SALT LAKE CITY — It looks like the debate between Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris, held at the University of Utah Wednesday night, could be the final time candidates at the top of the ticket debate in person this election year — or maybe at all.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday that President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden would participate virtually in the second of three scheduled presidential debates, set for Oct. 15 in Miami.

But the president, who was hospitalized over the weekend with COVID-19 and is now downplaying the severity of a virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans, rejected the plan that the commission said is intended “to protect the health and safety of all involved.”

“I am not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump told Fox Business. “I am not going to waste my time on a virtual debate.”

Frank Fahrenkopf, the commission’s co-chairman, told CNN it’s not clear whether the debate, set to be held at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, has to be canceled, especially since Biden has now scheduled his own solo town hall meeting on Oct. 15.

And Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, asked that the third and final presidential debate, scheduled for Oct. 22, be moved to Oct 29, saying a virtual debate is “a nonstarter and would clearly be a gift to Biden because he would be relying on his teleprompter from his basement bunker.“

Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, quickly rejected that proposal.

“Trump’s erratic behavior does not allow him to rewrite the calendar and pick new dates of his choosing. We look forward to participating in the final debate, scheduled for Oct. 22, which already is tied for the latest debate date in 40 years. Donald Trump can show up, or he can decline again. That’s his choice,” she said.

Stepien later said there is “no medical reason” that next Tuesday’s debate shouldn’t go forward with the candidates appearing in person, referring to a memo released by the White House physician that cleared Trump to resume public activity on Saturday.

The controversy over the remaining presidential debates follows Utah’s hosting the only vice presidential debate before the November election. More than 57 million viewers watched the debate, the second-biggest audience ever. Only the 2008 debate between Biden and then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had higher ratings.

“The world was watching the state of Utah and the University of Utah. And we delivered,” said Jason Perry, the university’s vice president of government relations and chairman of the campus’ debate steering committee. “Expectations were high going into this debate.”

Perry said that unlike the chaotic first presidential debate, the vice presidential candidates “got to some of that substance. It wasn’t as deep as I was hoping for in terms of the policies and the plans, but we definitely got a view of the high-level priorities.”

Given the uncertainty about additional presidential debates, Perry said he believes “we will look back on this vice presidential debate as being one of those debates that we are so glad we had as a country.” He said even if the presidential candidates spar again, Wednesday’s debate will still stand out.

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President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected plans to hold his next debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden virtually to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, complaining that his microphone could be cut off in that format.

“This debate was worth doing in every way. Not just because of the impact on the political process,” Perry said, or the worldwide attention. “Particularly for Utahns that were part of this, they felt connected in a way I think will continue long beyond this debate — for our students without question.”

Although the debate was scaled back because of the coronavirus, the U. still relied on student volunteers to fill a number of roles, including seating the limited audience allowed in Kingsbury Hall. All of the University of Utah’s 68 debate tickets were distributed to students.

Absent Wednesday were the throngs of political operatives who typically descend on such a debate to offer their spin on the candidates’ performances. There were fewer reporters on site as well, around 200 instead of the thousands anticipated, although some did travel from overseas.

Scott Howell, a former Democratic Utah Senate leader and a member of the Utah Debate Commission board that helped bring the vice presidential candidates to Utah, said the pandemic took a toll on the anticipated economic impact from hosting.

“These events in the past are so packed you can hardly move,” said Howell, who also serves as a surrogate for the Biden campaign in Utah. He said when he spoke with reporters from overseas news organizations, they lamented that their time in the state was cut short because of the virus.

“The comments kept coming, ‘This place is spectacular,’ But there was also a genuine concern about not doing what they typically do when they come to a new community,” Howell said. “Their bosses had told them, ‘You get in there, you get the story and you get out.’”

What to do about the upcoming presidential debate given the president has COVID-19 was decided by the Presidential Debate Commission the day of the vice presidential debate, CNN reported. Fahrenkopf said both campaigns were told about the format change for the second presidential debate “just before” they announced it.

“We did not consult with them,” he said, adding that their decision to have the presidential candidates participate virtually is “supported by the Cleveland Clinic,” the commission’s Ohio-based health advisers.

Biden’s campaign backed the change for the next debate. The former vice president said earlier this week if Trump still has COVID-19 on the date of the second debate, it shouldn’t be held.

The virtual format, CNN reported, was unanimously approved by the nonpartisan commission and calls for the town hall participants in the debate, as well as moderator Steve Scully, C-SPAN senior executive producer and political editor, to be at the Miami venue and for the White House press pool to provide coverage.

In the 2016 GOP presidential primary, Trump turned down a debate in Salt Lake City that had been added to the Republican Party’s schedule, saying he didn’t see a need for it. The debate, which would have been with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was then canceled.

Utah’s vice presidential debate employed a number of precautions to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, including limiting attendance and requiring everyone in the secured area around Kingsbury Hall where the event was held to test negative for COVID-19, wear masks and social distance.

Both Pence and Harris left Utah Thursday.

At his first campaign stop after leaving Salt Lake City, the vice president reminded supporters gathered at the Boulder City, Nevada, municipal airport that he “had a little debate with Kamala Harris last night. Some people think we did alright.” His statement was met with cheers.

“Let me be clear, last night’s vice presidential debate was not just a debate between two candidates, I think it was a debate between two visions,” Pence said, adding that comparing the Biden-Harris agenda “with what Donald Trump has done and will continue to do for the country ... Donald Trump won the debate hands down.”

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