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The Commission on Presidential Debates will proceed with its original schedule despite requests from former President Trump’s campaign for earlier events.
The commission released its schedule last November, but Trump’s camp has urged organizers to offer earlier and more frequent debates in a bid to outshine President Biden onstage.
“The CPD’s criteria […] will be applied in early September; afterward, the Commission will extend debate invitations to qualifying candidates,”the CPD told Fox News Digital.
TRUMP SUGGESTS WHITE HOUSE AS VENUE FOR DEBATE WITH BIDEN: ‘WOULD BE VERY COMFORTABLE’
The Commission on Presidential Debates says it will stay with its original debate broadcasting schedule. (Morry Gash/Pool via Reuters/File)
The commission added, “The CPD is proceeding with production and broadcast plans at its four debate sites as also announced on November 20, 2023.”
Reacting to Tuesday’s report from Fox News, Trump campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles argued in a statement that the move by the commission was “unacceptable.” They also extended an invitation to “every television network in America that wishes to host a debate,” and urged the Biden campaign to coordinate to set up a debate “as soon as possible.”
Trump for months has repeatedly called on his Democratic successor in the White House to join him on the debate stage. Radio personality Howard Stern hosted Biden last week for an interview in which the president confirmed his intentions to debate his Republican challenger.
“I am, somewhere, I don’t know when,” Biden replied. “I’m happy to debate him.”
Trump pounced on the comment, asserting that he was eager to debate under any conditions and at any time.
BIDEN TELLS STERN HE’S ‘HAPPY’ TO DEBATE TRUMP
President Biden (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)
“Everyone knows he doesn’t really mean it, but in case he does, I say, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, an old expression used by Fighters,” the former president wrote on Truth Social.
Earlier this year, the Trump campaign wrote a letter to the commission to request that the debate schedule be expanded and moved up on the calendar.
“The Commission must move up the timetable of its proposed 2024 debates to ensure more Americans have a full chance to see the candidates before they start voting, and we would argue for adding more debates in addition to those on the currently proposed schedule,” LaCivita and Wiles wrote in the letter.
Former President Trump (Probe-Media for Fox News Digital/File)
Prior to the Stern interview, the Biden camp remained coy about the president’s willingness to debate, characterizing Trump’s emphasis on the question as desperate.
“If I were him, I would want to debate me, too,” Biden told reporters in Nevada this year. “He’s got nothing else to do.”
The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The second debate will be in Petersburg, Virginia, on Oct. 1, and the third will be held in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9. A vice presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Easton, Pennsylvania.
But the Trump campaign, pointing to the commission decision, on Tuesday evening charged “by refusing to move up the debates, they are doing a grave disservice to the American public who deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins. President Trump has stated he will debate Joe Biden anytime, anywhere, anyplace, and Joe Biden himself just agreed to debate.”
“We are committed to making this happen with or without the Presidential Debate Commission. We extend an invitation to every television network in America that wishes to host a debate, and we once again call on Joe Biden’s team to work with us to set one up as soon as possible. The American people deserve it,” LaCivita and Wiles added.
The commission for more than three decades has hosted and produced the presidential and vice presidential general election debates. But two years ago the Republican National Committee voted unanimously to stop working with the commission, which it charged was biased against GOP candidates.
Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com
