Former Sen. Bob Dole accuses bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates of bias against Trump

Former Sen. Bob Dole (Kansas), who was the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, voiced his concern Friday that the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates might favor Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, saying that none of the GOP members support President Donald Trump.

What are the details?

"The Commission on Presidential Debates is supposedly bipartisan w/ an equal number of Rs and Ds," Dole tweeted. "I know all of the Republicans and most are friends of mine. I am concerned that none of them support @realDonaldTrump. A biased Debate Commission is unfair."

President Trump responded, "Thank you @SenatorDole. So true!"

The Hill noted, "Members of the commission's board of directors include former GOP Sens. John Danforth (Mo.) and Olympia Snowe (Maine). All of the living former presidents serve as honorary co-chairs."

Dole's public statement came amid uproar over accusations that the moderator selected for second debate, C-SPAN's Steve Scully, reached out to notorious anti-Trumper Anthony Scaramucci via Twitter on Thursday, asking if he should "respond to Trump."

Scully deleted the comment the next day, but was already facing heat and accusations of bias, over reports that he was an intern for Biden in 1978.

Several fellow journalists came to Scully's defense, saying that he has been balanced in his reporting, while a co-chair on the debates commission claimed Scully's Twitter account was hacked. C-SPAN also released a statement saying that Scully's account was hijacked and that authorities were investigating.

Meanwhile, Fox News reported that "Scully has a history of blaming hackers for his social media posts," citing previous times he made the same claim on the platform. Twitter refused to comment to the outlet on the matter.

Following Dole's comments, The Wall Street Journal reported that the second presidential debate between Trump and Biden, which was slated for Oct. 15, had been canceled.

The commission had previously announced that the town hall debate would be virtual following Trump's coronavirus diagnosis, but the president said he would not participate unless the event was held in person.

President Trump tweeted after the cancelation, ".@SteveScully, the Never Trumper next debate moderator, got caught cold. Pulled out the old, 'I've been hacked', line. That never works. His bosses are furious at him as he's lost all credibility!"

Scully tweeted on his own account afterward, "I want to thank the @CPD for the honor of moderating the town hall meeting debate in Florida next Thursday. With news tonight the debate was cancelled, I want to wish @KWelkerNBC the very best on October 22nd. Presidential debates are part of America's great democracy!"