If Donald Trump was bluffing, he just blew it

Yesterday the debate commission announced that the rest of the debates would have to be done virtually, now that Donald Trump is sick and contagious with coronavirus. Trump responded by saying he would refuse to participate at all. Some observers thought he was bluffing to see if he could push the debate commission into holding it in person after all.

But that notion took a blow when ABC, which was scheduled to air the debate, immediately announced it would switch to a town hall format with Joe Biden instead. Translation: ABC felt it could get the TV ratings it needed, even without Trump’s participation – or maybe even higher ratings without Trump’s participation.

Now the debate commission has announced this evening that the next debate is officially canceled. This means it’s too late for Donald Trump to go crawling back and agree to participate in the virtual debate. If Trump was bluffing, he just blew it. But then he always was the world’s worst negotiator, which is why he’s gone bankrupt six times and he’s so deeply in debt.