WASHINGTON – CNN announced Wednesday morning that there will be a debate between President Joe Biden and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on June 27 at the station’s Atlanta studios.
CNN reported There will be no audience for the debate and moderators will be announced at a later date.
The second debate will take place on September 10 on ABC News, in which both candidates have agreed to participate, – reports ABC News
Biden earlier on Wednesday called for two debates before early voting begins in the November election, to which Trump responded that he would do so.
On X, formerly Twitter, Biden wrote that he accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on June 27.
“To you, Donald,” Biden wrote. “Like you said: anywhere, anytime, anywhere.”
Trump also agreed to participate in the June debate, according to CNN.
Biden began Wednesday’s exchange on the debates by writing to the Commission on Presidential Debates saying he would not agree to a three-debate schedule spread out earlier by a non-partisan organization that has been organizing presidential debates since the 1980s. The first would take place on September 16.
“President Joe Biden believes that the interests of the American people are best served by presidential debates that provide timely and relevant information to help inform voters before making their choices and that allow for a direct comparison of both candidates’ chances of winning the election,” Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a letter to the committee , Biden campaign chairwoman.
Trump then accepted Biden’s proposed debates, one in June and another in September, on his Truth Social social networking site. “I am ready and willing to debate Crooked Joe on the two proposed dates: June and September,” Trump wrote.
“Crooked Joe Biden is the WORST debater I have ever had to deal with – he can’t put two sentences together!” – he also wrote.
Trump added that he wants to debate Biden on immigration policy, electric vehicles, inflation, taxes and foreign policy. He also called for more than two debates.
Breaking with precedent
By notifying the Commission on Presidential Debates that the president would not participate in its debates, the Biden campaign broke precedent and instead said news organizations should host the debates.
The Biden campaign proposed that the newscast be hosted by any news organization that hosted the 2016 Republican primary debate, in which Trump participated, and any news organization that hosted the Democratic primary debate, in which Biden participated in 2020 .
This means that “no campaign can claim that a sponsoring organization is clearly unacceptable,” the letter says.
The campaign proposed that the first debate would take place at the end of June, “probably after the conclusion of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York and President Biden’s return from his meeting with world leaders at the G7 summit.”
The second debate should be held in early September, the campaign argued, so that “it would be early enough to influence early voting, but not so late as to require candidates to leave the campaign trail during the critical period in late September and early October.”
The Biden campaign is also proposing to hold a vice presidential debate in slow July, after the GOP nominee and running mate are selected at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The unknown is whether an independent candidate like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could also qualify for the debates.
CNN stated in a press release that to qualify for the debate, “a candidate’s name must appear on enough state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold and become president by the eligibility deadline; I agree to accept the rules and format of the debate; and obtain at least 15% of the vote in four separate national polls of registered or potential voters who meet CNN’s reporting standards.”
The statement added that acceptable polls will include those sponsored by: CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Marquette University Law School, Monmouth University, NBC News, New York Times/Siena College, NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College, Quinnipiac University, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
“The voting window to determine debate eligibility began on March 13, 2024 and ends seven days prior to the debate date,” the statement read.
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