Although Donald Trump is skipping the first Republican debate, he “has repeatedly said publicly that he wants debates” with President Biden, “and Mr. Trump’s advisers view face-offs with the incumbent president as vital to Mr. Trump’s chances of winning,” the New York Times reports.
“It is unusually early to begin considering the contours of a general election debate, with months still to go until the Iowa caucuses and not a single vote cast in a primary race so far defined by Mr. Trump’s four criminal indictments. But with both parties heading in the direction of renominating the same candidates as in 2020 — Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump — some thinking has already gone into potential matchups, at least on the Trump side.”
“The strong desire of Mr. Trump and his advisers to see him debate Mr. Biden may lead to Mr. Trump undercutting work by the R.N.C., which has spent the last two years searching for an alternative to the Commission on Presidential Debates for hosting general election matchups.”
