After months of doubts about whether general election debates will take place, President Joe Biden and Republican nominee Donald Trump have agreed that one of them will take place in June and the other in September. They agreed to participate in the discussion.
But there are still some details to finalize, including the format of the event and who will host it. Here's what we know so far:
detail:
Trump and Biden have agreed to two debates. The first session will be held from 9 p.m. ET on June 27, CNN studios in Atlanta, battleground state. “The debate will be held behind closed doors to allow candidates to make the most of the time allotted for the debate,” CNN said in a statement. To qualify, candidates must receive at least 15% in four national polls of registered voters or potential voters who meet CNN's criteria.
Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the debate, CNN said.
The second debate will be held on September 10th, hosted by ABC. ABC has not yet released details about where the debate will take place, its format or moderators, but it has set the same 15% turnout threshold as CNN.
President Trump posted on his website “Truth Social'' that he was “very honored to participate in the CNN debate against Crooked Joe Biden.'' “Likewise, I agree with the ABC News debate on Crooked Joe on September 10th.”
Biden said he did something similar.
“Trump says he will arrange his own transportation. I will also bring a plane,” Biden wrote to X. I plan on continuing for another four years. ”
timing
The first debate will be a tightly packed and volatile one before either candidate becomes the party's official nominee at the summer conventions, scheduled to begin July 15 for Republicans and August 19 for Democrats. It will be held within the political calendar.
The June 27 matchup will take place after the expected conclusion of President Trump's criminal hush money trial in New York, Biden's trip to France and Italy in mid-June, and the end of his term as a Supreme Court justice. This period will include a ruling on whether President Trump is immune from federal prosecution for his role in the January 6th Capitol riot. The debate will also take place before the start of two criminal trials scheduled for the president's son Hunter on the opposite coast.
The second debate will take place before most states begin early voting, but some overseas and military ballots may have already been mailed.
problem
The Trump campaign is also calling for further discussion. In a memo Wednesday, senior campaign advisers Chris Lacivita and Susie Wiles sent a memo to Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O'Malley Dillon: ” In addition to the vice presidential debate, they proposed holding debates once a month and holding events in June, July, August, and September.
“The additional dates will allow voters to learn the most about each candidate's record and vision for the future,” they wrote. The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment on the Trump campaign's push for additional matches.
Trump has expressed other preferences as well. In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday morning, he agreed that the debate “should be two hours” and said men would rather stand than sit.
“It's important to have a platform to stand up to,” he said, adding that Biden would like to sit down. He also said he would like the event to be held in a larger venue rather than in front of a live audience.
“It’s even more exciting,” he said.
The Biden campaign outlined its preferences in a letter Wednesday. In order to promote “orderly proceedings,” it requires candidates' microphones to be muted if they are not authorized to speak, and opposes live viewing in a studio.
“Debates should be conducted for the benefit of American voters watching on television or at home, and should not be raucous or disruptive, wasting valuable debate time with raucous endorsements or jeering spectacle. “Not as entertainment for a direct audience with partisans and donors,'' O'Malley Dillon wrote.
The Biden campaign also argued that third-party candidates should be excluded. O'Malley Dillon said, “Debates should be one-on-one, allowing voters to compare the only two candidates who statistically have a chance of winning the Electoral College, and who are likely to become president.'' We should not waste debate time on candidates who lack the necessary qualifications.” ”
“You should also put firm time limits on your answers and take turns speaking. This will divide your time evenly and allow for an exchange of ideas rather than a scene of interruptions.” she wrote.
discussion committee
An agreement between the two camps means that the Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan group that has organized the campaigns for more than 30 years, will not participate. Both campaigns have expressed long-standing concerns about the commission's operations, with Trump criticizing it for microphone issues during a 2016 debate and Biden's campaign saying the plan “does not address election structure or voter oversight.” “It does not match changes in profits.”
Both sides took particular issue with the schedule announced by the committee, arguing that the debate should have taken place sooner before voting began.
In a statement, the debate commission said it was “established in 1987” to ensure that such debates take place and reach the widest television, radio and streaming audiences. Stated. Our 2024 venues, all locations of higher education, are prepared to hold debates on dates chosen to accommodate early voters. We will continue to prepare to implement this plan. ”
What about other networks?
The debate will be the first television broadcast of a general election hosted by an individual news organization. The 1960 debate helped demonstrate the power of the media to influence public opinion and was co-hosted by the major networks of the time: ABC, CBS, and NBC. The 1976, 1980, and 1984 presidential debates were sponsored by the League of Women Voters, and all debates since have been sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
Traditionally, debates have been simulcast on all networks and other streaming sites to reach the widest possible audience. It's not yet clear whether the 2024 matchup will be shared as well.
After the Biden campaign proposed that this year's debate be hosted by the same broadcasters that hosted the 2016 Republican primary debate and the 2020 Democratic primary debate, the Biden and Trump campaigns announced that ABC and CNN I accepted the invitation. Campaigns can argue that the sponsoring organization is clearly unacceptable. If both candidates have debated over the airwaves before, neither candidate would be able to object to such a venue. ”
These criteria would exclude Fox News, which did not host a Democratic primary debate in 2020, and NBC News, which did not host a Republican primary debate in 2016, but that year. Affiliates CNBC and Telemundo each co-hosted one debate.
Trump said in October that he had accepted a debate invitation from Fox News, but Biden's team dismissed it as a “game.”
how do they prepare
Both Biden and Trump are expected to engage in intensive preparation sessions before the debate. Ron Klain, Biden's former chief of staff who now works for Airbnb, told The Associated Press that he plans to use the vacation to prepare Biden for a showdown with Trump. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who helped Trump prepare for the last debate, is unlikely to serve in the role again after falling out with Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.
What about third-party candidates?
It's unclear whether third-party candidates are eligible to participate in the debate, but both CNN and ABC's standards appear to pose a challenge for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supported by a handrail On Wednesday's X, the plan accused President Trump and Biden of “conspiring to lock America into a direct confrontation that 70% of Americans say they don't want.”
“They are trying to remove me from the debate for fear that I will win,” he wrote. “Keeping strong candidates out of the debate undermines democracy.”
In addition to voting requirements, both CNN and ABC require candidates' names to appear on enough state ballots to reach 270 Electoral College votes to qualify. said.
So far, Mr. Kennedy has qualified to vote in the general election in three states: California, Michigan and Utah, according to AP Elections. He is listed as an independent or minor party candidate in eight additional states, but he is not yet eligible to vote. These states are Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. These 11 states have a total of 123 electoral votes, meaning more states would also need to be on the ballot to qualify.
