2024-04-14 18:55:25
12 major national news organizations wrote Letter Sunday questions alleged presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump Agree to participate in televised general election debates before voters go to the polls in November.
“If there’s one thing Americans can agree on in this polarized time, it’s that the stakes in this election are exceptionally high,” wrote the organizations, which included ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, FOX and PBS.
“Against this background, there is simply no substitute for candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation,” the letter continued.
Noting that the debates “have a rich tradition” in American democracy and “have played a vital role in every presidential election” over the past half century, the signatories urged the candidates to “publicly state their support for – and their intention to participate in” debates planned by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has Currently three contests are planned for the months leading up to the elections.
The unusual demand comes as both candidates sidestepped debates during their primaries. Trump has publicly rejected each of the debates hosted by the Republican National Committee, citing his double-digit lead, while the Biden campaign has quietly rejected calls from primary rivals to take the stage.
Even as Trump loudly refused to share the stage with other Republicans, he spent months trying to move the president into a public debate. At a rally earlier this month, he taunted Biden with an empty podium on stage. “This is for Joe Biden. I’m trying to get him to debate,” Trump said. “Trying to get Cooked Joe to argue. Anytime anywhere.” On Thursday, Trump campaign officials Susie Wills and Chris Lecivita Sent a letter to the Presidential Debates Committee and asked it to hold more than the usual three contests.
The incumbent Democratic president was more tentative about sharing the stage with Trump. Asked by a reporter in March if he would commit to a debate, Biden replied that it “depends on (Trump’s) behavior.”
Trump and Biden debated twice during their 2020 meeting (a third planned debate was canceled after then-President Trump contracted COVID-19). The current GOP nominee’s conduct during the first debate was so disruptive that the Commission on Presidential Debates introduced a mute button.
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