“President Biden said Wednesday that he will not participate in the decades-old tradition of three fall meetings organized by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, instead calling on his Republican rival Donald Trump to join him for two televised presidential debates in June and September,” the Washington Post reports.
“The Biden proposal, outlined in a video message and letter to the commission, called for direct negotiations between the Trump and Biden campaigns over the rules, moderators and network hosts for the one-on-one meetings. He proposed a separate vice-presidential debate in July, after the Republican nominating convention and before the Democratic nominating convention.”
Said Biden: “Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020, and since then he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he is acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.”
New York Times: “They want the debate to occur inside a TV studio, with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker’s time limit elapses. And they want it to be just the two candidates and the moderator — without the raucous in-person audiences that Mr. Trump feeds on and without the participation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or other independent or third-party candidates.”
I’d actually still be surprised if there are any debates.
