By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If Joe Biden and Donald Trump are going to “debate” each other next week, I want to stipulate two things that I believe must occur.

One is that the presidential candidates and the medical teams have to assure us that everyone within any distance at all will be safe from the COVID virus that has afflicted the POTUS. Nothing short of that will suffice. I mean, the virus is still infecting and killing thousands of Americans every day.

Second, if the next encounter resembles the first one, I want no part of it. A second shout fest — with Trump doing almost all of the interrupting and badgering — will do nothing to advance the cause of civil debate. It would be a waste of my time. I don’t know about you but I didn’t hear anything new during that first so-called “debate.”

Trump is resisting calls to change the format. Fine. Let him resist and then let the public see what a fool we have seeking re-election to a second term as president of the United States.