President Joe Biden's campaign on Friday rejected two additional debates that former President Donald Trump's campaign had said it had agreed to.
One was a proposal for the presidential election. Discussion hosted by NBC News and Telemundo. The other was for a vice presidential debate hosted by Fox News at Virginia State University, a historically black university.
“I have accepted the fourth presidential debate against Crooked Joe Biden, this time co-hosted by NBC and Telemundo,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday afternoon. “What's important to us as Republicans is that we win with the great Hispanic communities that Biden has devastated with crippling inflation, soaring gas prices, street crime, and border chaos. This is in addition to accepting an invitation from Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha McCollum to host the vice presidential debate at Virginia State University or later at another venue in Virginia. .”
An NBC News spokesperson confirmed that the network had invited both sides to a debate.
President Trump's acceptance of a debate that would likely reach a larger Latino and Black audience is a boost to the Biden campaign, which has struggled to connect with these communities critical to the 2020 presidential election. That seems to have been partly the aim.
A Biden campaign official said, “Discussion regarding the debate is over.'' “I don't need any more games.”
The Trump campaign slammed Biden's decision in a statement Friday night.
“The Telemundo and NBC debates will be widely watched by Hispanic voters, but Biden's leaders are afraid to defend his disastrous record,” campaign spokesman Daniel Alvarez said in a statement. ” he said. “Crooked Joe Biden is too 'cowardly' to address the Hispanic community and respond to his failures on the debate stage!”
This week, the Trump and Biden campaigns agreed to hold two presidential debates, bypassing the traditional process through the Commission on Presidential Debates. The first will be hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27th, and the second will be hosted by ABC News on September 10th, with locations yet to be determined. A decision is made.
The Biden campaign has also accepted an offer for a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, but the Trump campaign has so far not accepted it, instead accepting another competing offer for the debate from Fox News.
Neither the Trump campaign nor CBS News responded to requests for comment Friday about the status of the debate.
Biden campaign officials said in a letter regarding the debate terms they had accepted that the campaign was leaving open the door for CNN or ABC News to partner with Telemundo, Univision or another Spanish-language channel. Stated.
CNN announced there would be no studio audience for the debate.
At each of the two presidential debates, candidates must meet certain requirements to take the stage. These include being on the ballot in enough states to get at least 270 electors, accepting the “rules and format of the debate,” and at least gaining support. 15% in four national polls of registered voters or potential voters.
The debate came together quickly in public on Wednesday. After the Biden campaign challenged Trump to break from the commission's tradition of holding debates on college campuses and host two debates in television studios, the Trump campaign quickly agreed.
But the agreement stems from a feud between the Republican and Democratic challengers that began late last month after the president's interview with radio host Howard Stern, in which Biden said he would be “happy” to debate Trump. It was formed following formal and informal conversations.
Campaign chairwoman Jen O'Malley Dillon also said in a statement Wednesday that “there will be no further discussion of the debate.”
“President Biden has made clear the terms of two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump has accepted those terms,” he said in a statement. “No more games. No more confusion, no more discussion about arguments. If Donald Trump shows up, we'll see you in Atlanta on June 27th.”
