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Joe Biden and Donald Trump participate in a presidential debate on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio.
CNN
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Former President Donald Trump's campaign sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Thursday asking it to hold this year's general election debates “sooner” and adding more debates to the schedule.
“The Commission on Presidential Debates has already announced three presidential debates and a vice presidential debate later this year; I am in favor of the debate starting sooner.” Committee members.
Mr. Wiles and Mr. Lacivita said that because voting started much earlier in recent elections, the committee is “proposing that the recommendations be made to ensure that more Americans have ample opportunity to see the candidates before they begin voting.” “The 2024 debate date needs to be brought forward and we will advocate for it to be added.” Further discussions will take place in addition to the currently proposed schedule. ”
“We have already shown that President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anywhere, anywhere, and now is the time to get these debates started,” they said.
The first presidential debate is scheduled to be held in San Marcos, Texas, on September 16, 50 days before Election Day on November 5.
That schedule will still be faster than it has been recently. The first debate between Trump and Joe Biden in 2020 took place 35 days before Election Day on September 29th. In 2016, the first debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton took place on September 26, 43 days before Election Day.
The Trump campaign's letter joins five major U.S. television networks, including CNN, to draft a letter urging the former president and Biden to commit to participating in televised debates in the lead-up to the 2024 election. It was announced after.
Networks, which also include NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox News, urged prospective presidential candidates to “publicly commit to participating in a general election debate before the November election,” according to the draft.
Republican National Committee officials responded to the Trump campaign's letter and participated in Thursday's debate.
“The election calendar is longer than ever, and scheduling a debate after millions of Americans have already cast their votes is a huge challenge for voters who want to know solutions to the economic, border, and crime crises caused by Joe Biden.” “This is a grave disadvantage to the RNC,” the RNC chairman said. Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump said in a statement.
Mr. Biden has not publicly indicated that he would discuss Mr. Trump, but he has not ruled out the possibility.
“It depends on what he does,” the president said in early March.
CNN’s Ethan Cohen and Hadas Gold contributed to this report.
