A poll of more than 7,000 Americans finds that most (63%) people support the decision. The vast majority of Democrats (87%) and six in ten Independents (61%) approve of this decision. Republicans don’t. Just 31% are in support, while most (59%) oppose the choice to take the debate online.

The fact that most Americans are happy with the debate change may ultimately be moot, as President Donald Trump has declared in an interview “I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate. That’s not what debating is all about.”

Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, suggested that the commission was making the debate virtual in order to “shield Biden from another shellacking like he got two weeks ago.”