said Wednesday was "hand-picked" by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY.
"(He has) funneled millions of dollars here," said Cornyn. "They think they have a chance of turning Texas blue. What they didn't calculate is that the radical policies of New York and California, from the Green New Deal to Medicare for all, for eliminating fossil fuels, those aren't going to play in Texas."
He said he's optimistic about his chances, but Democrats are "trying to buy the race," including flooding in $13.5 million for Hegar in the last quarter alone.
"We're not going to let them," said Cornyn. "We're going to beat them."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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