On November 5 (local time), it was confirmed that the first TV debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who are both recontesting in the U.S. presidential election as Democratic and Republican candidates respectively, will take place on June 27 and September 10.
President Biden announced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the 15th that he accepts the June 27th debate proposed by CNN with former President Trump.
According to the New York Times (NYT) and other sources, former President Trump also quickly responded, telling Fox News that he would “be there,” and that he was looking forward to being in Atlanta, Georgia, where CNN‘s headquarters is located.
Furthermore, President Biden posted on X that he “has received and accepted an invitation to the September 10th debate hosted by ABC,” and former President Trump also announced his participation in the September debate through a statement.
Although the U.S. presidential TV debates, which began with the debate between Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in 1960, have had a significant impact on the election results, they have been evaluated as less influential than before. However, in a presidential election like this one, where many opinion polls show support rates within the margin of error, the TV debates could have a decisive impact on independent voters in the seven swing states.
Instead of the three debates scheduled to be held after September under the auspices of the bipartisan presidential debate preparation committee, President Biden proposed to former President Trump via a YouTube video and a letter to face each other in two TV debates in June and September.
According to the New York Times, President Biden and his initial aides wanted the debate to start earlier than the dates proposed by the debate preparation committee so that voters could watch the debate between the two presidential candidates well before the start of early voting in September.
Considering that the two TV debates between President Biden and former President Trump ahead of the 2020 presidential election were on September 29 and October 22, this schedule is more than three months earlier.
Moreover, the Biden administration wanted the debate to be held in a TV studio without a noisy live audience, which former President Trump favored. It will only consist of the two candidates and the moderator participating in the debate. The microphone will automatically cut off when the speaker’s time limit is exceeded and without any other independent or third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Former President Trump has been pressured to debate early before both parties officially nominate their respective presidential candidates at the party convention.
On the 9th, he posted a video on his social media, Truth Social, urging President Biden to “start now. I’m ready to go wherever you are,” and suggested debating in Washington D.C. or New York.
The NYT assessed that President Biden’s counter-proposal for a TV debate suggests that he is willing to take some calculated risks to reverse his fortunes in the election campaign in which he continues to trail former President Trump in most swing-state opinion polls and is struggling to convince voters that he is an effective leader and steward of the economy.
The Republican National Convention, which officially selects the presidential and vice-presidential candidates, is scheduled to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from July 15 to 18, and the Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held in Chicago, Illinois from August 19 to 22.
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