NEW YORK — Twelve news organizations on Sunday called on presumptive presidential candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump to agree to debates, saying they represent a “rich tradition” that has been part of every general election campaign since 1976.
Although Trump, who did not participate in the debates for the Republican nomination, has indicated that he is willing to take on his rival for 2020, the Democratic president has not committed to debating him again.
While the invitations have not yet been formally issued, the news organizations say it is not too early for any campaign to publicly say they will participate in the three presidential and one vice-presidential forums set up by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
“If there is one thing Americans can agree on in these polarized times, it is that the stakes of this election are exceptionally high,” the organizations said in a joint statement. “Amid that backdrop, there is simply no substitute for the candidates debating their visions for the future of our nation with each other and before the American people.”
ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, PBS, NBC, NPR and The Associated Press all signed the letter.
Biden and Trump debated twice in 2020. A third debate was canceled after Trump, then president, tested positive for COVID-19 and declined to debate remotely.
When Biden was asked on March 8 whether he would debate Trump, he said, “It depends on his behavior.” The president was visibly miffed by his opponent in the free-form 2020 primary debate, at one point saying, “Will you shut up?”
Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a letter this past week that “we have already indicated that President Trump is willing to debate anytime, anywhere – and the time to start these debates is now.”
They cited the seven Senate debates in Illinois from 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas and said that “Today’s America certainly deserves as much.”
The Republican National Committee voted in 2022 to no longer participate in forums sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The Trump campaign has not indicated that it will adhere to this, but did impose some conditions. The campaign managers said the committee chose a “demonstrably anti-Trump moderator” in 2020 to replace then-Fox News host Chris Wallace and wants assurances that committee debates are fair and impartial.
The Trump campaign also wants the timetable moved up, saying many Americans will have already voted by September 16, October 1 and October 9, the dates of the three debates set by the committee.
The Biden campaign declined to comment on the news organizations’ letter, citing the president’s earlier statement. There was no immediate response from the Trump campaign.
But on Saturday, Trump held a rally in northeastern Pennsylvania with two lecterns on stage: one for him to deliver a speech, the other to symbolize what he said was Biden’s refusal to debate him. On the second desk hung a sign that read: ‘Always.’ Everywhere. Every place.”
Midway through his campaign speech, Trump turned to his right and pointed to the second lectern.
“We have a little, look, it’s for him,” he said. “Do you see the stage? I call on Crooked Joe Biden to debate anytime, anywhere, in any place. Right there. And we need to debate because our country is going so badly in the wrong direction, and even though it’s usually a little early, we need to debate. We need to explain to the American people what the hell is going on,” Trump said.
C-SPAN, NewsNation and Univision also joined the letter calling for debates. Only one newspaper, USA Today, added its voice.
The broadcasters can certainly make use of the energy that the debates bring. Television news ratings are down significantly compared to the 2020 campaign, although there are other factors involved, such as cord cutting and the pandemic, that increased interest in news four years ago.
There were no Democratic debates this presidential cycle, and Trump’s refusal to participate in the GOP forums reduced interest in them.
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Associated Press writer Josh Boe in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
