WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump agreed Wednesday to participate in general election debates on June 27 and September 10.
The first episode will begin at 9pm ET on June 27th and will be held at the news organization’s studios in Atlanta, according to a CNN press release.
CNN said, “In order to allow candidates to make the most of the time allotted to the debate, there will be no audience in attendance. The debate moderator and additional details will be announced at a later date.”
The agreement was announced just hours after Mr. Biden challenged Mr. Trump in two debates hosted in television studios ahead of the November election, replacing the traditional system used to date. It is a departure from
President Trump quickly responded to the challenge, saying he disagreed with Biden’s call not to debate in front of a crowd, but accepting the proposed date and showing his own enthusiasm for debates.
public The agreement was reached following private discussions about a possible meeting. Officials from the Biden and Trump campaigns have been having private conversations about the debate in recent weeks, with an emphasis on meetings that do not involve committees, according to two sources familiar with the matter and a Trump campaign official. .
A Trump campaign official told NBC News that “contact” between the two sides related to a potential debate began late last month, after Biden interviewed radio host Howard Stern. , Biden said he would be “happy” to debate the former president. Afterward, Trump campaign officials said there were brief discussions between the 2024 team.
“For months, President Trump has been as clear as anyone could be: anytime, anywhere, anywhere,” the official said. “So that’s the most important thing over any other speculation.”
Late Wednesday morning, Biden said in X He said he had accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in the June 27 debate.
“To you, Donald. Like you said, anywhere, anytime, anywhere,” Biden said.
Shortly after, President Trump’s aides said they agreed to a CNN debate in Atlanta and also agreed to the fact that there would be no audience for that first debate.
Biden and Trump announced late in the morning that they had accepted ABC News’ invitation to participate in the second debate on September 10th.
“I also received and accepted an invitation to participate in a debate hosted by ABC on Tuesday, September 10th,” Biden said on the X program. “Mr. Trump has said he will provide his own transportation. He will also take a plane. He plans to do this for another four years.”
President Trump said on Truth Social: “It’s a great honor for me to participate in a CNN debate on June 27th against Crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in American history and a real threat to our democracy.” . “Likewise, I’ll be participating in the ABC News debate on Crooked Joe on September 10th. Thank you, DJT!”
CNN’s debate standards leave open the possibility for other candidates to take the stage, but that would be difficult.
Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has already reached CNN’s national polling threshold of 15% in two qualifying polls, and only needs two more to meet the poll threshold. But the network also said that in order to participate, “a candidate’s name must be on enough state ballots to reach the 270-electoral threshold for the presidential election by the eligibility deadline, likely June 20.” “It must be done,” he said.
In many states, the deadline for access to an independent ballot is after that date. In Ohio, for example, the Kennedy campaign announced it had collected the signatures needed to appear on the ballot. However, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported last week that the campaign would wait to submit signatures for certification until closer to Ohio’s Aug. 7 deadline.
Kennedy wrote in an X post Wednesday morning. Biden and Trump are “trying to remove me from the debate because they’re afraid I’ll win.”
In the morning, Biden’s campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which has coordinated presidential debates for decades, that Biden would not participate in any debates. He said he would not. Instead, only run those directly sponsored by news organizations.
O’Malley Dillon said: “The first debate will likely take place in late June, after Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is likely to conclude and President Biden returns from meeting with world leaders at the G7 summit. I think it should be held,” he wrote.
He added that it should be hosted by the same broadcasting organization that hosted the 2016 Republican primary debate, which included Trump, and the 2020 Democratic primary debate, which included Biden.
“The second presidential debate should be held in early September, at the beginning of the fall campaign season, early enough to influence early voting, but not in late September, which is important. “It will not be too late until October that candidates have to step away from campaigning,” the letter said.
President Trump said Wednesday morning on Truth Social that he agrees to the proposed times, saying, “I am ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September.” “I strongly recommend more than one debate, to increase excitement.” , It’s a very big venue, but Biden seems to be afraid of crowds, but it’s only because he can’t understand crowds, please tell me when you’re coming. ”
“Get ready for battle!!!” Trump added.
Mr. O’Malley Dillion proposed rules for debates such as setting strict time limits for responses and taking turns speaking, saying, “Divide the time evenly, and exchange opinions rather than interrupting each other.” We will make it possible to do so.” She added that candidates’ microphones should only be activated when it’s their turn to speak.
The letter also proposed holding the vice presidential debate in late July, after the Republican National Convention.
She explained that the Biden campaign is opposed to the CPD debate because it is “scheduled to begin.” rear “Americans have the opportunity to vote early, and we won’t know until tens of millions of Americans have cast their votes,” he said, calling the committee’s debate “a huge spectacle with a huge audience.” He explained that it simply should be done. Speaking in a television studio with the host, the two candidates also said that the CPD did not enforce its own rules in 2020.
Along with the letter, Biden posted a short video about X asking Trump for a debate. He joked that he had heard that Trump would be released Wednesday, alluding to Trump’s New York criminal trial, which was not in session that day.
“In 2020, Donald Trump lost to me twice in debates,” he said. “Since then, he hasn’t appeared in a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, good luck today. I’ll do it twice. Let’s set a date. Hey, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesday.”
Meanwhile, in February, President Trump expressed his desire to debate Biden “right away,” saying, “I want to debate him right now. Because we should have a debate. We should have a debate in the national interest.”
President Trump’s co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris Lacivita said in an April letter that the debate should be held as soon as possible. “While the Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate later this year, we support these debates starting sooner.”
The letter also made it clear that the Trump campaign supports moving up the debate because it would give voters a chance to see the candidates before voting. They also said they support CPD adding more debates in addition to the three previously scheduled.
