He’s right: Americans should see candidates off the cuff, responding to difficult questions. Biden, after all, has plainly been reading scripts even at “live” remote events for weeks now. It’d be easy for his aides to slip him talking points outside the camera’s view — though he’d need to avoid reading things like “topline message,” as he did in answering one reporter’s foreign-policy question.

The CPD says it’s worried about safety, but Oct. 15 is (for Trump) well past the 10 days the CDC advises quarantining after COVID-19 symptoms appear. Alternately, the commission could’ve discussed Trump’s offer to move the final two debates back a week.

Instead, Biden gets yet another infomercial: ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos (a former Bill Clinton aide!) will moderate a town hall for Biden on Oct. 15, in Philadelphia, not virtually. Will the audience be stacked again?