AP
Is 2024 about to become the new 1972?
The race for the White House between Richard Nixon and George McGovern 52 years ago was the last time the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates did not debate directly.
As President Joe Biden refuses to say whether he will take the stage with President Donald Trump this year, broadcast networks and cable news stations have banded together to “publicly commit” to the incumbent and his predecessor to a debate. I'm trying to convince you.
“We, the undersigned national news organizations, urge presumptive presidential candidates to publicly commit to participating in a general election debate before the November election,” Deadline confirms. An unsent letter from NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX News, and News stated: CNN covers the Trump and Biden campaigns.
“If there's one thing Americans can agree on in this era of polarization, it's that the stakes in this election are unusually high,” the letter said, adding that in every election since 1976, “Tens of millions of people have been paying attention to the election,” he added. Presidential debate. “There is no substitute for candidates discussing their vision for the future of our country in front of each other and the American people.”
First reported by the New York Times, we have heard that the letter was not sent due to ongoing efforts to get the Gray Lady and other national publications to sign it. Neither the Trump nor Biden campaigns responded to Deadline's requests for comment on the letter.
In many ways, this letter is more important to incumbent Biden than President Trump, as the heavily indicted former president has already publicly and repeatedly challenged his 2020 opponent to a televised showdown. It is directed towards Mr.
After 2020's chaotic, acrimonious and COVID-infused debates, Biden is now holding his often belligerent rival accountable for restoring civility to the proceedings: 'It's “It depends on what he does,” the president said when asked directly last month if he could meet Trump for a debate.
“There's no reason to do this early. There's no reason to take the discussion off the table,” the well-positioned Democrat told Deadline today about the Biden re-election campaign's thinking.
Biden, who was a consistent debater for decades before being elected to the big office, has adopted a strategy since taking office that has placed more emphasis on local, regional and social media to appeal to voters. As multiple White House officials have stated, this approach is based on declining network news viewership in today's multiplatform, fragmented media environment. That said, Biden has a highly rated hour-long pre-recorded show on Univision that will air tonight to appeal to Latino voters.
On the other hand, regardless of what Trump is saying now and the fact that more than 73 million people watched the first Trump vs. Biden debate of 2020, the former has a good chance of winning. should be kept in mind. celebrity apprentice Even if there is an agreement between the campaigns, organizers may not appear at this year's debate anyway.
First, the RNC, dominated by President Trump, actually withdrew from the Commission on Presidential Debates in 2022. Furthermore, Trump himself did not debate his Republican rivals in the recent primaries. In the last election, he was absent from the second presidential debate scheduled for October 15, 2020, as organizers moved to a virtual format due to concerns about the coronavirus. Those concerns were fueled on multiple fronts by President Trump, who tested positive for the virus on Oct. 2, just days after the first debate, and spent several days in the hospital.
Perhaps even more so, the Biden campaign has made no secret of its doubts about the commission's ability to enforce its own rules when it comes to Trump. In 2020, as in 2016 and in nearly every debate he has taken to the stage, Mr. Trump refused to abide by time limits, agree to a format or even allow his opponents to speak.
It's the standard modern presidential debate, from the pivotal JFK vs. Vice President Nixon showdown in 1960, to Carter vs. Ford in 1976, to Reagan vs. Carter vs. Mondale in 1980 and 1984, to Barack Obama. It is very different from the association. Mitt Romney in 2012 and Trump vs. Hillary Clinton in 2016 were pretty good indications of how bad things would get deep into 2020.
Pained by his loss to Kennedy in 1960, Nixon did not participate in debates in 1968 and 1972. It was produced by Roger Ailes, a candidate who was later promoted to the current position. nixon's answer The show is scripted with questions, format, and even participants. Perhaps fearing he would end up like Kennedy's successor, Nixon, LBJ did not debate Barry Goldwater in 1964. Johnson won the election in one of the largest landslides in American history.
In 1967, a debate on CBS between California Governor Ronald Reagan and New York State Senator Robert Kennedy heralded racism that we sadly never saw. world town meetings, As partially shown below:
